A recent chat with a friend of mine, David McElhone regarding Aussie league football saw me travelling to Boucher Road on Saturday to watch Australian Rules football live for the first time. Let me explain! David is a member of the Belfast Redbacks who were hosting their annual tournament at the Belfast venue and had invited me along to take some photographs.
As you will know this site is dedicated to Gaelic games but David was quick to point out that 17 of the Redbacks 21 panel are Gaelic or former Gaelic footballers and it set me thinking about the long association between Aussie Rules and the GAA.
Players like Tadhg Kennelly, Colin O’Riordan, Paul Early, Jim Stynes, Tommy Walsh, Marty Clarke and more recently Conor Glass have made the move down under to pursue lucrative careers. Perhaps I would discover an emerging star and make my fortune as he made the move to the Australian league!
Sadly I didn’t discover that emerging star but what I did experience was a great day’s entertainment in a wonderfully organised tournament that ran like clockwork throughout and provided a number of very competitive games of football with the Redbacks retaining the trophy they won last year.
Of the Belfast Redbacks team that hosted the tournament 17 of the 21 man panel are Gaelic footballers, the remainder are from rugby backgrounds or are Australian players. Some of the players started playing whilst away living and working in Australia and continued to play when they got home and some guys just picked up the game here in Belfast.
The Redbacks have Gaelic players from 5 different counties in the Belfast squad. They have players from Antrim, Tyrone, Derry, Armagh and Down, some of which are ex-county players.
The Belfast Redbacks were formed in 2010 and have won three premierships since then and are currently the reigning premiers of the AFL Ireland league with a flawless unbeaten season last year and are now preparing for the champions league in Amsterdam on the 7th of April.
Joining the Belfast Redbacks in Saturday’s tournament were two teams from London, the London Swans and the London Giants, the Galway Magpies and the South Dublin Swans while on the adjoining pitch four ladies teams took part in the ladies tournament.
The tournament was played as a blitz with each team playing each other and the top two in both men’s and ladies meeting in the final.
The outstanding team on the day in the men’s tournament was the Belfast Redbacks who were unbeaten throughout and went on to beat the London Swans in the final with my friend David McElhone making a telling contribution.
David plays Gaelic for Erin’s Own Cargin, the Antrim county champions and was their reserve player of the year in 2018 and it seemed to me that skills honed on the Gaelic field gave the Redbacks an advantage over most of their opponents as they moved the ball fast and direct from back to front with a player always in support.
In the ladies tournament it was the Uni Shamrocks who emerged victorious and again their superb fitness and superior skills carried the day.
After the tournament both winning teams were presented with medals while there were awards for the Player of the Tournament in both codes. Free refreshments were available throughout the day but perhaps what impressed me most was the lack of dissent towards referees despite a number of very’ tasty’ challenges.
It was back to GAA duty on Sunday and a soaking at a Feile semi-final between All Saints and Dunloy in the morning and another soaking at a hurling match between Cloughmills and Tir na nOg in the evening but you know what, I wouldn’t change it for all the Aussie Rules in the world!
The two Redbacks captains, Benny McDevitt and Dean Skinner with David McElhone. Dean skinner won the player of the tournament for the men’s section.
The ladies “Uni Shamrocks” team coach Michael Currane and the ladies captain Amanda McQuade
