The AFL is reportedly "open to reviving" the International Rules Series against Ireland seven years on from the last game between Australia and Ireland.
The hybrid sport encounter sees some of the AFL's best players go head-to-head with the leading names out of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), with 21 previous Test held in Ireland and a further 21 played in Australia between 1984 and 2017.
The last Series was held at Adelaide Oval and Subiaco Oval in 2017, with Australia victors on both occasions in front of crowds of 25,502 and 30,116 fans respectively.
Australia won on aggregate 116-103 across the two matches.
AFL stars Scott Pendlebury, Gary Ablett, Patrick Dangerfield, Nat Fyfe, Joel Selwood and Toby Greene represented Australia while league incumbents Zach Tuohy and Pearce Hanley represented their homeland of Ireland.
The AFL is now said to be keen on bringing back International Rules should the GAA show a similar interest, with recent COVID complications playing a part in the difficulties of a renewed Series.
"The AFL is open to reviving the International Rules Series," reporter Glenn McFarlane told the Midweek Tackle.
"It's been on a hiatus, we haven't had a series since 2017. There's been a few issues with the GAA, there hasn't been a lot of discussion and conversation.
"No it's still a fair way off, but the AFL is definitely open to having a chat to the GAA and potentially setting that up for some time down the track.
"It might be a men's and women's scenario, there might be a women's team that go there as well.
"It might be like an Olympic year, you do it every four years."
The AFL is currently home to a plethora of Irish representatives, with Tuohy still in the league with Geelong while Conor McKenna, Conor Nash, Mark O'Connor, Mark Keane, Callum Brown, Oisin Mullin, Karl Gallagher, James Madden, Darragh Joyce, Liam O'Connell and Rob Monahan are all listed in the league.
The first-ever International Rules Series in 1984 was led by Aussie Rules icons Simon Madden, Robert Flower, Craig Bradley, John Platten, Stephen Kernahan and Robert DiPierdomenico, among others, in Cork, Ireland.
The maiden Series was also played in Dublin, while the first-ever Series down under was hosted at the WACA and was followed by matches at Waverley and Football Park.
A record crowd of 82,127 packed into Croke Park, Dublin for the final game of the 2006 series, while the Australian International Rules crowd record sits at 64,326 for a 1999 game at the MCG.
