Australia defeated Ireland in last year's series in Dublin

Ireland's International Rules manager John O'Keeffe has insisted that his team can fight back to win the series in Friday's decisive second Test in Melbourne.

Australia claimed a deserved 56-46 win in Friday's opener in Perth.

The Ireland squandered a 14-point lead after the opening quarter in being handed a lesson by Gary Lyon's side.

However, O'Keeffe feels his team can still win the series and the Irish boss is likely to be boosted by the return to fitness of Tipperary star Declan Browne who missed the Perth game.

"We can get it back. It's only a couple of scores in this game. We can recover the ground," said O'Keeffe.

Australian coach Gary Lyon, despite his delight at his team's superb performance, insisted that the series was far from over.

"We were able to turn around a 14-point deficit here in Perth so going to the MCG with 10 points up is not that much of an advantage," he said.