DESPITE the many similarities between Gaelic football and AFLW, there was one key difference that appealed to Greater Western Sydney recruit Eilish O'Dowd.

A chance to become a truly professional athlete was a major drawcard for the 180cm ruck, who found herself in demand for her height and athleticism. O'Dowd follows in the footsteps of AFLW stars like Cora Staunton, Orla O'Dwyer, and Aishling Moloney.

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With Gaelic football an amateur competition, O'Dowd works as a primary school teacher by day back in Ireland. While she enjoys teaching Irish language and art, despite being "terrible" at the latter, the appeal of spending the season as a professional athlete was tempting.

"The facilities over here are so different to back home. You've got your physios, doctors, nutritionists, psychologists, all at your doorstep. You don't have that at home," O'Dowd said.

"You kind of have to just make do and try to develop the skills by yourself and with the resources that you have, which isn't much. So, that's a massive part of why I wanted to come over, just experience what it was like to play professionally."

O'Dowd made the 17,000 kilometre move with her boyfriend, Tom, and along the way reunited with some of her closest friends in the harbour city.

"There's a massive Irish community in Sydney," O'Dowd told AFL.com.au.

"A lot of my best friends are actually here as well. It makes it so much easier being over here and away from home.

"I don't have my family or my sisters, and just to spend a bit of time with my best friends, and my boyfriend is here as well. I'm blessed that I have so many people that I'm surrounded by that make me feel less like I'm away from home."

O'Dowd is a well-regarded midfielder in the Irish game, recently winning the All-Ireland Championship with Dublin, playing alongside Brisbane premiership defender Jennifer Dunne.

A chat with Dunne was an important part of O'Dowd's decision-making process when considering the move.

"She did fantastic to be able to come out and even just make her debut… break into one of the top teams in the AFLW competition," O'Dowd said.

"It was nice chatting to her because she had just recently gone through the whole thing… it just reassured me. She was telling me how she went through things and her challenges. It was really nice to know that she just went through it and she got on fine."

While skills from Gaelic football to AFLW are famously transferrable, culturally the sports are very different. Loyalty to one's home county is a priority, and players don't tend to move between teams.

O'Dowd is a rarity in that respect, starting her career with Leitrim before transferring to Dublin last year. But it was all to create a better life balance and retain her love for the sport.

"In Ireland, you play with your club and your county, and you don't play with a different county or club. That's just the way that it is," O'Dowd said.

"I think it is really nice in Ireland, you play where you're from and it comes with a really nice sense of community. For me, it was a little bit different. I was working up in Dublin and I was doing the drive which is about two hours.

"Doing it a couple of time a week as the years went on, I just found my motivation levels lowering. There was one year in particular that I had quite a bad year, I wasn't improving. I (had) just zero motivation to try and improve myself and be the best footballer I could be."

The answer was simple on the surface, but in reality, was a little tougher. But ultimately it was a decision that had to be made. O'Dowd transferred to Dublin, and it was the refresh she needed to continue her improvement.

"I felt I had to push myself more because I was going into a new group of players that I didn't know. They've obviously been playing together for years, so that was difficult in itself, but I also wanted to show the team what I'm about and what skills I have," O'Dowd said.

The move resulted in a championship last year and set her on the path to arrive at the Giants for the 2024 NAB AFLW season.

And now it's about adapting to the oval ball and a new group of athletes, and rising to a challenge once more.

"Part of me wanted to challenge myself, see how I get on trying to learn a new sport and learning new skills," O'Dowd said.

"Challenge myself, and see how it goes."