Lions ace and cricket fan Jamie George looks to pile misery on Wallabies with celebration

Jamie George was in the air for nearly two days as he raced to join the Lions and is desperate for his marathon trip to be rewarded with an Ashes-style celebration at the MCG.

Hooker George was in Argentina when he got called up by boss Andy Farrell to come on his third tour and starts against the First Nations & Pasifika side in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning's game is the last chance for players to stake a claim for a spot in Saturday's second Test against Australia, with the Lions holding a 1-0 lead in the three-game series.

The 34-year-old has a shot at a bench spot this weekend if all goes well on Tuesday with Luke Cowan-Dickie still sidelined, and reckons the travel would be worth it if he nailed a first series win in his third Lions tour after being initially left out this time.

And cricket fan George has vowed to emulate Graeme Swann, and his famous sprinkler celebration after England retained the Ashes in Melbourne in the 2010-11 series, if the Lions get the job done at the weekend.

George joked: "I see myself as a sort of Graeme Swann figure. Similar characters, both talented blokes. It could happen, yeah, who knows."

He added: "Door to door from Argentina it was about 47 hours travel from San Juan to Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires to Rio, Rio to Dubai, Dubai to Brisbane. So, I gave the world a good lap.

"I reflected on the disappointment of not being selected in the initial squad. To be able to represent the Lions again is stuff that dreams are made of.

"It's emotional to be here because I never thought this opportunity was going to come. Now I've got the opportunity to pull the jersey on again and it might be the last time, it might not be.

"I want to do everything I possibly can to win in a Lions jersey because international selection is one thing but winning as a Lion is different. That's what I'm here to do."

George lost his mother, Jane, to cancer last year but father Ian landed in Melbourne on Monday to watch what could be his son's last game in a Lions shirt if he doesn't make the Tests.

George added: "He phoned me in a panic on Saturday, and the flight had been cancelled.

"The bloke is 74 years old, and technology doesn't work too well so he was flapping and stressing but he's landed and buzzing. It's sad my mum is not going to be able to be here but being able to do stuff like this for people like my old man, giving him to opportunity to travel around Australia, to watch his son play for the Lions. That's the special bit about what I do and that is the biggest motivation for me."

But George will be back in Melbourne as a fully-fledged member of the Barmy Army to watch the Ashes the first time they are held here once he has quit rugby.

He quipped: "England don't win there very often. And bucket list stuff for me is watching the Boxing Day Test there and I'll be getting stuck in once I've retired, in the Barmy Army, 100%.

"I'd be in the mix, shirt off, I'd have anywhere between 15 and 20 pints and a tattoo of Joe Root on one arm one of Ben Stokes on the other. How good is it going to be?"