GAA GAELIC TALENT EARNING BIG IN AUSTRALIAN RULES

FROWN UNDER

- BY KARL O'KANE

THE oval Sherrin ball will be thrown up at 10.15am Irish time this morning.

It will signal the 10th season of AFLW with a record 39 Irish players set to feature across the next four months of action.

That figure has risen from 34 players last year and has been creeping up since the inaugural 2017 AFLW season.

Over the coming days nine Irish players could make their Australian Rules bow.

More and more firsts are happening. Meath captain Aoibhín Cleary is Richmond's first ever GAA signing.

Donegal's Niamh McLaughlin - the 2022 LGFA Player of the Year - is the first Irish recruit to skipper an AFLW side, after being appointed joint captain of the Gold Coast Suns.

Another first is the number of regular season games increasing to 12 from 10 in 2023 and 11 in 2024. It may not sound like a big deal but the turnover between this year's All-Ireland finals and the first round of the AFLW season is now just 11 days.

While the attractive climate in Australia and the chance to train as a professional are variables that the LGFA can't compete with, there is a wider LGFA and societal context to this ever evolving situation.

Perhaps the biggest concern in LGFA circles should be the increasing salaries in the AFLW another variable they can't control.