Aishling Moloney: From avoiding Geelong in her own town to flourishing with them

The Tipp native had to learn the game from scratch when she headed Down Under.

BIG IMPRESSION: Aishling Moloney of the Cats celebrates kicking a goal during the AFLW First Preliminary Final against the Brisbane Lions. Pic: Albert Perez/Getty Images

Geelong’s coach and captain flew to the other side of the world in a desperate bid to secure a future AFLW star and days before the March deadline for new signings closed, Aishling Moloney was avoiding them.

“I was meeting them just to meet them,” she explains. It was more a courtesy than it was interest. 

“I was still going to say no in my head. The week they were here, I wasn’t going at that stage. I actually avoided them to the extent I’d bump into them locally and it was awkward.

“We played Armagh in the last round of the league and had to win to make the final, it was full focus on that. I actually decided hours before the deadline. Mam and Dad weren’t around to chat it over, I just felt right and said, ’Yeah. Let’s do it.’” 

She’d been standing on that precipice for years. Several clubs came calling, at one point Brisbane felt they were in pole position. Something clicked with Geelong and the Cahir native took a daunting jump. Soon she was soaring. The season ended with the club’s first post-season victory in the competition’s history, 10 goals in 13 games for Moloney and the AFL Best First Year Player Award.

Geelong have garnered a reputation for their player-first approach, but captain Meg McDonald and coach Dan Lowther knew the only way of demonstrating that was in person. They, along with the Cats’ Irish-based scout, met with her family and gave a presentation. After that, there was no pressure. It felt the right fit. Moloney was already close to squad member Rachel Kearns through university. Unbeknownst to her, Tipp team-mate Anna-Rose Kennedy was also on the verge of joining.

The allure of professional sport is obvious, yet circumstances conspired to deny any chance of it for consecutive seasons. The 2019 Intermediate Player of the Year tore her cruciate in 2021 and was bitten by a false widow spider in 2022.

Moloney was still finding her feet in her familiar sport by 2023. AFLW was a foreign concept. How much did she really know?

“Nothing. To be honest, not even the scoring system. The scoreboard always confused me when I was watching at home. It was on my mind but while I was at home that is where my focus was. We did Zoom calls to explain the rules and I could never get it. I needed to put it into practice.

“I actually remember thinking, ‘I can’t go out knowing nothing. I need some sort of a base.’ They gave me a ball when they were over. I basically never went near it for weeks. I couldn’t grasp the concept, the way they drop the ball. It is kind of pushing it back rather than letting it drop.

“So, I met Rachel and we spent 10 minutes kicking before I got frustrated. I decided two weeks of work won’t make much of a difference. I’ll learn when I am out there. The forward movement or broader view is hard to grasp on TV too. I had literally zero knowledge, no skills, I knew nothing. I suppose at least I didn’t pick up bad habits and have to reverse it.” 

FAMILY TIES: Moloney celebrates victory in the 2023 AFLW semi-final match against the Melbourne Demons. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

This was a whole new world. She threw herself into it. For the first four weeks, every day was spent at the training centre. The 25-year-old was immediately struck by one aspect of the place. “The programme is very integrated. That was different.” 

Three Irish players are also part of the men’s squad. The two mixed freely. Premiership winner Gary Rohan, a speedy forward and awesome goal-getter, joined the AFLW group as a coach. He proved an invaluable aid.

“Often, I might walk around the club and ask one of the lads to show me whatever, or they might come up and point out a few things. If they say you're kicking wrong, they’ll say try this or here is a different technique. It’s not condensing. It’s just an open environment.” 

Her parents flew out for a visit midway through the campaign. As their return loomed, Geelong took off on an unexpected finals run. They couldn’t leave that behind and stayed until it came to an end. Their daughter was in the midst of a sensational spell. Two goals to propel them past Essendon in the elimination final. Another goal to stun then reigning champions Melbourne. Moloney scored again in the semi-final however they fell just short against Jennifer Dunne and Orla O’Dwyer’s Brisbane, who went on to win the Grand Final.

“At no point in the season was I thinking, ‘This is going well.’ You just want to keep learning, getting better, get comfortable even though you never will. At one moment the ball is flying is in the air and next it is on the ground.

“Every game brings an insanity. At the start ground balls were especially difficult, not knowing where it was going to bounce. In ground-ball games, I found like it was hard to get into the game and find the ball. In this sport, you never get a hold of everything. There is always something, a move or technique you need especially as a forward.” 

One of the first conversations she had with the club was how would a commitment affect her inter-county future. She was met with the perfect response: If you want to play, play.

“Coming out, I didn’t know if I would like it or not. I wanted to know I could go back and play football. It was important to me that they made it clear I could go back and play from the start. They trust me and have faith that all the things I need to do to improve will happen. For them to understand that is amazing.

“It is like two worlds. I get to put myself in different positions. At home, you know what is what. Here is more of that uncomfortable zone. I kind of just go with it now.”