International Rules: Ireland's International Rules panel was back on duty after yesterday's departure from the west coast of Australia, writes Seán Moran in Melbourne.

The players had been allowed two days off after the first Test defeat in Perth on Friday, but within an hour of their arrival in Melbourne manager John O'Keeffe had called a training session in the hotel gym.

"We're going to the gym at seven o'clock," he said after checking in. "There's a very well-equipped facility here and we've booked it out for an hour and a half."

Melbourne is a very different environment to Perth. Whereas last week was spent in the pleasant weather of the remote and quiet Western Australia city, the panel is now in a busier urban setting. Not that they'll have much time to notice, what with the second Test only three days away and O'Keeffe planning a double training session today at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The Ireland manager was asked about the decision to give the players a longer break than usual between Tests. In recent years the policy had been to move city the day after the first match.

"I decided beforehand that the players would get two days off. The build-up to the first Test was pretty intense and they were living with a lot of discipline.

"I thought they needed some release from that. Also, some don't know each other that well and it has been an opportunity to socialise.

"We'd a good meeting last night (Sunday) and they're now back on terra firma and their heads are right. There's a lot of confidence that we can do better."

It appears that only one player will find himself up before the disciplinary tribunal, which meets this morning in Melbourne.

Matthew Scarlett, the Australian defender who punched Westmeath's Des Dolan in the first half in Perth, is to be called up.

"Proper order," was O'Keeffe's reaction. "It didn't help Dessie's performance. He was our top scorer in Croke Park last year and didn't score again after the incident on Friday. He was quite shaken by it."

It was also confirmed that a number of the Irish panel would be available to give evidence to the investigating committee. O'Keeffe also said that no Irish player is going forward, which is a lucky break for Kieran McGeeney, who was captured on television punching Australia's Brent Harvey in the stomach.

Cormac McAnallen was shown a yellow card in the aftermath and may have been the victim of mistaken identity.

One of the surprising features of Australian media reaction has been the fuss created about the physical nature of the exchanges. With the exception of a couple of isolated incidents, the match was as short on controversy as any Test since the series was revived in 1998.

Yet former Australia coach Neil Kerley, who was in charge of the team that played in Ireland in 1987, was quite strident in an interview with the Sunday Times.

"We don't have to revert to that to win the game," Kerley said. "It's bloody, stupid stuff and completely unnecessary. I'd hate to see the game tarnished and dispensed with because of these incidents. Ireland might just turn around and say we're not playing in these games anymore."

He also said the AFL may be forced to suspend players from Premiership matches in order to deter undisciplined acts in future. Currently, players can only be suspended from International Rules games.

But O'Keeffe has consistently denied that the Australians have been any more physically intimidating than previously. Yesterday, under further questioning from Australian media, he re-iterated this view.

"No, I don't think so. It was played in a very good spirit overall. No one was going out of their way to play in an ugly spirit."

The biggest problem besetting Ireland last Friday was the inability to finish scores when the opportunities arose. Irish ability to take advantage of the round ball is supposed to be one of the bases of the series.

"I was very pleased with our commitment to winning the ball," said O'Keeffe. "Our poor shooting was inexplicable. It's supposed to be a Gaelic football skill but it let us down badly. And we were let down badly."

O'Keeffe doesn't believe that his team needs to panic facing into Friday's decisive second Test. "I don't think we have to go for it. It's an 80-minute game and we have to settle in. The key for us is when we get the chances, we should take them - like in Croke Park last year.

"We realise that the third quarter is what the Australians call the 'championship quarter', or the moving quarter. They got chances of goals and took three of them, some of them a little fortuitous. Maybe we'll get the breaks this time. One of the goals that went in off Cormac McAnallen had to be called quite fortunate."