Players done waiting for once-in-a-decade showdown
Will Nicholas |
When the AFLW put on its last representative clash in 2017, there was not a single Irish player on any club’s roster.
Now there are 46, enough to form their own representative team and give the Aussies a run for their money.
On Saturday, players will trade their club strips for national guernseys in a one-off Origin-style clash in front of a sold-out North Sydney Oval.
Despite grumblings about the second-tier venue, the international match-up at the packed arena will reflect how far the 10-year-old competition has come and how far people have come to compete.
Australia captain Jasmine Garner (North Melbourne) starred in the one previous representative fixture: Victoria v the Allies at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium in September 2017, when the fledgling tournament was just one season old.
“I just remember being so excited for it,” she told AAP.
“It was a lot of fun to get to play with the best players and I think it’s something we can just keep building on.”
Orla O’Dwyer, who captains the Irish outfit, was about as far away as possible – in Tipperary playing Gaelic football.
“It’s like a full-circle moment,” she said.
“With teammates I’ve played with back home in Ireland, having such a strong team out there … just to give the Aussies a good chance to play against them.
“All the girls … kind of took a risk by giving up being a household name back home and coming out here and trying something new.
“Coming to a new country, new team, new sport, just trying to get a chance to play professional football.”
The All-Australian, who has played 82 AFLW games for the Brisbane Lions since debuting in 2020, is one of about 129,000 Irish to have made their way Down Under chasing work and warmer weather.
Approximately a those live in Sydney, where Australia and Ireland will take to the field.
Aussie rules offers Gaelic footballers livelihoods they could not dream of at home, where the sport is strictly amateurs only.
It has enticed a whopping 76 Irish women into AFLW teams since the competition began.
“They’ve had a huge impact on our competition, they’ve made our game better,” Garner said.
“We just love the way they play. They’re exciting, sometimes a bit unpredictable, but it’s just what they bring.”
Ireland will nevertheless enter the contest as underdogs against an Aussie team stacked with formidable talent from front to back.
But they will challenge the home side’s depth with sheer athleticism – speed, stamina and strength in the air – with even Garner admitting she will have trouble keeping pace with the women in green.
“I wouldn’t want to be chasing one of them back to goal or getting chased,” she added.
“They’re super quick. It’s going to be two different game styles.”
AAP