PEOPLE may ask 'How can a bunch of professionals lose to amateurs?' but the idea of the Irish being amateurs is a pretty shallow one.

They put everything into their Gaelic footy.

The main difference is that we train six hours a day most days, while they're working eight-hour jobs and then going to training.

And I don't think they get paid a great deal of money to play, if at all.

Growing up, it's nearly every young footballer's dream to be paid for playing as a full-time job.

We're fortunate in the AFL, but then I look at Sean Cavanagh and I see the passion that drives him.

Sean is Ireland's captain and I've spoken with him a bit in the last week through our shared media commitments and at a function we had with the Irish boys.

It was good to get some background on the things he does. He works from nine to five and then he does weights or training, getting home at around nine o'clock at night.

He's an accountant during the day and a very, very good footballer on the weekend.

I'm pretty sure he won the equivalent to our Norm Smith Medal, the best player in the grand final, and he's also been named the competition's best player – the same as our Brownlow.

He's had a couple of offers to try his luck in the AFL. Carlton invited him out to have a look, but he didn't want to leave his home in Ireland to pursue another opportunity.

He's got a girlfriend back there and he's proud of where he comes from and what he does. Good on him for sticking to his guns.

Sean's a nice bloke, and I thought the move to bring the two teams together before we played the First Test was a smart one.

Most of our boys walked away with good things to say about the Irish player they sat next to. It was pretty eye-opening, especially to find out that a lot of them are farmers or have jobs like that.

Hearing the GAA president speak about what the series means to them was also pretty stirring, and Nathan Buckley did the same for the Aussies.

There was some really positive feedback from both codes after the dinner.

Things are different from previous series. We never really mingled with the Irish boys and the incidents that came over the last couple of years – the big fight in Ireland and the one with Chris Johnson the year before – did our relationship no favours.

We want to keep this group together for a couple of years and obviously there's going to be changes, but the series heads to Ireland next year. I'm sure 95 per cent of the players playing now will jump all over it if they're available.

Unfortunately in our game there aren't many countries that can play. With Ireland we've made a hybrid game that can suit both codes and it's a rivalry that's going to keep going for a long time.

I'm sure the boys aren't going to jeopardise it, stopping the young guys in the AFL from having the opportunity to represent their country. Most good players should get that chance.

All of the eyes are on the Australian team to not stuff up in any way with our physicality but, trust me, the Irish give as much as they get. It's great.

A couple of times the boys were getting into me and bumping me around, and I looked over and they were doing the same to our forwards.

You don't want to go out and whack anyone, but the physical stuff is part of our game and the Irish obviously want to do the same.

We went out and had a couple of beers together after the game and I've pretty much seen every player, shaken their hand and had a quick chat.

They were delighted with how it went, how fair it was, how hard it was and how close it was.

They also said they look forward to Friday night and, with only one point in it, so do we.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.

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The 2008 Toyota International Rules Series: Australia v Ireland

Second Test – MCG, Melbourne, Friday October 31

Tickets on sale now at ticketmaster.com.au, by calling 1300 136 122 or at a Ticketmaster outlet.

For full coverage of the 2008 series, click here.
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