Brown ready for round two

CAMPBELL BROWN, the Australia vice-captain sinbinned in the first test in Perth for a foul on Finian Hanley, said yesterday he…

CAMPBELL BROWN, the Australia vice-captain sinbinned in the first test in Perth for a foul on Finian Hanley, said yesterday he had met the Galway man after the match and shaken hands. He was speaking at a press conference for the Australian team in the MCG.

Ireland's panel has been spending two days on the coast just outside Melbourne but will return today to resume preparations for Friday night's test.

"Yeah, we went up and had dinner after the game and said g'day," said Brown at the MCG yesterday. "I didn't know who I'd hit and he didn't know who had hit him and we shook hands and we're all good."

The Hawthorn premiershipwinning player, who was given the all-clear for Friday's second test after video review, said that on balance he believed his yellow card had been justified but the team would not be compromising its physicality as a result.

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"I thought it (the challenge) was alright but looking back on the replay it was probably borderline so the referee made the right decision. I got my whack and I'm glad to be playing this Friday night.

"I've got a pretty good understanding now," he said of the game's rules on shoulder challenges. "They've got to be side to side. We're going to come out playing tough footy again on Friday night.

"It was a great spectacle, a great game by all reports, and that's what we've got to do."

Asked would he think twice heading into the second test, Campbell's reply was blunt: "No."

He was more ambivalent about whether players had been a bit inhibited about getting stuck in given the bad publicity generated by the two most recent series and the anxiety on the part of both the GAA and AFL that this series be well behaved.

"Maybe initially. We know that what we did in 2006 was overstepping the mark, from both sides - it wasn't just one-sided. This year we're making it a friendly, hard contest and I saw a few of the boys patting the Irish on the back and helping them up after a tackle and that kind of thing so it was a pretty good feel out there."

Brown also gave credit to last week's AFL-sponsored dinner for the teams, which for the first time in recent years gave the players the opportunity to socialise with their opponents in advance of the first test.

"That's something that didn't happen over in Ireland. They've brought it back this year and Wednesday night was fantastic. Even after the game to have a chance to relax and socialise with the Irish was really good. It will help if we get to know them from a different point of view."

Meanwhile, the Australians have added another player to their panel for the forthcoming test.

Geelong premiership defender Josh Hunt comes in as cover for clubmate Max Rooke, who missed out on the Perth test because of an illness picked up when on holiday prior to the series.

Finally, Tadhg Kennelly has spoken out about the indiscipline in 2005 and 2006 that nearly derailed the international series.

In an interview with Daryl Timms in the Herald Sub, the Kerry and Sydney player takes issue with the attitude of some Australians but accepts Ireland also had questions to answer.

"I have no problem if you are a hard Aussie Rules footballer and you do it in Aussie Rules football," said Kennelly, "but if you are not and then you do it in International Rules I think, what is the reason?

"My problem is guys who aren't genuinely hard in Aussie Rules, but think they can do it against the Irish. But it takes two to tango and we have been just as bad."