IRISH players have had a significant impact on the growth of the AFLW, but the push and pull those players face when deciding to come to Australia is only getting tougher.

The choice to travel to the other side of the world to play in the AFLW is one that offers both great opportunity, and great sacrifice.

Uncertainty regarding when future seasons might begin, and suggestions that start dates will move steadily earlier in the year, is forcing the 33 active Irish players in 2024, and potential future Irish recruits, to rethink their balance between AFLW careers, and their commitment to their family and county Gaelic football back home.

"The immediate thought is, how does that line up with Gaelic football, or whatever sport the girls want to play in the off-season," Collingwood and County Mayo midfielder Sarah Rowe told AFL.com.au.

The Gaelic All-Ireland Championship runs from April to August each year, and players whose counties compete deep into their finals series are already stretched for time between commitments.

Brisbane's Jennifer Dunne was part of Dublin's championship side in 2023, only arriving in Australia on August 18, before making her AFLW debut on September 17. She went on to play in the Lions' second AFLW premiership, becoming the first person – woman or man – to win both an All-Ireland and AFLW premiership in one year.

Should the AFLW season begin earlier – which is an increasingly likely possibility – Dunne's journey would no longer be replicable.

"You kind of wonder, would Gaelic football be able to change their system so that it would work with the AFLW? Because I do think it's a sad thought, to think that (more than 30) of the best players in Ireland would be out of our game," Rowe said.

"Obviously the point is that everyone wants AFLW to progress as quickly as possible, and at some point, there won't be the option to do both. But currently, where it sits, there seems to still be an option (to play both)."

There is a real fear that should the 2025 AFLW season clash with the Gaelic All-Ireland Championship, the number of Irish players choosing AFLW would diminish significantly, which would then have a substantial impact on the League's flair.

In 2024 alone, Tipperary's Aishling Moloney finished the season as the equal-leading goalkicker across the League, and along with three other Irishwomen – Áine McDonagh (Galway), Aisling McCarthy (Tipperary), and Aileen Gilroy (Mayo) – has been named in the All-Australian squad.

Of the 18 clubs, 13 had at least one Irishwoman listed this year.

The guilt factor

When Irish players decide to move more than 15,000 kilometres to take up a foreign sport, there remains a natural pull toward those left at home.

"Homesickness is a real thing for us, like a really big thing we talk about all the time," Rowe said.

"I think (not being able to play Gaelic) would have a massive impact. Girls would question whether they could come out here and commit fully."

It's not just the homesickness of missing family that hurts, but the respect one must re-earn every time they walk back into their Gaelic football changerooms upon returning each year.

"You have to earn the right to be respected back in Ireland, but you can't just do it for a day, you've got to do it every day," Rowe said.

"If I was to walk back into a Mayo changing room now, I would not speak until I had done my hard work, until I had built the relationships again.

"I'd be like 'No, I'm starting from scratch again'. So, I'd have to earn that back again, and that's every single time."

There are mixed feelings every time a big-name Gaelic footballer is lured toward an AFLW contract. There is a sense of respect, that they have done enough to earn an opportunity to be a paid, professional athlete – something that doesn't exist in Gaelic football, a wholly amateur sport.

But there is also a tinge of resentment that comes along with it.

"Irish people have massive respect for what the AFLW girls are doing over here. But if you go little picture, and you go into your team environments, you actually have to be really honest and ask, 'How does everyone feel about the fact that I've gone away for a couple of years?'" Rowe said.

"The answer would be disappointed. Great that you're doing well, but we really want you here too, you know? So, there is definitely that push, pull … I think you disappoint a lot of people by not going back for sure."

The cumulative load of that homesickness and never-ending mental workload proved too much for Rowe in 2023 who, after five AFLW seasons across four years, sought permission from Collingwood to return to Ireland to play a season of soccer for Bohemians.

Rowe then returned to the Pies for the 2023 season and played the best footy of her career, notching up her 50-game milestone in the process, with a refreshed mindset, and renewed connection to home.

Stuck in limbo

Although AFLW player contracts are now year-round, rather than just for the duration of a pre-season, and season proper, official commitments to clubs only occupy six months of the year. For Australian players, establishing opportunities to study or build careers outside of their football is the focus in this off-season time.

But, unlike those Australian players, Irish players are not afforded such freedoms. Multiple Irish imports have raised concerns that their visas don't allow for work outside of their AFLW player contracts, essentially forcing their lives to be put on hold for the duration of their AFLW careers.

If players choose to commit wholly to Australia, their options outside footy are limited. So, there is a constant sense of displacement.

"I felt like six months of my life I was in Ireland, six months of my life I was in Australia. So you basically have one foot in the door, one foot out the door everywhere you go," Rowe explained.

"So you commit to nothing, you're a bit of a part-timer for everyone, and then the only person who suffers is yourself."

The draw to head home for months at a time is real, but the desire to improve as an AFLW footballer also clouds that decision-making.

It's difficult to commit fully to Australia not only because of the homesickness and visa concerns, but also a sense of duty to give back to their native game.

"It's that pendulum swing for me. It's always a concern that you go, 'Where am I supposed to be?' Because you love what you're doing here, but you're also like, my family are there, my sport is there, I want to give back because that's what Gaelic football is all about," Rowe said.

Pressure doesn't only come from county clubs and teammates, either. Family members, who undoubtedly have players' best interests at heart – both in sport, and in life more broadly – have their own piece to say.

"My dad actually said to me the other day, he goes 'God, you give up so much for sport'," Rowe said.

"He said, 'At the cost of what?' I was like, yeah, you're right, I need more time at home, but I also feel like I need to – and want to – become a better player as well. In order to do that, you've got to put in more time, and you've got to work harder.

"It's easier to be in the system here, than it is to be at home trying to prep for AFLW."

A sense of flair

The Irish dash, attack, and long kick has increasingly been a feature of the AFLW. Gilroy's booming boot toward goal is eye-catching, as is Moloney's movement around traffic inside 50, and Blaithin Mackin's devastating run on the wing.

It's a sense of flair that is largely unique to the Irish cohort, and establishing a balance between developing AFLW-specific techniques, and maintaining that Gaelic energy is something that lives in the front of the Irish players' minds.

"Most of the Irish players, when they're at their best, are just playing on instinct," Rowe said.

"Look at Aileen Gilroy, she's playing in their system, but she also has a bit of free reign … they know that you can't knock the Irish out of the Irish, and you might as well let them do their thing."

There is a concern among the Irish cohort that without the ability to return home and play Gaelic football, they would lose the opportunity to replenish their sense of flair, which they then bring back to Australia each year.

"Our coaches always say that Irish players are so unpredictable, but I'm like, I know exactly what they're trying to do," Rowe said.

"It's so predictable to me, whereas it's so unpredictable to the Australian eye."

There is no simple answer to the problem. The AFLW season will inevitably get longer, and that more than likely means increasingly earlier starts to the season.

There is a desire to keep Irish players in the game because of the style they add, but there will always be a serious pull back to not only their home, but to Gaelic football.

But whatever happens, the sense of pride among the Irish cohort is real.

"From the start, what we feel when we come out, our backs are completely against the wall. We have no idea of Australian culture. We've no idea of what the dressing room feels like, we've no idea what the game is, of the rules," Rowe said.

"There's lots of dark days with that … but Irish players, we have the same mentality because of what the culture of Gaelic football has brought us up to be. It's like get over it, get on with it, get better.

"We come over real bull-headed with our approach, and we probably demand a lot of coaches, but I think overall as a whole, if you were to look at the Irish you go 'Wow, that is incredible' … it's just such a credit and there's so much pride."