A SUITCASE full of Carlton badges is currently making its way back to County Laois.

The Blues had already done enough to surprise their new Irish recruit Erone Fitzpatrick last week, naming her for an AFLW debut just a couple of months after she arrived in the country. Flying her parents across the world to see it was just a bonus.

Fitzpatrick didn't know the club were putting her mum and dad, Pat and Elaine, on a plane to watch last Saturday's victory over Gold Coast. It was meant to provide her with a jolt of energy before the game. But she had her suspicions it was coming.

"They're usually always calling and texting me," Fitzpatrick told AFL.com.au.

"When I didn't hear from them for 24 hours, I knew something was fishy. I told them, 'Next time buy wifi on the plane.' They could've carried out the surprise that way. But it was brilliant to have them here for my very first game. It was really special."

It was a short trip, but it gave Fitzpatrick and Carlton all the momentum they needed to eventually hold off Gold Coast's late charge at Ikon Park. Her parents returned last Thursday, but not without clearing the club store of every single one of her player badges first.

"We're very family-orientated back home," she said.

"My auntie, my nanna, my little cousins, they all literally slept on the couch and set their alarms and woke up for the match. They all sent pictures in their Blues merchandise. Mum actually took all my badges to give out back home."

The move to Australia has been a daunting one for Fitzpatrick. At 23 years of age, she was already a two-time member of the Ladies Football Team of the Year and claimed the Leinster Gaelic Football Player of the Year award as a teenager.

Last year, she helped County Laois win its first title in more than 20 years when they claimed the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship crown, before being named the Intermediate Player of the Year that same season.

But a scouting mission, led by the club's former women's football boss Brett Munro – who journeyed to Ireland and helped convince her to move – was temptation enough to ultimately try her hand in Australia.

"At home the county you played with, you can't go to any other county," Fitzpatrick said.

"I think it's bizarre over here. You can be traded and things like that. It's just so new to us. I would've been very close to my team back home. It was very hard leaving them. Obviously, I left halfway through the season too.

"It was very hard, and it was very emotional. We've built such a strong unity at home. I would consider a lot of the girls part of our family. All of our parents are very close, being at all the games.

"But Carlton opened up their arms and welcomed us like their own. It's been absolutely amazing, in terms of the facilities that we have here. There is really no reason that you can't perform at a high level when you have all of this offered to you."

Fitzpatrick made the journey to Australia alongside her countrywoman Dayna Finn, who arrived from Mayo. The club has also since welcomed Longford's Matt Duffy and Kerry's Rob Monahan into its men's program as well.

It's led to an adjustment period for everyone. Fitzpatrick herself admits she's still getting her head around the protected zone rule, and still hasn't quite worked out what's meant to happen when she takes a mark.

"The coach, in the first week, said to me, 'Ron … you can take a mark!' I knew, but it just felt so unnatural. We're so used to playing a fast game back home. If you're standing, you're being shouted at to get going," Fitzpatrick said.

"I didn't give the ball back in one of the sessions and then I kicked it away. At home, we're told 'never give the ball back to the opposition'. I was called for a penalty. Right, give the ball back. That's number one. Maybe I just need to not touch the ball from now on.

"At home, it's a non-contact sport. The tackling was very tough. I remember asking Gab Pound in the middle of one of the sessions, 'How do you tackle properly?' She just said, 'Oh my God … Go and ask the coach!'"

Fitzpatrick might be able to pick up some tips at home, though. Having relocated to Australia a couple of months ago, she ended up moving in with North Melbourne's Irish duo Erika O'Shea and Niamh Martin.

But those tips might dry up this week. With the Blues set to face the Kangaroos at Arden Street on Sunday, there are plenty of bragging rights on the line both in their new Australian home and among their families back in Ireland.

"It should be interesting," Fitzpatrick said.

"We have a no-footy rule in the house, so we don't really talk about it. We try to just unwind at home and not really talk about footy. Your days are so long here and it's all football, football, football.

"We just use the house to de-stress, so no footy talk. But it has been really interesting at home this week. They've been training on different days to me, so at least we've not really been able to talk."