AS YOU SIT on your sofa this afternoon watching Tyrone and Down battle it out in the first round of the Ulster Championship, spare a thought for those die-hard GAA fans in Australia for whom throw-in is 2am on Monday morning.

However, in advance of the game, the Herald Sun have put together a handy guide to football for any non-Irish fans tuning in and it contains some, eh, interesting pieces of information.

When explaining what players tog out for week in and week out, the paper says:

“Love of their jersey/team/county/village, all that Corinthian jazz. Plus they’re unlikely to ever get too lonely down the local nightclub. Oh, and the Sam Maguire cup, awarded to the All Ireland championship-winning county every September.”

And here’s how it describes Dublin:

“‘The Dubs’ weren’t especially popular throughout the rest of the country when they weren’t winning titles. Nobody likes them now.“

Not to mention Cork:

“Packed with potential but wildly inconsistent and struggles to get support from a population base mostly preoccupied with hurling. Champs just four years ago and has the cattle, but may lack the aggression required to go all the way.”

We’re assuming some of these nuggets of information are tongue in cheek but, for the large number of Irish people now living in Australia, they’re unlikely to mind too much.

As long as their team does well this year, of course. And make it onto Australian TV.

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