GAELIC GAMES:It's clear now after this series that our kicking skills are in serious decline. That's a sad indictment of our game and we need to review our coaching from under-age upwards, writes JOHN O'KEEFFE

I’D CREDIT both teams with the fact that the international concept is alive and well with all the evidence suggesting it’s evolving in the right direction. It provided a contest as well as, eventually, a spectacle and was played in the right spirit.

Despite the second Test being a superior contest to the previous week in Limerick, Australia still looked in control for most of the match. They set out their stall early on to take charge of the match by retreating and cutting out space to ensure that Ireland didn’t get goal chances.

I expect Australia thought that we’d put everything into trying to get back on level terms in the first two quarters although that’s not the way it turned out.

Throughout the series they were the better team, attacking down the wings and supporting very cleverly. Ireland found it very difficult to defend especially when Australia switched the ball from one wing to the other and opened up the defence.

Players like Adam Goodes, Dane Swan, Todd Banfield and Brad Green all proved themselves excellent kickers of the ball and their execution of three-pointers – although not of the standard they had set in Limerick – was still better than Ireland’s.

Over the two Tests that was our downfall, not kicking the ‘overs’ and not creating enough goal opportunities.

Unusually the Irish got stronger as the match progressed and it was commendable that in the third quarter they decided to go for it. Obviously they felt that pride was at stake in front of an excellent home crowd.

Although they put so much into turning the game around, the old failings were there with loose kicking and the hopeful lashing of ball up the field more in hope or desperation than anything else. Possession is vital in this game and we didn’t retain it with our kick-passing as well as Australia managed to do.

We’re lagging behind the AFL players in our execution of the fist pass, which enables them to work their way out from defensive positions and is definitely more effective than the hand pass in Gaelic football.

Another aspect of their superiority is the instinct to play heads-up football – aware of movement and options – by moving possession quickly.

It’s also clear now that our kicking skills are in serious decline. If we are to start winning in this series again we need to bring more kicking back into our football, which is turning into a hand-passing possession game. We should be light years ahead of the Australians in kicking the round ball. Instead they’re better than we are. That’s a sad indictment of our game and we need to review our coaching from under-age upwards.

For instance Finian Hanley is a fine full back but I don’t think he kicked a ball once in the series and in general we gave away possession through poor kick-passing out of defence.

The other contrast between the teams is ability to function under pressure. This was clearly seen in the fourth quarter. We didn’t seem able to believe that we had so much possession and appeared to panic when the realisation sank in that the series was there for the taking. Ireland needed composure and clinical finishing rather than a series of one-pointers.

Michael Murphy showed what he hadn’t in Limerick when kicking two of the best ‘overs’ of the series. Maybe he could have been used more because we needed a target man up front. Tommy Walsh did well around the middle and was one of the few Irish players able to take contested ball in the air.

Kevin McKernan stood out for me and must have run Colm Begley close for the GAA player of the series. He’s exactly the sort of player suited to the international game. Australian coach Mick Malthouse had obviously done his homework after the first Test. He closed down Stephen Cluxton’s kick-outs, forcing him to go long on several occasions, which inevitably led to Ireland losing the ball.

Overall this series has advanced the international concept. There is very little to be changed in terms of the rules. You can see that Australia are currently putting more thought, analysis and innovation into winning. The onus is on us to improve.

John O’Keeffe was manager of Ireland in the 2002 and ’03 International Rules series.