IRELAND is keen to spring a surprise on Australia this weekend, despite going into the 2026 NAB AFLW Australia v Ireland clash as heavy underdogs.

It's been a huge sporting week in Ireland already after the All-Ireland final and it's about to get even bigger with "the biggest match of the year" set to thrill footy fans this Saturday.

Excitement is rising for the inaugural clash, which has been a long-time in the making for players on both sides.

"It feels like it's been forever coming, it's something we've always talked about. I actually feel like I have butterflies in my stomach when I think about running out on Saturday," Collingwood’s Sarah Rowe said on Tagged.

"We feel like this is an opportunity to play together, to represent our family, friends and people at home. We know there will be so many Irish watching, we can't wait."

Rowe said the Irish squad didn't mind their underdog status and were keen to give the Australians a shake.

"All the slander that we've received over the years has been quoted in our team meetings. That's the thing, Irish people kind of get off on being the underdog," she said.

"We are obviously the underdogs in this game. We haven't grown up playing the game and the Australians have so much talent and are an amazing group of players, but we love that we're the underdog. 

"We have grit… that alone does a lot in a big game."

Rowe's Collingwood teammate, Jordyn Allen, joked that the Irish side was taking things more seriously in the lead up to the big game. 

"It seems like the Irish are taking this far more seriously than the Aussies, the Aussies are so nonchalant about it!" Allen laughed.

"We take everything seriously when it comes to competition. When it comes to getting out on the football field we're so serious, but then we're an absolute pisstake off the field. We're the double-edged sword, the walking contradiction," Rowe replied.

The representative clash comes less than a week after County Mayo broke a mythical curse by winning its first All-Ireland title in 75 years. 

"It was the biggest thing to happen in Irish sport ever, it is massive," Rowe said.

Mayo hadn't won an All-Ireland title since 1951, breaking a 75-year drought.

According to Rowe, the Mayo side supposedly had a curse placed on them following their 1951 triumph. 

The team was driving through a town called Foxford and failed to pay their respects during a funeral, resulting in one of the priests cursing the Mayo side - that they wouldn't win another All-Ireland until every member of the winning team had passed away.

But now, Mayo, featuring St Kilda's young gun Kobe McDonald, have returned to the pinnacle of Gaelic football.

"The County will shut down, people are off work for the week, funerals are cancelled, it is going to be a revelation in Mayo," Rowe said.

The All-Ireland title is all anyone in Ireland is talking about right now, but attention will soon turn to Saturday's 2026 NAB AFLW Australia v Ireland match.

"This is a game people must be watching. If you're not attending, you must be watching it because it is going to go down in history as one of the greatest games or moments… there is so much rivalry," Richmond's Sarah Hosking said on Tagged.

A huge sporting week for Ireland will only get bigger if the Irish girls are able to pull off an upset and spoil Australia's party.

Watch Tagged now on AFL.com.au or listen wherever you get your podcasts.