Why the AFL is considering International Rules revival after decade hiatus

The return of International Rules is back on the table, with the Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph explaining why the AFL is considering its revival.

On Sunday, News Corp’s Jon Anderson reported that the AFL and GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) will bring back the concept between Australia and Ireland for the first time since 2017, with one or two games set to be played in Ireland next year before coming to Australia in 2028.

This comes after a delegation of senior representatives from the AFL, including COO Tom Harley and EGM of Football Greg Swann, travelled to Ireland to discuss its return. That same meeting also saw discussions surrounding the ability of AFL clubs to recruit players from the GAA.

Should the concept be reborn, it would mark another push by AFL CEO Andrew Dillon to increase the amount of marquee events within the football calendar through representative matches.

During his three-year tenure, Dillion has re-introduced the Indigenous All-Stars game, AFL State of Origin, alongside the first International AFLW Game between Australia and Ireland back in August as the AFL seeks to grow its audience.

The push by the AFL into representative and marquee events has been likened to the NRL, with their season opener in Las Vegas, State of Origin and International Tests helping provide more content for fans to engage and consume within and beyond the regular season.

And with the move to re-introduce International Rules, Ralph believes the AFL is seeking something similar.

“I just think they're (NRL) good at content and they're good at hype,” Ralph told SEN’s Point of View with the Ox and Harty.

“So, what does the actual NRL move to Vegas do?

“Well, it doesn't make them money. It doesn't really make them an international code, although there is a Super League over in the UK and they're considering buying that.

“It just puts them on the landscape more times of the year. It shows that they've got some real ambition.

“I think that's what the AFL is trying to do with, let's face it, State of Origin, which was a Victorian initiative or a (West) Australian initiative and then of course the NRL took it and ran with it.

“The International Rules are a bit the same; how do we get more people talking about the AFL or International Rules through October.

“Now, is it going to make us a lot of money? No. It might make the AFL players 30 or 40 grand.

“But it's about having more parts of that calendar that people are talking about football rather than NRL or any of those kinds of things.

“If you surveyed the general fans out there, they couldn't really give a stuff whether we played international rules or not.

“But it's about having a growth mindset, which I think Peter V’Landys has probably left us in his dust in regards to the NRL.”

The International Rules series is proposed to take place in October 2027.