Fremantle have confirmed the signings of Leitrim's Aine Tighe and Louth's Kate Flood.
It takes to ten the number of Irish players to have signed on for what will be the fourth season of the AFL Women's league.
"The girls were identified firstly through CrossCoders, who supplied vision of over 30 International Rookie prospects and then run a camp for them in Athlone," Fremantle coach Trent Cooper told the club's website.
We’re really excited to get Aine on board, obviously we have a list deficiency in the ruck so to have someone who is 185cm in itself is great but she’s so athletic, she runs really well and I think she’ll translate to AFLW really quickly,.
To have her on board is going to be fantastic. Her athleticism is next level for someone of that height and we think she’ll adapt really quickly. We can’t wait to see her arrive at the club later in the year.
Cooper sees Flood as a power forward with an eye for goal which will translate well to the oval ball game.
"She can use both sides of her body," said Cooper, "she’s very athletic, she’s a high-speed, high-energy player who I think will suit our game style really well."
Both will travel to Australia in November to commence training for the 2020 season.
"It’s a massive achievement, I never thought in a million years that someone from the countryside in Ireland would be able to go over to Australia and play in such a professional setup and professional sport," said Flood.
"Here in Ireland, there’s nothing like that for women or men; it’s all amateur sport, so I’m really excited and I can’t wait for it.
"I’m looking forward to the sun and getting a tan! But it’s also the facilities and the way they train.
"At home we might only do strength and conditioning once every two weeks but over there, it’s done after your training session and there’s all the recovery facilities too. It’s the whole lot, I’m really looking forward to it."
Picture credit: Sportsfile
