As Ireland face into their International Rules test game against Australia this evening, former Dublin player Bryan Cullen recalls the violent melees of 2005 that seem to have dominated our memories of the series.
The 2005 clash between Ireland and Australia descended into an violent brawl after Tyrone's Philip Jordan found himself on the receiving end of an aerial assault in which Australian player Chris Johnson hauled him to the floor by the neck. Wexford's Mattie Forde was the next victim of Johnson's rampage and a vicious encounter featuring both sets of players soon followed.
But standing out on the peripheries was Dublin's Bryan Cullen who chose to exercise some self-restraint on the advice of an Australian opponent.
Speaking to Vincent Hogan of the Irish Independent, Cullen recalls the physical steel that a player needed to possess if they wanted to survive the ruthless physicality of the International Rules.
The International Rules Returns tomorrow...😂 https://t.co/o9cV2GbA4I
— BenchWarmers (@BeWarmers) November 20, 2015
'The one thing I learned very quickly about playing against the Australians was that, if you were going to run into a dust-up or a shemozzle, you'd better be prepared to defend yourself. It's not like Gaelic games where people run in and there's a lot of pushing and shoving before people get separated.'
The former All-Ireland winning player goes on to explain the importance of immediacy when it came to taking on the Australians in a physical exchange. And according to Cullen, you needed an unshakable resolve to absorb the challenge.
The Australia Squad trained at Croke Park ahead of the weekends EirGrid International Rules match! #GAA pic.twitter.com/rLKGceSF1l
— Sportsfile (@sportsfile) November 18, 2015
'I found, particularly in that series, if you made a direct line towards a player, he wouldn't wait for you to act. As the saying goes, he'd get his retaliation in first. If you wanted to get involved, you really had to be prepared to mix it. I remember the Chris Johnson incident was all over the papers. It was such a particularly bad incident, it's probably all anyone remembers of the series. There were loads of brawls that day, but I kept out of it. I mean I was 21 and looking at some of these seasoned professional athletes laying down the law. I knew better than to take them on.'
Australia romped home as comfortable winners in that '05 series, with 57 points to spare in the end. They managed to put 100 points on the board in Perth, but despite those impressive statistics, Cullen laments on how people tend to focus on the bloodshed.
"Because all people remember is the violence, it tends to be forgotten that we were badly beaten football-wise that year as well. I remember being surprised at the improvement in their kicking skills from the year before. A drastic improvement. I think Brian Stynes was doing a bit with them, teaching them the orthodox kick around the corner as opposed to the punt kick which, even for a GAA player with a GAA ball, is very, very difficult to do on the run."
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