BLAITHIN Mackin will finish the 2022 Championship season with Armagh Ladies after signing for Aussie Rules outfit Melbourne Demons.
The athletic midfielder – an Allstar in 2020 - from the Shane O’Neill’s club in Camlough, whose sister Aimee and brothers Ciaran and Connaire all play at senior level for the Orchard County, joins Dublin star Sinead Goldrick at ‘The Dees’ who lost out to Adelaide in the 2021 Premiership final.
Mackin is the first ladies’ player from Armagh to switch to Aussie Rules and follows in the footsteps of Ulster natives Joanne Doonan (Fermanagh), Laura Duryea and Aishling Sheridan (Cavan) and Yvonne Bonner and Katy Herron (Donegal) Down Under.
She is set to become one of a number of new Irish recruits in the AFLW. Galway’s Aine McDonagh is set to join Hawthorn, Meath All-Ireland winner Orlagh Lally has been linked with a move to Fremantle while Cork’s Erika O’Shea and Meath’s Vikki Wall (Player of the Year in 2021) are due to make the move to North Melbourne.
The AFLW begins in August and pre-season training started in most clubs on Monday. It is understood that Mackin and Goldrick have been given clearance to play for their respective counties in the championship. Vikki Wall will play with Meath until their title defence ends but O'Shea is understood to be unavailable to Cork.
Mackin and Goldrick could go head-to-head in the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland Championship on July 9. Mackin’s Armagh begin their Group Two campaign on Sunday when they take on reigning All-Ireland champions Meath at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park and then host Monaghan in round three. Meath beat Monaghan 1-13 to 0-1 in the opening round of games, Stacey Grimes hit eight points.
The second-placed team in Group Two meets the winners of Group One (Dublin, Mayo, Tipperary and Cavan) in the All-Ireland quarter-finals and Dublin began with a resounding victory against Cavan, racking up 5-14 to 2-4 at Clann Mhuire where Carla Rowe scored 2-3 for the hosts.
