Dublin's Hannah Tyrrell reveals she was contacted about AFLW: 'It's not for me right now'

Ladies football could have a major challenge ahead in the coming years, as many of the sport's top stars who play Australian Rules may have to choose between the two codes.

At present, the intercounty football and AFLW seasons do not overlap. But with the league Down Under expanding, that is set to change in the coming years. And players may not be able to successfully balance the two sports.

Fresh from helping her county to a second consecutive All-Ireland title, Meath star Vikki Wall is the latest high profile star to undertake the professional sport in Australia for the first time.

Dublin footballer, and former Ireland rugby out-half, Hannah Tyrrell revealed that she was contacted in the past, but her circumstances at home prevent her from making the move.

"I would have been contacted, kind of telling me that there was a bit of an interest there for me. But I suppose I've a lot going on and a lot of commitment," said the Dubs star.

"A couple of years ago actually, we were over at a tournament in Sydney for the Irish 7s team. Cora Staunton actually gave me and Louise Galvin and a couple of other girls on the team a tour of the [Greater Western Sydney Giants] facility and allowed us to have a kick-around. That's the closest I've got so far to be honest.

"I don't think I'll ever get into it. If I had have been a couple of years younger, it might have been something that [would have] happened for me. But I think it's something that has passed me now. Who knows what will happen in the future? I'd love to give it a kick-about and see what it's like. But I don't know if I'd ever actually play it.

"Look, what's happening over there is brilliant. The opportunities that are there and available to play is incredible...but not for me right now anyway."

'I don't know how it's going to be possible to be playing both'

She understands that the lure of AFLW is going to have a profound impact on top-level ladies football in the coming years.

"Obviously we see that there's a lot of players across Ireland that are going over there. And some of them are dual players. The likes of Vikki Wall and Orlagh Lally are the ones in the media recently because of Meath's success," Tyrrell said.

"It's a great opportunity for players. But with the new season changing there, I don't know how it's going to be possible to play both, unless both your county team and your AFLW team are going to let you miss a chunk of the season or pre-season or whatever else.

"I don't know too much about it, I just know that this year, there's a very tight window between the end of the ladies All-Ireland and the start of the AFL season.

"At some point because it is professional and you are getting paid for it, I think clubs might step in and say 'we're paying you, you need to come over and join us at this stage, there's no concessions made for anything else'."

Sinead Goldrick is currently the only Dubliner plying her trade in the AFLW for the coming season, but Tyrrell knows the number of Sky Blues heading to Australia could increase next year, meaning they could miss out on some or all of the championship campaign at home.

"I don't know. I haven't thought about it. There might be and I don't blame players for seeing that as an option to go abroad," she said.

"Particularly, we have a lot of young players in our squad who potentially could go and then come back and play for Dublin. I did something similar with the rugby back in 2014 so I wouldn't begrudge them that. I'm not saying that I would like them to go but it is something that, particularly with the pandemic over the last few years people haven't gotten away, gotten to explore the world that is out there so it could be something that is tempting for a lot of players.

"I saw that with Mayo. They lost a couple of county players to the AFLW this year but it didn't seem to affect them. They did really well this year."