codifier Maurice Davin. The founders of GAA and Gaelic football had strong links to Australia There are many more links between the two countries than just Croke. Davin had other links to Australia, including his younger brother Denis, like his other brothers, an Irish athlete, who had emigrated there, and would have been familiar with the country's many customs. Like Davin, GAA founder Michael Cusack had both a brother and a sister John and Mary who had emigrated to Australia at a similar time. There was strong Irish involvement in the early game in Australia Between the 1850s and 1880s, there was a strong Irish Australian involvement in the early history of the game and officials regularly moved between the two countries, for example, Melbourne's Thomas H. Smith and the Brisbane Football Club's first presidents in 1868 and 1870 were all Irish, and Dr Kevin O'Doherty returned to Ireland in 1885, the Victorian rules were well known by them. They were by no means the only Irish Australians involved in the game at the time, there were many, many others. The codes still borrow from each other This rule sharing has evolved the Irish game and continues to the present as recently as 2017 with the GAA's introduction of "the mark" from Australian Football, one of the game's other distinctive features, in order to encourage more spectacular aerial contests or the "high catch" in Gaelic Football. Table of comparison This list is incomplete Field Both codes use grassed fields of similar length, however Australian Football fields are oval shaped, slightly longer and wider, usually cricket fields. Another key difference is the score posts. Australian rules consists of four posts without a crossbar or net, whereas Gaelic football consists of two posts with crossbar and net. The Gaelic football pitch is rectangular, stretching 130–145 metres long and 80–90 metres wide. There are H-shaped goalposts at each end with a net on the bottom section. Lines are marked at distances of 13 m, 20 m and 45 m from each end-line. An Australian Football playing field, is oval shaped, and may be 135–185 m long and 110–155 m wide. It has a centre circle, centre square to control player positioning at start of play, and superficial markings including the 50-metre lines and goal squares. Goal posts are 6.4 metres wide for both codes. Equipment Ball The obvious difference is the ball used.