Ireland team manager Anthony Tohill says he is worried about the sharpness of the Australian players with the round ball before Saturday night's International Rules series opener at the Gaelic Grounds.

Tohill believes the continued improvement of the Australians regarding the unfamiliar ball has eroded his side's natural edge in the hybrid sport.

"It has always been our biggest advantage, the round ball, and in years gone by you could almost allow Australia to have 70 per cent of possession knowing they would not translate it into scores," he said at the pre-match press conference.

"The continual adaptation of the Australian Rules players to the round ball is a worry for us, but something we will work on, putting them under more pressure than they were under on Wednesday night."

Australia had a comfortable mid-week win in a practice match against a young local side in Cork, 4-22-15 (105) to 0-3-3 (12).

But Australia coach Mick Malthouse says his players are not going to be fooled into letting their guard down despite the majority of the home side being amateurs.

"We are not going to be fooled by people thinking that they are not as quick as us and can't use the ball as well as us," he said.

"I won't be walking out of there thinking we are superbly fitter or quicker or use the balls better than the Irish.

"I can tell you now the Irish use the ball far better than us."

Malthouse expected Geelong pair David Wojcinski and Travis Varcoe to be fit for the opening match in the two-game series despite Wojcinski sitting out Friday morning's practice session.

"We are fairly optimistic they will both play," he said.

The weather bureau is predicting clear but fine conditions for Saturday's match, that starts at 7pm (0500 Sunday AEDT).

The second and final match of the series will be played at Dublin's Croke Park on October 30.

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