DAYNA Finn was forced to learn some hard lessons when she arrived in Australia back in 2023.

On the other side of the world from her family and home, Finn went from being the first picked in her native sports of basketball and Gaelic football, to struggling to adapt to the oval ball, spending time playing scrimmages rather than AFLW matches.

It was an ego death, from which she learned a lot about herself, but ultimately rebuilt, culminating in Carlton's 2025 best and fairest award, and an All-Australian blazer.

"The challenge of moving country, moving across the world, a new sport, new teammates, new coach, and everything that comes with that was probably the biggest challenge to date in my career," Finn told AFL.com.au.

"Then, just navigating my way through the sport, the rules, getting to grips with the ball, the skills, was probably a challenge, and then obviously injury in my first year was hard. Didn't play until round five in my first season, and looking back now, (I) learned so much from that experience of not playing, not making the team."

Having fellow Irishwoman Erone Fitzpatrick to lean on through that first year was crucial to Finn's capacity to survive. They could commiserate with one another when things were tough and offer advice when needed.

"We could relate to a new sport, a new place, we were experiencing the same thing. So, just having her to lean on and talk about things, and for her to say, 'I'm having the same problem' or 'I feel that way too' or 'do this, I spoke to him or her last week', she really helped with that," Finn explained.

"'Ronnie' and my fellow Irish outside of the club were a great point to relate to, and also take me away from the pressure that the sport was putting, or I was putting on me, and the expectation I was putting on me when I was in that environment. (And) outside of it just taking a break, a mental break from it, (it) was great to just speak to the fellow Irish."

Finn admits to a "love, hate" relationship with footy in her first two years in Australia. Things didn't happen as quickly as she was initially expecting, and that contributed to that tough mental space.

"I loved the challenge of getting better, getting to know the sport... The hate comes into it where I was just like, 'I hate this, I wish I could just be good at it', and coming from playing Gaelic football, playing basketball, since I was seven or eight years old, you build up the habits and skills from such a young age that they just become second nature," Finn said.

"So, that wasn't the case with AFL. I had to, as a developed athlete, I suppose I had to go back and start again, which was, I look back on it now, the best thing that could have ever happened. But at the time, (it was) a frustrating time in my life."

As someone who was always at the top of her game at home, the restart of learning new skills and strategies – compounded by the homesickness of being half a world away from family – meant there was more negative feedback than there was positive in those early days. And that was tough.

"Coming from being maybe first pick at home and being probably the leader of the pack at home, to being nearly essentially the bottom of the pack, not really knowing much about the sport, learning as I was going, and navigating my way through that," Finn said.

"So, you do have to be really honest and real about yourself and where you stand now, and also for me, it was being where my feet are at the time. It wasn't going to happen overnight and, not that I expected it to happen overnight, but I was like, 'it's fine, I've come from a good base, I was really good at home, my skills, I won't find it too hard'.

"And then when that kind of hits you and it's like 'Geez, that actually is hard, I'm finding it harder to get better at that skill in a week', it might take four weeks and just being honest and coming to terms with, like, I'm not going to be good in two weeks, or I'm not going to be good overnight. So, (I) definitely learned a lot about myself, and a lot about the sport, too."

So, her breakthrough season last year was a relief – not just for Finn herself, but for the Blues who benefitted from her impressive form as a key part of the club's surge back to finals. Her approach, however, doesn't change a whole lot from here.

"I think I approach this year the exact same way, just with more confidence in my ability and in the team's ability," Finn said.

"So, I think that's probably the one thing that I can take from last year is building on that confidence, and on a personal note the consistency that I found in my game, and so just chasing that over the preseason and the standards, being injury free, looking after myself and my body and my mind.

"But I wouldn't say I see footy too different, I just see in it probably a better, more broader light."