ADELAIDE forward Patrick Dangerfield hopes his experience as a defender in the International Rules Series will help him improve as a player when he returns to pre-season training.
The 20-year-old spent most of last weekend's first Test in Limerick playing off half-back, although he pushed into attack to kick an over during Australia's seven-point win.
He said he understood why some players had to fill unfamiliar roles in the hybrid game and was looking forward to translating his newly-toned skills back to Australian football once the tour was over.
"It's hard because you're trying to squeeze 23 blokes into a 15-man team and with the way the rotations are, it makes it a lot harder for the coaches," he told afl.com.au.
"It's a lot harder to get a position to play in the forward line in Gaelic footy rather than Aussie Rules.
"It has been a different role but it's been good to change things up a bit and I'll learn from it. I've really only played up forward with streaks through the midfield for Adelaide.
"I'm at half-back at the moment but if I could get back into the forward line this week, it would be nice."
Coleman Medallist Jack Riewoldt was another player who ventured into unfamiliar territory last week when he was used in the midfield and at the centre ball-up, rather than solely at full-forward.
"When you look at the squad, there's eight or nine forwards and you just can't play like that in International Rules," Dangerfield said.
"It just doesn't fit into the team. I'm sure all the players have been involved in playing different positions. It's just about reacquainting yourself to those positions.
"Half-back, it is an easier position to play in International Rules because you're able to rule the play a bit easier because the ball bounces so true.
"It's an important position for us because it's where we generate our run from."
Dangerfield isn't a total stranger to defence, having played his last two seasons of junior football in the backline.
However, he said his attacking role at the Crows meant he was tempted to streak forward in International Rules in the hope of kicking a rare goal.
"You've got to do the simple thing and just kick the over because if you keep carrying it through and you don't score at all ... at the same time, it's a massive difference to six points," he said.
"It has a massive influence on the game because as soon as Ireland scored their under [last week], the crowd went wild and all of a sudden they were back in it.
"Temptation is always there so hopefully we'll score one in this series."
Australia will attempt to claim the International Rules title in Saturday night's second Test at Croke Park in Dublin.
