Niamh Martin (born 25 June 2001) [1] is a Gaelic football and Australian rules football player. Martin was a member of the Tipperary team that won the 2019 All-Ireland Intermediate Ladies' Football Championship. [2] Martin was recruited to the North Melbourne Football Club for its 2023 AFL Women's (AFLW) team in March 2023. [3] She, along with Aishling Moloney and Anna Rose Kennedy, was one of three Tipperary players recruited to play AFLW in 2023; at the time, it was estimated that the number of Irish AFLW players in that year could reach 30. [4] In the 26 November 2023 match between North Melbourne and Adelaide Football Club Martin sustained an eye injury, but it was assessed as not a concussion, and she was allowed to play in the 2023 AFL Women's Grand Final. [5] In an assessment of player performance in the 2023 AFL Women's Grand Final published in Melbourne newspaper The Age , Martin was described "another player who will be better for the grand final experience". [6]
Emily Bates is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Hawthorn Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She previously played for the Brisbane Lions from 2017 to season 7. Bates was selected by the Western Bulldogs in the inaugural national women's draft in 2013, and represented them in the first three years of the exhibition games staged prior to the creation of the league. She represented Brisbane in 2016, the last year that the games were held, and was drafted by the club with the second selection in the 2016 AFL Women's draft prior to the inaugural AFL Women's season.
Daisy Pearce is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW) and is the current AFLW senior coach of the West Coast Eagles.
The Irish Experiment is the popular name for the interest, primarily from VFL/AFL clubs, in bringing Irish sportspeople, particularly Gaelic footballers, to Australia to play Australian rules football professionally. The AFL's focus on Gaelic footballers is due to the similarities between the sports.
Brianna Iris Davey is an Australian footballer in both the Association football (soccer) and Australian rules football codes. In soccer, she was a goalkeeper for the national women's team the Matildas and played in the W-League for Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City. In 2016, she transitioned from soccer to Australian rules football, and was one of two initial marquee recruits for the Carlton Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She won the inaugural Carlton best and fairest award and was named in the 2017 AFL Women's All-Australian team. Davey served as Carlton captain from 2018 to 2019 before being traded to the Collingwood Football Club. She was appointed Collingwood co-captain alongside Steph Chiocci in 2021, and won the league best and fairest award for the 2021 season.
AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 14 teams in 2020 and 18 teams in 2022. The league is run by the Australian Football League (AFL) and is contested by each of the clubs from that competition. The reigning premiers are the Brisbane Lions.
Monique Conti is an Australian sportswoman who plays Australian rules football and basketball. Conti currently plays for the Richmond Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW), having previously played for the Western Bulldogs from 2018 to 2019. She also plays in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) for Geelong United.
Emma Michelle Kearney is an Australian rules footballer and former cricketer. A decorated midfielder in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, Kearney won the league's best and fairest award while playing for the Western Bulldogs in 2018 and has captained North Melbourne since 2019. She previously played cricket for the Melbourne Stars in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) and for Victoria in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL).
Melissa Hickey is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and the Geelong Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She served as Geelong captain in the club's first two AFL Women's seasons. She also played in the Victorian Women's Football League/VFL Women's for eleven seasons, representing the St Albans Spurs, Darebin and Geelong. In the VWFL/VFLW, Hickey won seven premierships, represented Victoria on three occasions and featured in the VFL Women's team of the year.
Karen "Paxy" Paxman is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). A defender, 1.70 metres (5.6 ft) tall, Paxman plays primarily on the half-back line with the ability to push into the midfield. She first played football at sixteen years of age and won a premiership and league best and fairest in her first year. She played in the premier division of the Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) from the 2008 season and won three VWFL premierships with St Albans and Darebin, in addition to a VFL Women's premiership with Darebin. Her accolades in football include three league best and fairests, state representation on four occasions, best-on-ground in a grand final, and five-time AFLW All-Australian honours.
Leah Kaslar is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Brisbane and Gold Coast in the AFL Women's (AFLW), captaining both teams.
Angela Foley is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She previously played for the Adelaide Football Club from 2017 to season 6. A defender, 1.73 metres (5.7 ft) tall, Foley plays primarily on the half-back line with the ability to push into the midfield.
Jessica Sedunary is an Australian rules football Premiership Player. Retired in 2023 playing for the West Coast Eagles in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She has previously played for the Adelaide Football Club from 2017 to 2019 and 2021 to 2022 (S6) and the St Kilda Football Club in 2020.
Jessica Wuetschner is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Brisbane and Essendon in the AFL Women's (AFLW).
Libby Birch is an Australian rules footballer who plays for North Melbourne in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She previously played for the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne. She previously played netball and captained Victoria at the National Netball Championships. Birch is currently studying a Physiotherapy degree at La Trobe University. In 2016, Birch switched from netball to Australian rules football and was recruited by the Western Bulldogs as a rookie after having only played football for three months for the Darebin Falcons in the VFL Women's.
Alexandra Anderson is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Brisbane Lions in the AFL Women's (AFLW). Anderson won the 2022 AFL Women's season 7 best and fairest award, and is a dual AFL Women's premiership player, dual AFL Women's All-Australian and three-time Brisbane best and fairest winner. Anderson is the AFL Women's equal games record holder and Brisbane games record holder with 89 games.
Ailish Considine is an Irish former Australian rules footballer who played for Adelaide and North Melbourne in the AFL Women's.
Jade Ellenger is an Australian rules footballer playing for Brisbane in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition.
Aisling Louise McCarthy is an Irish Australian rules footballer playing for Fremantle in the AFL Women's (AFLW), having previously played for the Western Bulldogs and the West Coast Eagles. She became an Australian citizen in July 2022.
Aishling Sheridan is an Irish sportswoman who plays Australian rules football for the Collingwood Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She has also played ladies' Gaelic football for Cavan in the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and Australian rules football for NT Thunder in the VFL Women's (VFLW).
Niamh Kelly is a gaelic football player who plays for Mayo and an Australian rules footballer who plays for Adelaide in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She has previously played for West Coast. She is the sister of St Kilda player Grace Kelly.