The WACA ground in Perth hosted the most recent International Rules test between Ireland and Australia back in November 1990. It was a low-key affair even by the standards of a series largely ignored by the Australian sporting public. Ireland had already won the series and the third match was a `dead rubber'.

Eugene McGee, the visiting manager, used the occasion to give a run to players who had not figured in the series to date. Australia salvaged some pride by winning and the whole project went into abeyance until this year. As a result that night in Perth brought down the curtain on the international careers of virtually all the Irish players (Wicklow's Kevin O'Brien is the only survivor in tomorrow's panel).

Eoin `Bomber' Liston, the legendary Kerry full forward, and Noel Roche from Clare were two members of the 1990 touring party. They represent extremes on the graph of the international experience. Liston won six All-Ireland medals with Kerry and needed no introduction in 1984 when the first series was inaugurated.

Roche on the other hand laboured long with Clare in the bad days before John Maughan gave the county a taste of the big time in 1992 and the end of Roche's career was adorned with a Munster medal. He was a combative corner back and played for Munster but there was little to suggest that he would become one of Ireland's leading exponents of the hybrid game.

With 10 appearances, the army officer from Kilkee is the most capped Irish player in the history of International Rules. The only two tests he missed were both in Perth: he wasn't selected for the first match in 1986 and was injured in 1990.

Liston played in the 1984 and '90 series, although in 1990 a torn hamstring invalided him for most of the trip with a severely inhibited appearance in the third test the only action he saw. Injury kept him completely out in 1987 whereas a strong feeling of disappointment at the overlooking of Kerry manager Mick O'Dwyer led to his refusal to travel in 1986 under the management of Dublin's Kevin Heffernan.

He explains his close relationship with O'Dwyer at the time: "I was living below in Waterville at the time, playing golf, football and handball with him five days a week. We were just after winning the All-Ireland and I believed he had shown himself the most successful trainer in the game. But he was snubbed.

"He was one of my best friends and I know he would have liked it. Out of loyalty to him, I didn't feel I could go. He was outspoken about the crowd in Ceannarus, often critical but he had won eight All-Irelands in 12 years and was the obvious man for the job.

"Kevin Heffernan rang me up and I said to him, `quite honestly, there's nothing personal about this but I wouldn't feel right going'. I was closer to Micko than anyone in the years between 1978 and '86. And Heffernan in fairness said that it was no problem.

"I was disappointed at some of the lads not being loyal to a mate. But it's up to everyone themselves. I didn't feel comfortable, thought I'd be letting him down."

At his peak, the Bomber was made for International Rules. Big and commanding in the air, he was an obvious target for high ball and with the benefits of the mark (allowed in the game) for someone of his kicking ability, a very dangerous forward.

In 1984, however, other agendas intruded. Under the promptings of John Todd, the excitable Australian coach in the first two series, the Australians adopted excessively physical tactics to compensate for the restrictions on the tackle. Liston remembers the outcome.

"The first one (of the 1984 tests) was in Cork and straight away, Mick Lyons was carted off. My fella didn't hit me but nearly everyone else drew a slap on their man. Terry Daniher (Australian player and captain in 1990) said to me, `this is crazy, it doesn't even happen in our game'. There was a horrible atmosphere afterwards. Players didn't mix or anything.

"In the last match, I went to Barney Rock's rescue after the goalkeeper fouled him fairly badly. Next thing all their players were coming from everywhere, even off the sideline. I thought I'd be killed. The whole thing wasn't very sporting but once the Cork game was out of people's systems, it got better and the games were good. In 1990, there was no scrapping at all."

Roche is fairly dismissive of the brawls. "I wasn't the biggest player, wasn't exactly made for that sort of thing, but to be honest there wasn't a decent slap given in the whole thing."

Otherwise, Ireland were hampered by the traditional problems experienced by the home sides - who have yet to win a series.

"Our preparation was totally wrong," says Liston about 1984. "I remember playing in North Kerry on Saturday, getting a broken nose and having to drive up on Sunday to play against virtual professionals. They had been training together and bonding together.

"I don't think they were noticeably fitter than we were. I'd say our stamina and speed were on a par with theirs, certainly 90 per cent. Flexibility was more of a problem for us but the big difference was their upper body strength which gave them a big advantage."

For Roche, coming from a then footballing backwater, the recognition of international selection was a career highlight. He was arguably the biggest success of the first four series in that his game was suited to International Rules in a way that transcended his Gaelic football potential. Determined, with great reserves of concentration, stamina and mental strength, he tracked the Australian runners, the link-men at the heart of the team's forward movement.

"It's still fresh in my mind. Coming from a place like Clare, it was great to play with Jacko (O'Shea) and Greg Blaney and players like that. Clare hadn't come on the scene at that stage so for me, playing with great players and playing for my country was a great experience. Basically, the best thing was playing for the country.

"Personally I'd hope it would continue. Finances will dictate everything but a big majority of players would give their eye-teeth to play for Ireland. Fellas would literally have come out in a suitcase to be part of it."

His experience of the game made a fan of Liston who already had an interest in Australian Rules and had toured Down Under with Kerry in 1981.

"I played a lot of it and liked it a lot. I was always a fan of Aussie Rules and knew a good few of the players even before the series. The type of players you need are good ball winners, very mobile fellas with quick hands and good peripheral vision. You adjust very quickly once you get nailed in possession.

"The big emphasis in this (International Rules) is on accurate kicking. The best ball is one coming in at chest height - not one bouncing a little in front of you which is the big advantage in Gaelic football - where a player is rewarded for a good catch."

Breaking the game down, Roche sees a number of attributes he believes necessary for success.

"The three segments I saw in the game were: stamina, having a man to run up and down the field; physique, big men to win possession and slow down the game, hold the ball up by taking a mark; finishers, in all shapes and sizes small or large but speedy like James McCartan in 1990.

"Jim Stynes was a marvellous athlete and could cover the field. If we'd had him in 1987, we'd have won the series the way we did in 1990."

One of the central compromises made in terms of the rules has been the concession by the Australians of the round ball which is a great advantage to Ireland. It has occasionally been speculated that the Irish might try a match with the oval ball. Liston is sceptical about the idea.

"No. We (Kerry) went over in 1981 and played the Bulldogs in Adelaide. It was basically Gaelic and we used a round ball in the first half and scored about 13-25. Then we switched the ball (to an oval shape) for the second half and they scored about 13-25. It would take a lot for our players to adjust to the oval ball. Straight on, it's okay and you can kick it long distances but for a shorter kick, over 40 yards or so, it's harder to control."