Kangaroos knew they had a star after hearty Irish meal

Oliver Caffrey | November 27, 2025

As North Melbourne won their first AFLW premiership last November, Blaithin Bogue was watching on as an unknown, uncapped member of the Kangaroos squad.

Twelve months on, the 25-year-old Irishwoman shapes as arguably the most dangerous forward on the ground going into North’s AFLW grand final against the Brisbane Lions.

Debuting in round one this season, Bogue, from Fermanagh in Northern Ireland, has played every game and was named an All-Australian alongside star teammates Jasmine Garner, Ash Riddell and Tahlia Randall.

Proving the home-and-away campaign was no fluke, she ripped open last week’s preliminary final with three goals to help North overcome a scare from Melbourne and book their spot in a third-straight decider.

Bogue has kicked an equal league-best 25 goals this season, level with Port Adelaide’s Indy Tahau, who has only played two less games not having reached finals.

Acknowledging how hard it was to break into the powerful Kangaroos team, who haven’t lost a game since the 2023 grand final, Bogue found it tough being away from home and not playing.

Just a single major in Saturday night’s grand final will mean Bogue has kicked more goals in one season than any AFLW player in the 10-season history of the competition.

“I was on the sidelines watching on, but I was very new to the sport,” she said of her first season in 2024.

“I was just excited for the girls to be playing in the finals.

“With each win, we were getting better and better and it’s transferred into this year as well.”

Rather than give up and go home to family and secure work – she studied pharmacy before arriving in Australia – Bogue went about learning to thrive in the AFLW.

“She sat in our program for 12 months,” North coach Darren Crocker said.

“She didn’t play any AFLW football last year, and she just chipped away, chipped away, learnt a role.

“We identified a player with certain attributes that could play a certain role for us.

“The coaches, the high performance just kept going to work with her.

“She came back early from Ireland and has really driven her development and her career.

“It’s so pleasing to see how well she’s done.”

North, riding high on a 26-game winning streak, have done better than most at recruiting from Ireland.

Bogue’s fellow forward Vikki Wall and Erika O’Shea also come from the Gaelic game.

The Kangaroos had just signed Bogue before the 2024 season when Crocker paid her family a visit.

“I was going over to go and catch up with some of the other Irish girls’ families and the players while they were back home,” Crocker recalls.

“We drove up to a little place called Tempo in County Fermanagh, had a nice big roast dinner with the family on the Sunday night.

“I’ve never left the place so full in my life.”

Being drafted and the dinner happened within two days.

“Once we heard Crock was coming down, mum obviously had a big three-course meal to prepare,” Bogue said.

“We always have a big Sunday dinner, but we don’t normally have a starter and dessert, so if you could come around more often, that’d be good.”

Star North veteran Emma Kearney, who captained last year’s premiership, has been blown away by Bogue’s emergence.

“She’s that hybrid forward; she’s quite good in the air, but then as soon as she’s got opportunities to try to get out the back or really compete and use her speed,” Kearney said.

“It’s been pretty exciting to watch.

“Probably what you don’t see is the work that she’s been able to put in to get herself to where she is.

“Doing extra vision, working on her skills, goal kicking … that’s been really impressive.”