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HAWTHORN assistant Cameron Bruce has joined the Australian coaching panel for the final stages of the Virgin Australia International Rules Series.
Bruce, 36, had been in London with several assistant coaches attending the Leaders in Performance conference and visiting professional sporting clubs as part of their professional development organised by the AFL Coaches Association.
The timing of the 10-day course meant Bruce was able to join senior coach Alastair Clarkson, Fremantle's Ross Lyon, Geelong's Chris Scott, Irish/Australian Tadhg Kennelly and chairman of selectors Gerard Healy as preparations heat up for the vital clash.
AFL football operations manager Mark Evans told AFL.com.au Clarkson was looking for an extra body on the bench for support in game analysis on game day.
"We heard that a few AFL coaches were attending the Leaders in Performance conference in London so we contacted a few to see if one was available to come to Ireland for a couple of days," Evans said.
"Cameron jumped at the chance."
Bruce, who played 224 games with Melbourne and 10 with Hawthorn before retiring in 2012, represented Australia in four Tests (all at Croke Park) in the 2002 and 2004 series.
He will support Hawthorn's football analyst Chris Caporaso on the bench during the game.
Caporaso, the sharp-minded man behind the video edits Clarkson has been calling for throughout the two weeks, is the only other Hawk on Australia's off-field team.
North Melbourne club doctor Dr Peter Baquie and Carlton club doctor Dr Rob Vorich have come together to form the medical team.
In between working they have found the odd half an hour to jump on a push-bike to check out New York and Dublin.
West Coast strength and conditioning expert Warren Kofoed has had a worried look only when training is about to begin, taking the responsibility of getting the players back to their clubs in one piece seriously.
Physiotherapists Mark Nagel from Adelaide, Adam Saw from Geelong and Greg Mullings from Fremantle had the unique experience of setting up rubdown tables in Central Park, the New York Jets training facility and Dublin's Croke Park within a week.
Their laid-back demeanour has nothing on Richmond property steward Giuseppe Mamone, who has been responsible for getting bags and people across the world and back safely.
Although intensity and effort are football's biggest clichés they have some justification when applied to Mamone.
Clarkson thanked the team's support staff at a team dinner in Dublin on Wednesday night, highlighted by Kennelly's impassioned talk about Ireland's history and the significance of November 21 to their country's battle for independence from England.
