John Coleman Medallist Matthew Lloyd says he and his Australian teammates will be going all out to beat the Irish in the upcoming AFL / Gaelic Rules series.

The players fly out for the two-match series next Thursday following a four-day camp at Colonial Stadium.

Lloyd, who played in the 1998 series in Dublin, said he has been doing some work with the round ball over the past couple of days in preparation for the series.

"It is a difficult skill to pick up in a short time but I have found it much easier the second time around," Lloyd said today.

"With Australian Rules Football you are taught to kick through the ball. With the round ball you do the complete opposite and have to kick around the ball.

"It is going to take some getting used to for the other Essendon players who haven't played the game before.

"It is something we will want to get right because our kicking for goal has let us down badly in recent series."

Lloyd will be joined by James Hird, Damien Hardwick, Blake Caracella and Justin Blumfield.

Blumfield and Caracella were late inclusions following the withdrawal of teammate Dustin Fletcher and Michael Voss.

The Australians are still to win a series against the Irish. They were beaten last year in Australia and in 1998 in Ireland won the first match by one point but lost the second by six to lose on aggregate.

"The Irish are fanatical about this series and we really want to win both games," Lloyd said.

"These tours are fantastic. The 1998 tour was one of the best things I have ever done in football."

The two matches will be played at Croke Park in Dublin on October 8th and October 15th.