Back to square one. It was possible to feel a bit depressed by the weekend's International Rules conclusion at Croke Park despite the obvious euphoria of a home win and the presence of a big, enthusiastic crowd.

The whole concept needed to be a success in Ireland if it was to have any hope even of running the four-year trial period, let alone becoming an annual event. That it certainly was a success is good news. A record crowd witnessed the decisive second test and the game itself has become an unreservedly attractive spectacle.

As has been pointed out, the hard questions of this project are going to be asked in Australia where interest in the hybrid game has always lagged behind that on this side of the world. Whereas it would have been a disaster if the Irish response had been less than expected, the success still leaves the series back where it started in 1984.

That year's third test established the record attendance - 32,318 - which stood until last Sunday's 35,221. Yet in all that time, interest in Australia has never ignited. Accordingly the big question of this year's series is to what extent it changed perceptions in Australia. And the answer to that is at best ambiguous.

There is little that can be done to improve the game as it stands. It is now faster than either of its constituent parts, Australian Rules and Gaelic football. It has been purged of the mindless machismo which characterised the approach of both countries at various stages of the early series and is now a game with the premium on skill and athleticism.

(It's worth acknowledging, however, that within the GAA there is no unanimity about these skills, whatever about the athleticism. Bobby Miller, the former Carlow and Eire Og coach currently in charge of Baltinglass, was at pains to point out that faster does not mean better and that hoofing the ball into big men was a type of game beyond which Gaelic football had evolved over the last two decades.)

Both sides showed an impressive ability to clarify any grey areas with last week's meeting between officials and team coaches Colm O'Rourke and Leigh Matthews. At his first press conference of the tour, Matthews drew attention - half in jest but wholly in earnest - to the different concepts of violence in both codes.

That such potential misunderstandings never flared into anything serious was testimony to the discipline of both teams and their unequivocal acceptance that brawling would poison the series in the long term.

Even with all these achievements in hand, there is little to indicate that the Australians have been enthused by this exciting game.

The question of the oval ball has been raised before but despite some interest expressed in playing with it by Irish players on the 1990 tour, there has been an unyielding consensus this time that the idea is unworkable.

Matthews said he believed Ireland "would be lucky to touch" an oval ball if they were contesting it with the Australians. Dublin player Brian Stynes, brother of Jim and one of Ireland's most impressive performers in the International series, has experience of playing Aussie Rules in Melbourne. At Sunday's press conference, he concurred with Matthews's bleak assessment of Ireland's chances of adapting to the oval ball.

With the game committed to the round ball, International Rules must now be sold on its own merits Down Under. How sure can we be that the environment has changed there in the last eight years?

Initial indications aren't encouraging despite the engagement of the AFL (Australian Football League) at official level. This is in contrast to the ad hoc chaos of previous tours which were organised by private promoters.

Aside from a breathtaking line in exaggeration (the official programme in 1990 described the crowds in Ireland during the 1987 series as 30,000 for the first two matches and 50,000 for the third; actual figures - 15,532, 15,485 and 27,023), this arrangement yielded little in terms of public interest.

Over the last two weeks, Australian media interest has been largely catered for by Australian journalists resident on this side of the world. Channel 7, the sports-dedicated station, carried the matches live but time difference meant broadcasts starting at midnight.

Even with official sanction, the series in Australia next year faces problems of commitment. These were starkly illustrated after Sunday's match when visiting coach Matthews bluntly spelt out where he felt his game stood in relation to the experiment.

Matthews's straightforward observations are useful in that the last thing the series needs is to proceed with Pollyanna doing the analysis. From the very start, the Australian coach outlined his country's perception of International Rules as "80 or 90 per cent Gaelic football" and cheerfully accepted that the series mattered more to the Irish.

Last Sunday, defeat - predictably - hadn't made him any less blase. The cracks came thick and fast. The series was compared to the Vietnam war (it didn't matter at home as much as it did over there), the Aussies wouldn't be losing sleep every night for the next three months over the defeat.

More telling was the general attitude to the future of the series. When asked whether the criteria for picking the Australian panel should change from being a reward for selection as an All-Australian (equivalent of All Stars) to being a recognition of the specific skills required by International Rules, Matthews replied that it should remain as a reward.

The problem here is that whereas travelling to Ireland and whooping it up in the west does indeed constitute a reward (the coach diplomatically observed that his two ruckmen - two six feet nine behemoths - were little use in the international game but had travelled "for their own reasons"), next year will be different.

Participating in this series requires players to give up weeks of their off-season and several chose not to do so this year even with a trip on offer. What is the likely response to the home series when that incentive isn't there?

Matthews said he believed players who had represented their country would want to do so again. But he again emphasised the fact that October is the AFL's month of rest and that the lure of representative competition would require International Rules to become "ingrained".

At the start of the tour eight years ago, Ireland's players swore off drink until the test series was won. Last week, the Australians went on the batter in Galway and Cong and didn't touch a round ball for four days.

It's hard to be too severe on the Australians. They entered this partnership on their own terms and the relationship still looks like unrequieted love.