Nearly three dozen Irish women will feature in the new AFLW season which kicks off on Friday during the men’s pre-finals bye.
Nine of the 33 Irish players are from the north with Armagh Vice-Captain Lauren McConville, Donegal’s Amy Boyle-Carr, and Fermanagh star Blaithin Bogue all newcomers to the competition.
New AFLW boss Emma Moore recently revealed that setting a concrete date for the women’s competition was one of her first priorities.
The current schedule runs from August to November with last year’s Grand Final in early December.
Irish AFLW players have taken advantage of the opportunity to play in the GAA without any restrictions on their availability during AFLW off-seasons, but a potential change of date could result in the two codes clashing on the calendar.
Whether this impacts the availability of Irish GAA players in the future remains to be seen but Moore has already confirmed that AFLW is set for expansion which opens the door to more Irish recruits in future seasons.
The 18-team competition, which is now 11 games plus finals, will expand to 12 regular-season rounds by 2025, and if key audience metrics (average attendance of 6000 fans, average broadcast viewers of 100,000) are achieved a further two rounds will be added to the competition.
Last year, the Brisbane Lions won the AFLW Grand Final when they defeated the North Melbourne Kangaroos 27-44 at the North Melbourne Recreation Reserve.
Kangaroos coach Darren Crocker believes Tempo excitement machine Blaithin Bogue is an AFLW star in the making.
Bogue is unlikely to feature in round one but has already shown plenty to suggest she is a quick learner.
Crocker said: “Blaithin is really athletic, once she picks up the game a little bit more, and the way we want to play, the nuances of the game and some of the fundamentals, she’s going to be pretty exciting to watch.”
The Ulster women to feature in AFLW this season are:
Amy Boyle-Carr (Adelaide Crows)
Amy Mulholland (Fremantle Dockers)
Lauren McConville/ Niamh McLaughlin/ Cara McCrossan/ Clara Fitzpatrick (Gold Coast Suns)
Blaithin Mackin (Melbourne Demons)
Blaithin Bogue (North Melbourne Kangaroos)
Tanya Kennedy (Sydney Swans)
Blaithin Mackin, who memorably kicked the opening goal for Melbourne in their victory in the 2022 AFLW final against the Brisbane Lions, is the only AFLW Premiership winner on the list.
The full list of Irish AFLW players is as follows:
Adelaide Crows: Niamh Kelly (Mayo), Amy Boyle Carr (Donegal)
Brisbane Lions: Orla O’Dwyer (Tipperary), Jennifer Dunne (Dublin)
Carlton: Dayna Finn (Mayo)
Collingwood: Sarah Rowe (Mayo), Muireann Atkinson (Monaghan)
Fremantle Dockers: Aisling McCarthy (Tipperary), Aine Tighe (Leitrim) Orlagh Lally (Meath), Amy Mulholland (Armagh), Joanne Cregg (Roscommon)
Geelong: Rachel Kearns (Mayo), Anna-Rose Kennedy (Tipperary), Aishling Moloney ( Tipperary), Kate Kenny (Offaly)
Gold Coast Suns: Clara Fitzpatrick (Down), Niamh McLaughlin (Donegal), Cara McCrossan (Tyrone), Lauren McConville (Armagh)
GWS Giant: Eilish O’Dowd (Leitrim-born, represented Dublin)
Hawthorn: Aileen Gilroy (Mayo), Aine McDonagh (Galway)
Melbourne: Sinead Goldrick (Dublin), Blaithin Mackin (Armagh)
North Melbourne: Erika 0′Shea (Cork), Niamh Martin (Tipperary), Vikki Wall (Meath), Bláithín Bogue (Fermanagh)
St Kilda: Grace Kelly (Mayo)
Sydney Swans: Tanya Kennedy (Donegal), Julie O’Sullivan (Kerry), Paris McCarthy (Kerry)
