In the words of Home and Away star Alf Stewart (AKA Ray Meagher) Stone the flamin crows.
First Mayo woman Cora Staunton. Now a Clare woman is following the pathway to being a full time sportsperson down under.
Kilmihil native Ailish Considine has signed for Australian Football League Women’s (AFLW) side Adelaide Crows on a professional rookie contract.
The great news for the banner woman was relayed on the clubs twitter account interspersed with clips of the Banner star in ladies football action for her native county.
We have secured our first international women’s player 🇮🇪 Welcome @Duckyc7 https://t.co/L4FxsySsTt #weflyasone pic.twitter.com/N4Gb4uLDjT
— Adelaide Crows (@Adelaide_FC) September 27, 2018
Considine is a talented Gaelic football player with Clare and Kilmihil, and her time with the mid west's AFL Women’s West Clare Waves team obviously stood her in good stead.
The Aussies are clearly delighted to sign the Banner woman and sure why wouldn't they be!
Meet our newest AFLW recruit @Duckyc7 as she shares her journey 🇮🇪 🇮🇪 #weflyasone pic.twitter.com/oNn4pJnt1U
— Adelaide Crows (@Adelaide_FC) September 27, 2018
The 26-year-old is one of 18 athletes from Ireland, France, the United States, Great Britain, Fiji and Canada who travelled to Australia with the Adelaide Club's CrossCoders program to take part in a national camp to test their skills in front of club officials, in the hopes of being picked to play in the League’s third season.
Crows General Manager Football Administration Phil Harper said the Club was thrilled to welcome its first international AFLW player.
“Ailish is a talented athlete who has a tremendous kick on both sides of her body,” Harper said.
“She brings a wealth of experience and positive attributes and we feel that she’s a great fit for our squad.
“Having watched her play this week it is clear she already has a good understanding of the basics of the game and we’re confident she’ll successfully transition to AFLW.”
Considine feels it's an unbelievable opportunity.
“I actually can’t even put it into words how I’m feeling,” she said.
“The week with CrossCoders has been brilliant. I was not expecting this at all. I thought I was coming out here to Melbourne to have a kick around and see Australia a little bit.
“I did not expect to be going home with a contract.
“I don’t know a whole lot about Australia or Adelaide, to be honest! But I’m sure I’ll get to know an awful lot about it in the next few months.
I cannot wait to get started with the Crows.”
Under AFLW competition rules, clubs must sign two rookies who have not played Australian Rules football competitively in the last three years or been involved in a high performance AFLW program.
Best of luck Ailish!
Note: Cultural reference point for anyone who doesn't know Alf Stewart!
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