I wouldn't say I was thinking about it all year or anything but the series was in the back of my mind alright.

I was in touch with the 'Bomber' Liston, who's involved this year, back around August and he kept on to me for the last few months just to keep me up to date and make sure I was going to be involved. And you'd get the odd bit of slagging as well from the lads over in Sydney every now and then, the games would be mentioned the odd time.

I suppose sometimes you'd be looking to the end of the season and the last thing you want to do is put the boots on again and go out training. You just want to put the feet up and take a break from it all. I had the disappointment of the final a few weeks ago with Sydney Swans and, in a way, it's good to put that to one side by going out and playing something different.

In fairness, the International Rules is different.

You're representing your country and you just want to be involved and give it your best shot with preparation and the lot.

We've been working really hard to get things right this year. There would be a small bit of work needed to get used to the round ball again after the oval one all year, but having grown up with it, that doesn't take long.

Looking back at last year, the Australians knew themselves that some of what they did was over the top. And to be honest, the players, the coaches, the press and TV, the whole lot were very embarrassed by it. I was over here at the time obviously, but I heard it from a lot of lads. Then when I went back to Australia, I got it again that they weren't hugely impressed. They were criticised over there and rightly so. Some of it was thuggery really and some of the challenges were dangerous and out of place.

Looking at it another way, the majority of it came from one player, so maybe it's wrong to put all their guys in that category. And their players don't do that sort of thing over there playing Aussies Rules, they just don't behave like that, so there's no reason why they should in this series.

But look, there are rules in place this year and I genuinely think it'll cut any serious indiscipline out. The Australians have a real team ethos, everything they do is for the team and the last thing they'd want to be doing is anything that'd harm the whole group. And with the rules in place now, one yellow card means time off the pitch and the rest of the group suffers, so there's no way they're going to get involved in any illegal or foul play.

At the same time, it's a physical game and you don't want to take that element away either. We know here in Ireland that gaelic football is physical, the game we play in Australia is hard and tough as well, so combining the two is bound to lead to some challenges going in.

Still, I wouldn't expect any of the really nasty stuff to go on this time.

It's been a tough year, obviously, with everything that happened. But I spoke about it with family, I had my Mom over visiting recently and we went through the pros and cons of staying on for another while. And in the end we decided, or I decided I guess, to sign a new three-year contract and give it another while. I mean, I'm not tied down by it or anything. If it comes to it next year and it's not working out, I'm sure I can look at things again. But for now I'm happy.

Obviously, losing the Grand Final a few weeks back was tough but there's a little window of opportunity there right now with the players we have at Sydney Swans and that might just last another couple of years. I reckon we've got a chance to win more with this group. And I want to give that a good go to be honest.