North Melbourne’s Jasmine Garner and Brisbane’s Orla O’Dwyer will captain Australia and Ireland at North Sydney Oval on Saturday 1 August, the first time the two countries have met in a women’s Australian rules match.
The Daily Aus spoke to both captains ahead of what will be a historic meeting.
The match is set to begin at 4:15pm AEST.
Significance
Saturday’s match will be the first time players from Australia’s elite men’s or women’s competitions have represented their country in a game of traditional Australian rules football.
In the past, AFL players have featured in International Rules series, where the sport is adapted into a hybrid between Australian rules and Gaelic football.
Garner said that as an AFLW player she never expected to have the chance to represent her country, adding that the idea used to come up among players collecting their All-Australian blazers, the league’s team of the year.
“There were always chats about how cool it would be if we actually got to go and play for Australia,” she said.
“But we had no one to play against.”
Irish pathway
More than 40 Irish players are on AFLW lists, making Ireland the competition’s largest talent source outside Australia.
Part of the draw is that the AFLW is a professional league, while Gaelic football, the sport nearly every player in the Irish squad grew up playing, is entirely amateur, meaning players aren’t paid.
“Every athlete has to balance full-time work and training,” O’Dwyer said of the sport she played at home.
O’Dwyer said the honour carried similar weight.
“It’s definitely a huge opportunity,” she said.
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“It’s something I’ll look back on more as we progress, and in a few years I’ll think of how big a deal it was.”
O’Dwyer said there were enough similarities between Irish sports like Gaelic football and camogie to make the switch to Australian football work.
She came over in 2020 with about nine other Irish players, recruited through Crosscoders, a program that scouted netball, basketball and Gaelic football players.
Irish players are not just making up numbers.
Five were named in last season‘s All-Australian team, three won their respective club’s best and fairest awards, and three played in last year’s premiership-winning North Melbourne Kangaroos side.
What to expect
Saturday afternoon’s match will be played under AFLW rules with a Sherrin, not the hybrid international rules used in past men’s series.
Garner called the Irish style “a bit unpredictable,” against an Australian game she described as “so structured at times.”
Both expect a chaotic opening, but disagree on how the rest of the game will play out.
Garner predicted Australia would win by six goals while O’Dwyer said the Irish would “kick into our fifth gear” and win by three goals.
How to watch
The match is sold out, with more than 8,000 fans expected at North Sydney Oval.
It starts at 4.15pm AEST on Saturday, 1 August, and will be broadcast on Fox Footy and Kayo Sports (free).
The AFL has also partnered with several Sydney venues to host watch parties.
