Aisling McCarthy arrived on Australian shores eight years ago as an Irish 22-year-old eager who had moved to the other side of the world to chase a professional sporting career.
She has since transformed into a genuine AFLW superstar — but her journey has not been without some self-doubt along the way.
The 30-year-old is set to play her 75th game at the level in Fremantle’s clash with St Kilda at Cockburn ARC Oval on Sunday.
Since joining the Dockers in 2023 after early-career stints with Western Bulldogs and West Coast, she has elevated her game to new heights, earning selection in the All Australian team in 2024 and winning her side’s fairest and best award last year. The County Tipperary product also starred for Ireland against Australia in the AFLW’s representative clash in August.
After opening up on an adaptation from the oval ball to the Sherrin which was in no way seamless, McCarthy said she was grateful she had not taken the easy option of returing home when confronted with some difficult times.
“At the start, I definitely missed Gaelic football, a sport I grew up playing and was second nature,” McCarthy said.
“The running patterns and the foot skill and handballing and things like that are very similar, but the rules and the structure is probably a challenge, just to learn all that pretty quickly.
“When things get hard, you do question yourself a little bit, but I love Perth, I love the lifestyle. I feel like I’ve really settled in here and Freo have really helped with that, the family ethos they have.
“It’s definitely (gotten) easier, but you always do miss home a little bit.
“I came over as a 22-year-old Irish kid who’d never played the game before . . . to be here eight seasons later and to hit that milestone is really special.”
McCarthy started her career with the Bulldogs, where she spent two seasons before joining West Coast in 2020.
After tasting victory only five times across her 31 games for the Eagles, she was granted a trade to Fremantle in 2023.
She said reaching the decision to seek a move between cross-town rivals was not easy, but had proven to be one she held no regrets over.
“It’s brought the best out of me and my football,” she said.
“I’m getting to train and play alongside some of the best players in the competition — training alongside Turbo (Kiara Bowers) and Gabby (Newton) every week really pushes me.”
McCarthy’s coach Lisa Webb was full of praise for the powerful midfielder.
“She’s such an important player and leader. The way she goes about it is just incredible,” Webb said.
“She puts her head over the footy, she finds kicks — even on the weekend against North (Melbourne) — where she can just lace players inside-out, and she’s really damaging.
“We’re very fortunate to have her.”
McCarthy’s milestone game will come in the second week of the AFLW’s Pride Round, with the Dockers to sport a special guernsey in their clash with the Saints.
At last year’s Pride game, the club’s fans were encouraged to draw designs and messages, which have been incorporated into the uniform’s rainbow-coloured chevrons alongside those from players and staff.
McCarthy said the concept was representative of how “the AFLW does inclusivity really, really well”.
“It’s just about embracing everyone to be who they are and celebrating that,” she said.
“Our guernsey is pretty special this year in that we get to connect to the fans too . . . to be able to go out and celebrate them at the weekend is pretty cool.
“At Freo, we just want everyone to be themselves, bring their best self, and just be authentic. That will help people be better people, but also, to play really good football as well.”
Having slipped out of the top eight with a 28-point loss to ladder-leaders North Melbourne last weekend, Fremantle now have three games to earn their place back, the first of which will come against the last-placed Saints.
The Dockers have made one change for the game, with McCarthy’s fellow Irishwoman Aoife Healy returning from concussion in place of Laura Pugh.