GAELIC football is what built them, AFLW is what's grown them.

That's Sarah Rowe's view of the Irish contingent currently plying its trade in Australia, anyway. Now, with the clash between Ireland and Australia on the horizon, there is a chance to meld the worlds together for the first time in earnest.

"Gaelic football has done such an amazing job at instilling these deep values within all the Irish players, and we all really understand that with each other, we understand each other's unspoken words," Rowe told AFL.com.au.

"And then we came out and had to challenge ourselves in a new sport in (footy) and I think we've had so much to learn in that time, and it's really grown us, shaped us. It's been really hard, there's been massive challenges throughout the journey. (I've been) here obviously nine years now, it feels like I've been here a lifetime, really. But when I think about it, it's such a pleasure to combine our worlds."

For Rowe, this game is "bigger than Ireland v Australia, it's bigger than AFLW v GAA", instead, it represents the growth of women's sport globally.

And, of course, the biggest names are involved. Cora Staunton, who heralded in the Irish wave across the AFLW, was chair of selectors for the Irish side, and Geelong's Aishling Moloney headlines the inclusions.

Rowe has close connections to both, having played with Staunton in her home county of Mayo, and with Moloney throughout college.

"Cora is massive. I played with Cora for years with Mayo, because we played in the same county team, and she's just an absolute winner. The ultimate winner. And I think she's so determined, and she's just hard at everything, and I remember when I was playing with her, I was a younger player coming into the environment, and Cora was an established player in Mayo, and also the best player in Ireland at the time," Rowe explained.

"She was just a competitor like I've probably never seen before, win at all costs, win at everything-type mentality, and it created a culture within Mayo that we have, it's been instilled on us for years. It was Cora's generation of players, because they won multiple All-Irelands back-to-back, and just, yeah, huge respect for what she's done and then been able to do in AFLW. A real trailblazer of the game."

Where Staunton was part of the old guard, Moloney represents the new wave of Irish players to take the AFLW by storm. A stunning season in 2024 – her second in the AFLW – resulted in an All-Australian blazer, and a share of the AFLW's leading goalkicking award.

But it came as no surprise to Rowe, having lived and played with her throughout their early 20s.

"She's a huge deal in Ireland, but she's also the most unique character you'll ever meet. She's hilarious. We lived together for four years in college, and you know, when you live with someone, you get to know the ins and outs of how they work and their inner workings," Rowe said.

"And I remember when Aishling came up first, she's this girl from the country, and was just blasé about everything, but then you gave her a ball, and you watched her play football and you're like 'Oh my God this girl is one of the best I've ever seen'. Like, she's an absolute gift, and in my opinion, she's probably the best Gaelic footballer to ever come out of the country, and just naturally so fluid with the ball, and just can do things that other people can't."

And on August 1, Rowe will be reunited with Moloney on the field, playing together for the first time in Australia, with the oval ball. They will do so under the first Irish coach of the AFLW in Colin O'Riordan, who hails from the same county as Moloney.

"Colin understands our world at home, he understands our world here. And knowing all that and having that information, he will know how to coach us as individuals," Rowe explained.

"And I think sometimes when we come over at the start, we're like 'This is very different to our Gaelic football environment', the amateur status versus the professional status, what we have to learn in this sport versus our sport at home, how structurally AFL is so much different to Gaelic football. There's so many little parts of it that you can only really understand if you've been in both worlds, and I think that's a massive advantage for us to have someone who understands both our world at home and our world here."