Seán Moran on International Rules: I don't want this column to descend any further than it has to into cliché but I had this conversation with a taxi driver a few days ago and mentioned that the International Rules first test would be played this Friday. At the WACA I said - still under the false impression that the cricket ground and Subiaco, the AFL's Perth venue, were the same place.

Maybe he mistook this error as being indicative of a general ignorance on the matter. If so this was a terrible mistake. Anyway, he remarked on the journey from the airport that he had seen this strange game, a cross between Rules and soccer in his words, and had wondered what it was all about.

His life may as well have flashed before his eyes as my throat cleared with all the menace of a trigger being cocked and I let him have it on the long road to the city.

I don't know if he took fright at the eerie notion that his passenger had somehow become possessed by the spirit of International Rules and wouldn't shut up but - whatever the reason - he claimed to enjoy the hybrid game. It was, he said, so fast and violent.

Violent? It's a while since we heard that one. It turned out he meant in comparison to soccer - which is probably sustainable. But it again demonstrated that the success of the international game has been miraculous. Somehow it has captured the imagination of not only the followers of its constituent codes but also of an extended public that wouldn't normally go to GAA or AFL matches.

This has been particularly impressive in Australia where sporting preferences are so regionalised ("More fans at WACA than SCG" ran the headline about Test cricket attendances in Perth and Sydney in yesterday's West Australian).

Although there are AFL outposts in Adelaide, Perth and Sydney, the Aussie Rules game is overwhelmingly a Melbourne phenomenon.

Selling out Perth's capacity of 45,000 is therefore an achievement. On the last visit of International Rules to the city, only 7,000 turned up in 1990 for what was the final Test of what might be called the first phase of the project, the four series that began in 1984.

But those days are past. The full court press of marketing and promotion that has been agreed on by the AFL and the GAA has radically transformed demand for the game. There isn't much advertising in Perth at present - obviously given that it's sold out - so we'll have to wait a week to see what's happening in Melbourne but the assumption is that everyone will be aware of the second Test.

There are grounds for believing that the Australian record attendance, 64,000 in the MCG four years ago, might be broken due to the number of Irish in town for the rugby match against Australia and the following Tuesday's Melbourne Cup.

But the attraction of the series is no longer a matter of anxiety. Its longer-term viability, however, is always a matter of concern and hinges on the delicate balance between the teams. With just two countries involved, the game can't afford to become dominated by one side or the other.

Whereas the initial worries about this, which see-sawed between the Australians' apparent lack of commitment and a subsequent perceived Irish inability to compete with professionals, have subsided, the question won't fully go away until both countries give it their best shot every year - home as well as away.

There are strong indications the AFL have done that this year. Their training camp has been more intensive and longer and there has been a greater attention to selecting the most suitable players for the international game. There is also continuity, with Garry Lyon now officially the longest serving manager in International Rules history and Shane Crawford retaining the captaincy.

There were signs in Monday's practice match that the team is in good shape and adapting well and Crawford's comments afterwards indicated the home side is becoming irritated at the serial failure to win at home. All of which is good because it has been the patient hope of the GAA that the natural competitiveness of Australian sport would raise the levels of seriousness amongst AFL players.

Now the question is how Ireland will respond to this.

Given that a home win would make history, Ireland have gambled with something approaching bravado on the style of this year's team. Furthermore, for the first time, the GAA team has had to cope with severe injury depletion, including Seamus Moynihan and Tadhg Kennelly, a player who in the words of manager John O'Keeffe "has both codes locked into his head".

Within the GAA there has been for a while the realisation that Ireland couldn't keep relying on the same players - Moynihan, Anthony Tohill (now retired) and Darren Fay. New players would have to be found and greater rotation applied to the annual panels.

But it is the out and out emphasis on speed and skill - and the panel's consequent inexperience - which represents the biggest risk.

Looking at the physique of the Irish, even compared to the supposedly slimmed down Australians, gives an inkling of the challenge ahead. O'Keeffe's plan is to try to impose the Irish game on Australia. Using accurate kick passing to find fast forwards in space and rely on an emphasis on finishing to rack up the needed scores.

It's a high-wire act. In yesterday's practice match Padhraic Joyce, not the quickest forward in Europe by any means, twisted and turned in tight situations before pulling out some sublime kicks into his inside forwards. But this takes nerve when sizeable professional athletes are about to hurl themselves on top of you.

Lyon has said Australia would use their familiarity with the tackle to its best physical advantage. Brains against brawn. It could end up like Sonny Liston and Ali. Or Liston and Floyd Patterson.

Seconds out.