Ratoath 'Warrior' helps Ireland to Aussie Rules European title

High profile Gaelic players such as Tadgh Kennelly and Setanta " hAilpín have had to go Down Under to play Australian Rules football, but Irish footballers may no longer have to go as far for Aussie rules as the inaugural European Championships in the sport has just taken place. Ratoath footballer Aidan Hickey was a member of the Irish Warriors, who have secured the title as first ever Aussie Rules European Champions after a hard fought win against the Denmark Vikings in Sweden earlier this month. These were the inaugural European Championships held in Denmark and Sweden. The Warriors ultimately won by 17 points but it was a tough competition and the win was well earned. "Ourselves and Great Britain were favourites to qualify for the grand final," Aidan Hickey explains. "While we had early landslide victories on the scoreboard against Germany and Croatia the games were extremely hard fought until final whistle. Croatia in particular were bigger and more physical than Ireland but our skills and sticking to management systems of play help see us through." Ireland also beat home nation Sweden to reach the final. This game was close until Ireland pulled away in the final quarter with goals from Hickey and McElhone (Belfast) proving to be decisive moments. Swedish hand passing and support play was excellent but it was always going to be difficult for them to keep this up for four quarters against a resilient Irish team. It was not a surprise to see Denmark in the final as they bear the fruits of over 10 years of underage Aussie rules programmes and competing in international competitions for as long. At this point in the competition a lot of players were carrying knocks but no one wanted to miss the grand final. While taking nothing for granted, Ireland were quietly confident going into the final. However Ireland found themselves double scores down after the first quarter trailing 38 - 19! Up until five minutes to go there was one kick in it but two late goals gave Ireland a famous 17 point victory and can now justifiably claim the mantle as best team in Europe (Ireland: 11.2 (68) vs Denmark: 8.3 (51). This kicked off wild celebrations in Sweden for the Irish camp. In the earlier match, hosts Sweden beat Great Britain by 10 points to take the bronze medal. "The tournament was a great experience," added Hickey who only started playing Aussie Rules this year, for Dublin Saints, after one of his friends asked him to train with ARFLI team the Dublin Saints. He is a past pupil of Ratoath NS, Ashbourne Bun Scoil and St Patrick's Classical School, Navan. Teams from Dublin, Cork, Westmeath, Galway, Clare and Belfast compete in the Australian Rules League of Ireland (the ARFLI League), which has been won for the last two seasons by the Dublin Demons. "We learn a lot from Australian players based here whose skills are superior to ours in this game" admits Hickey. Irish players who impressed during the national championships were selected for trial matches, out of which the Irish team was selected for the European Championships. "Some of the Irish coaching staff worked for Collingwood AFL team and their training and systems of play helped us a lot. "The AFL has development officers working across Europe and beyond to promote their game. A lot of the training drills would be similar to Gaelic football, and that's our biggest help in the transition from GAA to Aussie rules" says Hickey. "The ball is difficult to get used to at first," he says. "We often find ourselves reverting to what we know, especially when we are put under pressure. Gaelic players kick from the side, rugby players look like they are kicking for touch. It takes a lot of practise to try and get the ball spinning backwards like Australian rules players do. "It took me a few months to do that properly, but I got used to it." "You can shield the opposition away (shepherd), that's something we are trying to get used to, that they are trying to drill into us in training - in Gaelic if you give a good pass you basically think your job is done, but in Aussie Rules you have to do a lot more running, and then the tackling and hitting is harder". "You have to be in peak physical condition, because the pitch is much bigger, and you have to cover a lot more ground over an 80 minute game. "It's good that Ireland can use their GAA background to their advantage on international stage. The tournament was an unbelievable experience and it was great to get the chance to represent my country" added Hickey. Ireland will defend their Aussie Rules European crown in 2013. Photo: Peter May.