THE IRELAND team arrived in Melbourne yesterday after a couple of days down the coast in Lorne and had an outing at the MCG, the venue for Friday night's second International Rules Test against Australia, writes Seán Moran

Although three players - Down's Benny Coulter (back), Kerry's Aidan O'Mahony (hand) and Galway's Finian Hanley (ribs) - needed X-rays yesterday, manager Seán Boylan said he was hopeful all would come through and be available for selection.

"I'd be hopeful but the doctor wants to make sure and we can't take any chance. That's not crying wolf, that's just the reality. Bryan (Cullen), thanks be to God, came through grand today. On the Friday night the leg really annoyed him. Kieran Donaghy had hurt his knee at the end of the match but it seems to be okay, it seems to have settled down."

The manager also discounted any suggestion the three players omitted from the starting line-up last Friday - Paul Finlay, Marty McGrath and Killian Young - would definitely be selected for this week.

"No, there's no guarantee. That's not the way it works. It can't be, unfortunately. It's a very tough call. We'll weigh it up and we'll measure it and that's all we can do."

The management have looked at a recording of the first Test and according to Boylan there were factors that contributed to the high error count.

"First of all, looking at the pace of it, it was very quick, very fast, very competitive. There seemed to be plenty of errors at the time but an awful lot of good things in it and an awful lot of the errors, when you see the gust of wind that was in the place and the way it was whipping the ball, it made it very difficult for shooting.

"When you take the number of chances that they had and the number of chances that we had and the number of misses that we had, in normal circumstances even Benny's attempt at the start for an over hitting the bar. These are things you have to factor in and it's only when you're out in the middle of the park that you realise the effect that it has. In saying that I thought the lads coped very well with the intensity. I thought the sportsmanship was exemplary. I just thought it was good."

For selector Eoin Liston, who played in the first international series 24 years ago, the main area of potential improvement is up front and how chances are created, as much as taken.

"I would still say that we are not getting enough marks inside the scoring zone. We are not getting enough quality marks 30 and 35 metres from goal and if you do that then you have obviously got a far better percentage chance of scoring, so we will be trying to play more of the ball up in their half.

"Always in this game - and it was the same in my time - our defence was normally good and you always had good forwards but we always had trouble getting enough ball in there."

Liston's heir as Kerry full forward, Kieran Donaghy, was one of the most effective Irish players in the first Test. After a slow start he got into his stride and made a significant contribution both up front and around the middle.

The current All Star acknowledged he was finding the game easier to get to grips with now than he had two years ago when first playing for Ireland.

"I think I was a bit all over the place in my first year. I was after winning the All-Ireland and my head was a bit scattered and I just had so many things on - I had people pulling off me left, right and centre. Mentally I don't think I was ready for it and I don't think I played that well in Galway and as a result I got dropped for the game in Croke Park, which was probably a blessing in hindsight. It was good to get a good run-out this time and I feel a bit more confident. I feel I know a bit more about the game."

According to the player he was asked to perform a dual task by providing a presence in the middle at the start of the match and restarts and by moving up front to create a target for early ball, as he did spectacularly on one occasion with a mark in front of goal although overall the quality of the service wasn't great.

"I suppose I am up for the throw-ins and the rucks and that kind of stuff. I suppose that is a kind of automatic position at the start of the game and I might stay out there for two or three minutes but then Seán Marty (Lockhart, team runner) came running in to to tell me to go to full forward."

Donaghy proved a match winner in one indisputable sense: it was he who spotted that Ireland had been left a point short at the end of the first half - a margin by which the team would ultimately win the Test.

"I touched it on to Stevie (McDonnell) and he nearly got a goal and the ball rolled over the line. I looked at the scoreboard and we were 18 and I knew that we were 18 before that with a few minutes to go and when I looked up coming off at half-time it was still 18 so I went over to Steve McBurney, the referee, who listened to me - which is a change - and he ran up to his umpires and checked and decided to award the point. When I came out in the second half it was 19-all and it was a vital point at the end and it is good that he did award me. Steve is a good guy with common sense and he will listen to you and what you have to say."

He says he wasn't too discomfited by the physical presence of the opposition. "I have come across a fair few physical full backs in my time. I think I am used to the physical stakes at this stage. They are solid, they are very strong and the fellow that was on me, (Michael) Firrito, is a big strong man and there is another fella, (Drew) Petrie, and he is even a bigger man and in the second half when I caught a few balls, it seemed to be him that was put in on me and I would expect him to be on me again the next day."

Finally, asked about the likely appointment of Jack O'Connor as Kerry manager, Donaghy for once pulled out of a challenge: "I am a long way from (home) here so I will pass on that. Ye can make up your own minds."