NORTH Melbourne superstar Vikki Wall had a dream to represent Ireland in the Olympics.

While it didn't quite work out as she'd planned, she doesn't have any regrets about putting her life on hold to pursue an opportunity she describes as "incredible".

Wall missed the 2023 AFLW season after accepting an opportunity with Ireland's rugby sevens program ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The highly-credentialed Gaelic footballer had won two consecutive Player of the Year awards for Meath before making the move to Australian shores for her debut campaign in season seven, where she played all 13 matches to finish inside the top five for the AFLPA's Best First Year Player award.

She had thrived in the royal blue and white under coach Darren Crocker, making a name for herself as a powerful forward who never shirked a contest.

But then came a call she wasn't expecting.

Wall was given the opportunity to participate in Ireland's women's rugby sevens program, the possibility of representing her home nation on the biggest stage of all something she simply couldn't pass up.

And so, in August of last year began the start of new beginnings for the star Roo, who packed her bags to chase the opportunity of a lifetime.

"I had a really, really good year, just experiencing a completely different sport. I got to do a fair bit of travel, we travelled quite a lot for the World Series and training camps," Wall told AFL.com.au.

"It was interesting just to see how a different sports environment works, the professionalism and stuff like that. It's obviously half the size of a [squad] here and the same scale of football, its way, way smaller. It was definitely a good experience."

Ireland had qualified for the Olympics last summer and were looking to bolster their squad ahead of the campaign, with Wall scouted as a potential cross-code star.

"They just reached out and I had a few catch-ups with them and stuff like that. We discussed what they thought I could bring to the program and hopefully I did bring some of that," she said.

Wall said there were definitely times where she questioned herself during a tough transition, but did she hesitate at the opportunity? Absolutely not.

"There was maybe a bit of stupidity or maybe naivety where you think you can do these things. It didn't really go through my head; I was straight into it before maybe even thinking about the things that could go wrong," she said.

"But I think you have to be like that otherwise you're not going to do something fully.

"There were definitely a lot of moments of doubt and asking, 'What am I doing?' in the first few months. It was a tough transition but the experience I had throughout the year, I was really glad that I did it."

Wall fought for her place in the talented Irish line-up, admitting it gave her a greater understanding on what it was like to really question your place in a team.

"In comparison to other games I've played, I definitely got a lot less game time than what I'm used to," she said.

"It's seven players on a pitch with very few subs, so there's way less opportunities for [squad] members.

"Being on the other side of that, I've been very privileged in sport up until now, all teams talk about your values and all these things, but how well they're implemented from the other side of a squad list.

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"If you're not getting picked for all the tours or for games, [it's about] how you still have a job to do. We still have to show up and how you hold yourself in that manner versus if you're getting picked every week, that kind of balances out amongst the whole squad.

"I definitely learned a lot from the experience, just from a holistic approach to sport."

Despite missing out on the squad to participate in Paris, Wall was fortunate enough to travel to France to watch her teammates battle it out on the world stage.

While she admitted the experience was tinged with a sense of disappointment for missing out on a spot on the team, she was full of pride for the girls she had grown so close with.

"That was a pretty cool experience as a whole, but I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a bit of disappointment, because everyone wants to be on the pitch," she said.

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"But there was a sense of pride as well. You get to know the girls, there were some who had been involved for 10 years and missed out on qualification twice and then in their 10th year, get to the Olympics.

"You can kind of compartmentalise your own feelings and very much look at it as a bigger picture and see how good it was for those players. It was a really good experience to see them, obviously they didn't finish where they wanted to, but it was pretty elite to go over."

Wall said she wasn't done with her Olympic dream just yet.

"I don't think my time in Rugby 7s is done … I'd like to give it another pop," she said.

"We'll see with the timing of competitions how things work out going forward.

"What does my future look like? I have no idea. I'm just enjoying my time here at the moment and just trying not to think about it too much.

"I know I'm here for this season and I want to really enjoy it. I'll make plans going forward from there, but right now I'm not thinking about what's next, because I think sometimes you can get too stuck down with that and should instead live in the moment."

The Roos have started their 2024 campaign in strong form, dismantling reigning premier Brisbane by 44 points before a hard-fought draw against Geelong in week two.

The Roos went so close last year, going down in an epic Grand Final against the Lions by 17 points, but Wall says the club isn't shying away from chasing the ultimate success this season.

"I don't think anyone would shy away from saying the premiership is the goal, but having the goal and getting to the goal are very different things. There's a lot of good teams in the competition, so we're just taking things week-by-week," she said.

"We celebrate all the wins, but we're wanting to keep backing it up each week and be consistent. We want to put together a really consistent home and away season and then go from there."

The Kangaroos continue their 2024 campaign when they head to Casey Fields to take on Melbourne this Sunday.