Seán Moran On Gaelic Games: There's a slight irony in the fact Nickey Brennan, never the greatest presidential enthusiast of the International Rules series, has twice found himself out of the country to discuss the future of the hybrid game at a time of player unrest.

In October he slipped off to Paris with Páraic Duffy to meet AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou just as the Gaelic Players Association were about to conduct a strike ballot.

Last week he was off with Pat Daly and Anthony Tohill to Dubai to conduct further discussions on the subject - at the same time as the biggest diplomatic offensive since Hillsborough 10 years ago was heading for Cork. Brennan hadn't planned it that way and, truth to be told, it was probably hard to enjoy the brief sunshine break given events at home and the seriousness of the business in hand.

The talks in Dubai - selected because the AFL were out in force there for an exhibition match between Collingwood and Adelaide - seem to have been positive and if Central Council agrees the series will resume later this year.

The task of getting it past the counties' delegates shouldn't be underestimated. In the wake of the disastrous second Test in Melbourne in 2005, those present at the following Central Council meeting said the plug would have been pulled there and then had then president, Seán Kelly, not persuaded delegates a thorough review of disciplinary procedures would be undertaken.

In the event these new measures were largely ineffectual, generally because they concentrated on how to punish indiscipline on the field rather than develop more serious consequences off it.

Tightening up on the consequences of getting a red card - prior to 2006, a player could be replaced - was all very well but if there was reluctance on the part of officials to administer the sanction this would be of doubtful value. For instance, after the uninhibited brawling of the second 2006 Test in Croke Park, neither match official found it necessary to wield a red card.

Then there is the question of what impact any such dismissal might have on a player. Suspensions were imposed only for future Tests. Occasionally, as in the case of Chris Johnson who nearly decapitated Tyrone's Philip Jordan in 2005, the suspension will be swingeing and end an international career but there is no indication such an outcome holds any fears for Australian players.

Speculation emerging from last week's meeting suggests the AFL may be ready to embrace a concept of suspension that would extend to their club season. If true that is a major concession and a major surprise in that Australian clubs had always been expected to oppose any prospect of their players missing matches.

That and the proposal that match officials and commissioners of discipline from neutral backgrounds be trained and appointed are also interesting. For the nine years since the series was resumed there have been frequent incidents of complaint and bad feeling from one side about the other side's officials.

The practice of rotating the appointment of referees and umpires didn't help either, just one example of how the GAA approach to its administration of International Rules has been insufficiently focused and too liable to pass important jobs around like snuff at a wake. If a referee does a good job and earns the respect of players, any decision to replace him just for the sake of it was always taking a chance.

If the disciplinary reforms help persuade Central Council the 2005 scenes in Melbourne's Telstra Dome and those in Croke Park a year later are a thing of the past there remain other issues. Principal among those is the recruitment of Irish footballers by AFL clubs. There's not very much that can be done about this and it isn't a widespread phenomenon but there has been a number of very high-profile players, including for the first time some who had played senior for their county, making the move.

The GAA have always made the case that closer ties with the AFL are a pre-requisite of controlling this recruitment and previous co-operation restricted the traffic. Further concessions on this front would help the prospect of the series being green-lighted.

If, however, Central Council does give the go-ahead the question has to be asked: is there any point? It wasn't just the outrageous scenes played out in the two most recent series that cast a doubt over the long-term viability of the game. There was serious evidence the Australians had moved their ability to compete to another level. By appointing a club coach, Kevin Sheedy, and creating a familiar environment for the players, the AFL tightened up on their preparations and Sheedy devised a blueprint based on accuracy with the round ball and high-speed movement.

AFL spokesperson Patrick Keane explained in 2005 the rationale behind the Sheedy appointment, which was a departure from the practice of appointing former players with more media experience than hands-on involvement. "We knew after last year we'd have to improve things. We hadn't done any video work on the Irish although we knew a bit about them but this year there was detailed analysis of how the Irish move, where they run, when they run - just like a club would do in an AFL game.

"That's why we appointed a club coach. The internationals had to be treated like an AFL game with a round ball."

Retired GAA director general Liam Mulvihill made the following point about the lessons of 2006: "Another feature that the second game blanked out of discussion was the extent to which the Australian players were superior to the Irish players in their ball winning, kicking and tackling. While it is difficult to draw comparisons, it is useful to have a yardstick by which the standards of our own game can be measured. On that basis we were given some food for thought."

In statistical terms, between 1998-2004 the teams scored an almost identical number of overs, the equivalent of points in GAA terms - Ireland edging it 176-174. But in the two years of Sheedy's involvement Australia outscored their opponents by 59-39.

Deciding to proceed with another series won't save International Rules in the long term if Ireland can't step up its challenge considerably.