Football operations manager Mark Evans announced in Perth yesterday that Fremantle coach Ross Lyon had agreed to join Australia’s coach Alastair Clarkson as an assistant for the one-off Test against Ireland at Patersons Stadium on November 22.

Patrick Dangerfield, Luke Hodge, Scott Pendlebury and Joel Selwood have also committed to play in this year’s game.

And the AFL has committed to its philosophy of selecting a team of only players who have All-Australian status in a last-ditched effort to keep the concept alive.

Lyon said the opportunity of working with Clarkson and the game’s elite was a no brainer in deciding whether to get involved.

He expects that having an All-Australian side together would see the game played in the intended spirit, which has not always been the case in the past.

“The fact that there will be players of the calibre already mentioned and a serious All-Australian team was a real incentive for me as a coach to work with that quality of athlete that will be representing Australia,” he said.

“Particularly Alastair, as a dual premiership coach, to get the opportunity to work with him and be in an elite environment, and the fact that it was a one-off Test in Perth where the support for the Australian team historically has had crowds upwards of 40,000.

“When I put all that together and for me an opportunity to contribute back to the game and get outside of club land I think will be great for my personal growth, and a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a unique experience.

“When I put all that together it was a really easy decision.”

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire will be the chef de mission for the Australian side, while Gerard Healy has been appointed chairman of selectors and Port Adelaide’s Darren Burgess head of fitness.

Evans said these appointments had proven the AFL was serious about making the team an elite one, in every aspect.

The AFL had also heeded the feedback of senior players who generally believed that a one-off game, rather than playing two Tests, would make participating more attractive.

The players that were consulted by the AFL also asked for the game to be scheduled at the end of their break period, rather than in the middle of it.

"The future of the series could go a couple of ways. We think it's important to collect the very best and participate together in some form, and International Rules is that at the moment, but there's quite some possibility that we might take a series to the United States in the next year or two," Evans said.

“We would bring Ireland to the United State and play at Central Park in New York, and play in Boston and really create some excitement about collecting this group of people together.”

Burgess will liaise with clubs to ensure participating players maintain a fitness level post season that will have them in good shape come game day.

That will mean players spending some of their time off learning to handle the round ball used in the hybrid games. But Lyon doesn’t see that being an issue.

“We talk about it as the off season, but the pros and the best, there’s a reason they are the best - they never stop really,” he said.

“They are in a period of active rest and conditioning so they will just kick it up a gear and present themselves in great shape.

“At the end of the day, for Jim Stynes to comes through and Tadhg Kennelly and there are a few guys in the game now that you can list… unless there are pioneers, risks taken and excitement generated, those stories probably don't happen.

“So I think at any level we can expose our game anywhere in the world and put the best Aussie rules has to offer in one spot, I think it is really exciting.”

Tickets to the one-off Perth Test between Australia and Ireland in Perth on November 22 went on sale on Wednesday.