Second test ‘will be no anti-climax’

THE GAA are confident that Sunday’s second test against Australia in the International Rules Series will not be an anti-climax, despite the hosts’ 77-41 victory at Croke Park.

Marketing manager Dermot Power said that 40,000 tickets had been pre-sold for the game and that he was hopeful for an attendance of around 60,000.

Power said that due to the competition from county championship deciders nationwide, the GAA had targeted a "different audience" to that normally in Croke Park.

"It was done with a bias towards urban areas, towards Dublin and towards the Under-35s," he said.

"If you looked around Croke Park on Sunday you would have seen an awful lot of new faces.

"Hopefully they will have enjoyed it and come back for the real thing next year!"

Power, meanwhile, is predicting a much tougher challenge from the visitors next weekend.

"We know from visiting their country they are a very proud sporting nation. There's one thing for sure, this Australian team will be criticised heavily at home. They will not be happy with their performance. You will see a completely different team. They will come out with all guns firing."

Meanwhile, Australian defender Jared Crouch returned home yesterday for surgery after suffering a broken collar bone early in the first test.

"It was just a clash. The ball was there, one of the Irish guys was running out and we collided. I must have just hit him with the wrong part of my shoulder. I knew there and then, I could feel a clicking and I could feel blood rushing to the area. It's one of these things we do probably 100 times a year in our game and for some reason I just hit him in the wrong spot."

Crouch was keen to claim some of the credit for Tadhg Kennelly's super performance. "I'm going to claim that I taught him everything he knows. When he first came over to Australia he lived with me for a year," he said.

"And he has learned a lot about our game since then."

Meanwhile, Declan Browne will spend an anxious few days before discovering if he will play some role in the decisive test.

His involvement in the Tipperary SFC final on Saturday resulted in the Irish management deciding not to include him in their 23 man panel.

But, as determined as he is to play in the second test, his main concern is that the Irish team clinches the series.

He reacted positively to being left out of the panel at the weekend in spite of having travelled up to Dublin to train in Croke Park on Friday night before returning home to play for Moyle Rovers in Saturday's county final.

"It was a hard one to call, but I had a fair idea that I would not be playing.

"What is important at this stage is that people realise the job is only half done. You just do not know what's going to happen in this game. The Australians could get an early goal or two and get back into contention.

"I was delighted with the way the Irish lads played, but we have a job to finish."

The response of the Irish to the challenge of improving their scoring rate and being stronger in the tackle had impressed him.

"Everything possible had been worked on in the training. And luckily on the day, it all worked out. When the team plays well everything is seen as having worked, but it would be a different story if they played badly. At this level, there's a very fine line between success and failure.

"It's out of my hands whether I play or not, that's up to the manager. Either way, all that matters is that we win, irrespective of who is playing.

"It's vital because we have not won a series for three years," he added.