LAST UPDATE | 14 May

THE FIRST EVER Australian Football League Women’s (AFLW) game between Australia and Ireland will take place this summer.

It was today confirmed that the match will be held on 1 August at the 16,000-capacity North Sydney Oval.

The match will kick off at 4.15pm local time (7.15am Irish time).

In an article on the AFLW website last month, it was reported that “final details are still being hashed out between the AFL and the GAA”.

But an article today confirming the fixture makes no reference to the involvement of the GAA or LGFA (Ladies’ Gaelic Football Association).

In the men’s competition, the AFL has matched up against the GAA before under hybrid rules which combine elements of Australian rules football with Gaelic football, though the last such game took place in 2017.

However, the women’s match will be played under Australian Rules, with the classic “Sherrin” football.

Tipperary’s Colin O’Riordan is reportedly set to lead the Irish side. The former AFL and Gaelic football star is head coach of Sydney Swans women’s team. 

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire noted that a record 39 Irish players featured across the 2025 season, with five named in the prestigious All-Australian team.

“There will be a match between Australia and Ireland announced shortly” said McGuire this morning. “That will be fantastic.”

He then added: “It’s not then too strong a stretch to say, ‘well, why don’t we actually have an Irish team in the AFLW competition?’”

The league currently has 18 teams and Tasmania will soon join the league.

“The ideal is to have an even competition, as far as numbers are concerned,” said Maguire.

“So we’re just kicking around the idea, and it’s getting a lot of traction, particularly by the Irish players that would love to play for Ireland in Australia.”

When asked how such a team would be funded, McGuire said discussions haven’t “gone that far down the track”.

However, he added: “The sponsorship that would be there, and the Irish Chamber of Commerce in Australia is very, very strong.

“There are plenty of ways to fund a competition, and to be honest, to have an Irish team in the AFLW would be fantastic, so we’d expect the AFL to be putting some funding into it as well.

McGuire added that he has had discussions with the consul general of Ireland, Marie-Claire Hughes, and the ambassador of Ireland to the Commonwealth of Australia, Fiona Flood on the proposal.

“But I think you’d only do this with the GAA and in a way that was really positive for both organisations.”

When asked if a men’s Irish team could also be on the cards, McGuire said “that’s the obvious extension on this”.

Earlier this week, he told Australian media that the team would “probably” be based in Melbourne or Sydney.

“At the moment in Australia, there are 103,000 Irish-born people. There’s a further 27,000 temporary Irish visas and 2.4 million – that’s 10% – of the population are of Irish descent.

“This could be something sensational. Maybe it is (called) the Melbourne Celtics.”

"There is a genuine desire to put a 20th team into the AFLW competition when Tasmania comes in – of an Irish team."

Eddie McGuire with some big news for the AFLW.#9FootyClassified | Watch on 9 & 9Now 🖥️ pic.twitter.com/KxZc1SSND4

— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) May 12, 2026

Tipperary’s Aishling Moloney plays with the Geelong Cats and said the proposal is “very exciting”.

“The Irish that have come out here over the years have had a massive impact in the competition.”

While she said Irish players are very loyal to their GAA clubs, she added: “To have that option is something that we might have never thought until we heard the can being battered around the last week or so about this idea.”

She added: “As a young kid, your dream is going to be to play a professional sport.

“When I was growing up, I didn’t have the options like the younger girls have nowadays in Ireland to turn to soccer or rugby.

“So to come out here and train professionally, get paid to play and to live that lifestyle that you have dreamt of since a kid, is very appealing and very hard to turn down.”