CARLTON midfielder Kade Simpson says the Australian team will sharpen its skills with the round ball before this week’s deciding game against Ireland.

Simpson, who also played for Australia in the most recent series two years ago, says the side tends to improve in the second game of the series.

“In the first game two years ago in Ireland, the boys took a while to pick up the pace of the game and get used to the round ball,” Simpson said.

“By the end of the game the boys were kicking it pretty well and we can improve during the week to build up to the second game.”

After the 45-44 loss, Simpson said the team would take the result as simply the half-time score rather than a defeat.

The series is decided according to aggregate scores, so Australia effectively has to win this week to claim the series.

“It’s pretty much half-time. It doesn’t really matter if you lose by one point or two points as long as you win the second game by a bigger margin,” he said.

“That’s how we see it and how we will take the second game.”

While the 24-year-old is one of the few Australian team members to have played the game before, he says he feels no extra pressure to lead the side.

“Everyone that is here is a leader at their own AFL club so everyone comes together and knows how to act and how to play. I think everyone looks around and takes a bit off everyone else,” he said.

Simpson says the Australian side will be ruthless in its tackling, which is not part of the traditional Gaelic game. He says it is a matter of which team can make the most of their advantages.

“We’ve been brought up with tackling all our life and I’d say it is one of our advantages but their main advantage is that they were brought up with the round ball so they sort of even each other out.”