AFL and GAA meet in Ireland to discuss International Rules and recruitment

Representatives from the Australian Football League travelled to Ireland this week for discussions with Gaelic Athletic Association officials. The Irish Examiner and AFL.com.au both reported that the talks focused on bringing back the International Rules series and managing how Australian clubs recruit Irish players. [1][2]

According to the Irish Examiner, the AFL delegation included chief operating officer Tom Harley, executive general manager of football Greg Swann, and general manager of operations Tristan Salter. They met with GAA president Jarlath Burns, director general Tom Ryan, and director of player, club, and games administration Feargal McGill. [1]

The Irish Examiner reported that the discussions centred on the safeguards surrounding the process of recruiting players for Australian clubs. There has been an increased focus on player recruitment recently. [1]

International rules football is a hybrid team sport developed to allow representative matches between Australian rules football players and Gaelic football players. [3]