INTERNATIONAL RULES COUNTDOWN TO FIRST TEST: THE SETTING couldn't be more different. Last August when Kerry defeated Galway in an All-Ireland football quarter-final that was one of the best matches of the championship, Croke Park was deluged by cascading rain and needed all of the stadium's gadgetry, from floodlights to suction pumps, to allow the match to proceed.

Also illuminating the match was a wonderful performance from Michael Meehan, who finished with 10 points - half of them from play. From Atlantis to Perth: in the foyer of the Ireland team's hotel just days before the first Test in this year's International Rules series, Meehan is discussing the heat and whether Ireland will be affected by the unfamiliar glowing orb in the sky.

Temperatures are also rising metaphorically with the future of the series very much on the line after the violence and one-sidedness that sidelined the internationals last year.

"It is definitely. There is a pressure on the series with regards to its survival but I think there has been a lot of work done both on the Australian and Irish sides to make sure it goes ahead and that it continues to keep going. There have been lots of rule changes and tougher suspensions put in place and all of the feedback coming from both camps is they want it to go ahead and they are looking forward to a good game on Friday."

There was some surprise at Meehan's inclusion in the team, as he hadn't enjoyed the best of fortune when making his debut three years ago on Ireland's last visit to Australia. Given his technical accomplishment, Meehan might have expected his instincts to play ball to be a drawback in a game with a full tackle, which places a premium on moving the ball quickly.

"It is a trickier environment because you don't get as long on the ball. If you get clean possession and haven't taken a mark then you have to move it on in one or two seconds because the likelihood is that there will be someone breathing down your neck.

"There is a lot of adjusting in that sense but we're enjoying it and looking forward to the challenge and quite hopeful we can give it a good lash."

In 2005 Ireland foundered on Australia's new game plan of selecting fast, skilful players who would run Ireland ragged and create the space to take scores.

"It was tough," Meehan remembers. "Ireland had won by a record margin the year before and were coming in as hot favourites but the Australians had their homework done and they sorted us out one way or the other. It was a bruising defeat on both days. I wasn't togged out in the second Test but I played in the first one. It was tough going out there."

The most recent series of two years ago attracted notoriety because the running battles on the field at Croke Park and less noticed was the fact that again the AFL team had proved thoroughly superior to Ireland in moving the ball and taking scores.

"We have to be cuter and not be trying to take balls through tackles," he says, "because you can't. It may be what we're used to in Gaelic football but they will just rip you to the ground and pull the ball off you and hurt you.

"We have to move the ball quicker and play fast GAA I suppose and avoid taking the ball into contact. Another thing we really need to do is to take three points at every opportunity we get. If we can keep banging over three-pointers they will go a long way to helping our cause. They were better than us at that. Their kicking has been brilliant for the last couple of series. When they are kicking for the points we have to apply more pressure. It mightn't mean going in and trying to take them down with a tackle because if they brush you off they have a free-kick. Sometimes it's better to shield them and put pressure on."

Indiscipline forced the sidelining of the series and although Meehan wasn't playing that year he remembers the Tests vividly and his apprehension that the concept was facing extinction in the wake of the incidents. "I was at the game in Galway and watched the second one at home. The first Test in Galway was fine and the lads played well and maybe they were allowed to play well. However, we all know what happened after that.

"It was looking doubtful that we'd be here talking about an International Rules series. Nickey Brennan at the time didn't like what happened - and rightly so.

"It took a lot of negotiations and amendments to get us to where we are today but I think everyone here is happy with that and we hope for a good series."