AFLW is far from the greatest threat to Ladies’ football

Players are leaving inter-county football for reasons other than to play in the AFLW.

Tue, 28 Jan, 2025 - 07:45

Maurice Brosnan

The player drain continues. Last year Mayo enjoyed a mixed campaign, beaten in the Connacht final and progressing through a group before losing out to Armagh in the final eight. Since then, four starters have left the squad.

That blow was confirmed when Liam McHale’s senior ladies football panel for the 2025 league was confirmed earlier this month. There were several noticeable absentees. Laura Brennan, Éilis Ronayne, Lisa and Sinead Cafferky, all of whom lined out against Armagh, had opted out. All-Star and former captain Fiona McHale, a second half sub in that fixture, is also gone. It means from the 15 players who started in the 2023 All-Ireland semi-final, 11 are unavailable.

Only one of them is playing AFLW. Rachel Kearns is currently preparing for her fifth season with Geelong. The All-Ireland winning-boxer and Republic of Ireland underage international made the move in 2021. She continued to represent her county until last year.

Few counties have been hit by Australian Rules absences like Mayo. In the men’s code, Oisín Mullin and Pearce Hanley before him were enormous losses. Kearns, Dayna Finn, Aileen Gilroy, Niamh and Grace Kelly are all former Mayo county players currently on lists in Australia. For years it was justifiably pointed out that the only players who make themselves unavailable for Mayo are the AFL crew. You couldn’t say the same the other code.

Take Dayna Finn, the full-back in the 2021 semi-final against Dublin. She signed for Carlton in 2023 but did not play for her county in 2022. At that stage, she opted for basketball, representing Trinity Meteors and Ireland. Mayo lost her long before she was found by the AFLW.

“It’s such an honour to play for your county,” wrote former Mayo captain Sarah Tierney on X this week.

“I’m not buying the financial or study excuses mentioned here. 10 players walk away from Mayo at the end of 2023 and another 15 walk away at the end of 2024. The turnover of players is detrimental to the future of Mayo ladies’ football.”

Here’s the thing. When it comes to the Australian Rules, the details blur into a dark cloud, noticeable and distant. This is a foreign and unfamiliar sport played 10,000 miles away at an often-ungodly hour. The routes, the clubs, the basic numbers, there is so much that is misinterpreted.

Right now, there are 38 players listed to play AFLW in 2025. That number could rise between various signing on periods and remaining list spots. That does not mean there is a 38-player void left in ladies’ football.

A whole host of them are players who emigrated Down Under and graduated to the pro game through local footy. The likes of Clara Fitzpatrick, Amy Mullholland, Cara McCrossan, Joanne Cregg and Tanya Kennedy came through this path. A professional career was a by-product rather than the pursuit.

With a new calendar in an expanding league, the pinch point is fast approaching where players will no longer be able to play for their county and fulfil an AFLW contract. Something that has been long-heralded, but not yet realised. Aishling Moloney, Anna-Rose Kennedy, Vikki Wall, Jennifer Dunne, Sinead Goldrick, Niamh McLaughlin, Amy Boyle-Carr and Blaíthín Bogue all played in the recent LGFA championship.

Current AFLW stars Blaithín Mackin and Kayleigh Cronin both played in Kerry’s opening league clash against Armagh but the All-Ireland champions were without 12 of their squad from last year, as newly appointed manager Mark Bourke revealed last week.

For Kerry, Mayo and many like them, the problem isn’t that their players are leaving for Australia, it is that they are leaving. Losing stars is bound to have a ripple effect yet player turnover is an issue that long predates this eight-year-old professional league. This is how it goes.

A team like Donegal lose their manager Maxi Curran at the end of 2023. Several stalwarts follow for various reasons. A new manager in John McNulty takes over and tries to blood fresh prospects. His shock resignation was announced with a short statement last month. As former Donegal star Maureen O’Donnell told Donegal Live, that sets the tone for others.

“Some of the more experienced girls that might have been mulling over their own futures, this bolt from the blue might be the thing that makes them lean away from it completely.

“It leaves the set-up in disarray.”

Instability is a poison in every sport at all levels. McHale’s appointment in Mayo was a drawn-out saga that saw him interviewed, recommended by the committee, rejected by the county board and later invited to re-join the process.

Think about this from a player’s perspective. In 2022, Fiona McHale revealed on social media that “LGFA players DO NOT get expenses.” In 2023 she was part of a ‘United for Equality’ campaign that saw female intercounty football and camogie teams raise awareness of their difficulty with gym and pitch access as well as other basic supports. Last year she was noticeably exasperated at the lack of men’s and women’s intercounty double-headers.

“We don’t mind, we’ll play with nobody watching us,” she told the Mayo Football Podcast after their league draw against Kerry.

“We don’t care, but if you want to grow the game and promote it, you have to start trying to come up with ways, some sort of strategy to get people to games.”

Only one person can explain why they made the personal call to opt out. Concerns around promotion, facilities or expenses are not unique to the LGFA. Personal sacrifice is a fundamental part of elite sport, yet that has a threshold. The reward and honour that comes with playing for your county remains sufficient for some. Many others are walking away, leaving for more than Australia.