The Irish panel trained at the Subiaco Oval for the last time today before they return to the Perth venue for the first test in the latest International Rules series against Australia. It was the first time since arriving in Australia that Sean Boylan has had his full squad at his disposal for an entire session.
One of those who arrived late was Mayo's Tom Parsons. The 20-year-old spoke today of the "brilliant experience so far", after arriving yesterday.
"The pitch is brilliant, the lighting is fantastic and we would not have as good lighting in a lot of our Irish stadiums. I'm also surprised at how big the oval pitch is compared to our field back home", Parsons said.
Parsons' biggest concern, however, is getting used to the tackling and the reality that when he is dumped on the ground come game time on Friday, he will not be entitled to a free.
"Our tackling won't be near as physical as the Australians, but we've done a lot of work with rugby coaches. Some of us find it hard to get our heads around it and feel we deserve a free when tackled when we don't, and we just have to get up and get on with it," said the 20-year-old.
"I played Gaelic football on Sunday evening and went up to catch the ball and thought about the mark I will be paid now in this game, so that will take some adjusting to. We have been playing this at trials and training for the last six or seven weeks, though, so we all have the mentality right around the game."
After training the civil engineering student and his teammates joined their opponents as guests of the AFL at King's Park in Perth.
GAA president Nickey Brennan and AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou both spoke of their desire to put the controversial 2006 series behind them.
Australia captain Brent Harvey also presented Ireland skipper Sean Cavanagh with a commemorative edition of a history of the Australian game published to celebrate its 150th anniversary.