Build-up like finals
Australian and St Kilda defender Sam Fisher believes the build-up to Sunday's second International Rules series Test against Ireland at Croke Park has been the
Australian and St Kilda defender Sam Fisher believes the build-up to Sunday's second International Rules series Test against Ireland at Croke Park has been the equivalent of the hype that comes before an AFL final.Fisher said the fact that it was being played at Croke Park - which is expected to set a new record crowd for the most number of people at an International event staged at that venue - meant that it was "definitely" building like an AFL finals match."It's similar to a final. The first game was not so much nervousness, but there was a bit of doubt, because you haven't played the game before and usually when you go into a game, you know what to expect and you know you've done your homework and the guys you're going to play on," Fisher told
afl.com.au."So going into the first game there was a bit of the unknown and a bit of doubt, but no that you know what to expect, it's just a very exciting time.""Definitely, I think it's sold out tomorrow (Sunday) and the stand holds 80,000, so it's going to be like a Grand Final in size and if I get a game - we don't know the team yet - I'm really looking forward to and hopefully I'll get that opportunity, but the boys are really looking forward to it.""We're keen to get the win on the board and take the series home."Fisher, a vastly-underrated performer for the Saints, said he was seizing the moment by touring with some of the great players of the AFL."It's not just representing your country - it's getting to spend the time with guys like Michael Voss, Barry Hall and Dustin Fletcher and those guys that have been around for a long time and it's great to experience some champions of our game," Fisher said."Normally you don't get to play with those guys, so learning from them has been a great asset to me and I'll take a lot out of it."Fisher said the final training session of the tour was "short, sharp and energetic" and the Australians were ready to go for the second Test."We were obviously disappointed with our first Test result, but the boys had a good week on the track this week and really trained hard and we got our skills going better than the week before, so we're really looking forward to tomorrow (Sunday)," Fisher said."We think we've improved a lot. We were making a lot of skill errors in the first couple of trainings, which probably cost us in the end in the first Test … but we've improved in the skills department and we're taking a lot of confidence into the game."