After the visitors won the opening match by just one point, this weekend's game is set to decide the series, with the winner of Friday's match almost guaranteed the Cormac McAnallen Cup.
Montagna believes the status as series decider will guarantee neither side leaves anything out on the MCG turf.
"You would probably think so," Montagna said when asked if the second test would be a fiercer contest than the Subiaco clash.
"Obviously there's a little bit more to play for this week, so you would probably think the intensity would be a little bit higher and we're expecting that and I'm sure the Irish are.
"We don't think there's going to be anything too illegal going on, it's just going to be a physical, intense encounter."
Speaking before training at the MCG on Tuesday, Montagna admitted the Irish team had been more physical than he had anticipated in the series opener.
In response the Australians, while aware of ensuring the improved spirit of the 2008 series is maintained, might need to ramp up their aggression to gain whatever perceived edge they had heading into the series.
"Obviously there's the balance that we've got to find and that's something that we've tried to look at last week … there's going to be a few instances where it's going to be very close to being borderline," Montagna said.
"We still think that one of our advantages is our tackling and our attack on the ball, so that's something that we need to really keep up to keep level with the Irish guys."
Australia might also be keen to adopt a 'run, run, run' philosophy for Friday night's match in a bid to exploit any fitness edge the home side has over the tourists.
After trailing badly early in the final quarter against Ireland, Australia stormed home to fall short by a point, a fact not lost on coach Mick Malthouse and his men.
"That's something that we've looked at early this week that we think we need to identify; that we've got to be able to run more and try to make it a quicker tempo-style of game," Montagna said.
"I think in the first half [last Friday] we were a little bit slow with the ball and didn't move it as quickly and hence we didn't score as much.
"Once we started running the ball and taking them on and moving it quickly and using our pace we probably feel we've got a little bit of an advantage."
A running game calls for more use by hand and less field kicking – something the Aussies are more than comfortable with given the foreign nature of the round ball.
However a rule restriction capping the number of successive handballs made it more difficult for Australia's smaller, pacier men to implement their running game.
"We know we're probably better by hand than we are by foot," Montagna said.
"We've just got to find that balance. I think the four handballs probably got a few guys off guard; we probably wanted to run and handball a little bit more but [didn't] being conscious of the four-handball rule.
"That's something we'll work on today … and hopefully we can use that more Friday night."
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The 2008 Toyota International Rules Series: Australia v Ireland
Second Test – MCG, Melbourne, Friday October 31
Tickets on sale now at ticketmaster.com.au, by calling 1300 136 122 or at a Ticketmaster outlet.
For full coverage of the 2008 series, click here.
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