From sheep to crocodiles, Ailish Considine has had quite a culture shift since signing with Adelaide at the end of last year.
The 26-year-old Gaelic footballer from Ireland made Crows history in 2018 when she became the Club’s first international female recruit.
In September, she travelled to Australia for the first time to participate in a CrossCoders camp in Melbourne that left her with an AFLW contract, facing the biggest move of her life.
“In November 2017, Aussie Rules started in Ireland, so I went along for a bit of fun in our off-season and I fell in love with it straight away,” Ailish told AFC Media.
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“It’s the best parts of two great sports… you get the tackling of rugby and the game play of (Gaelic) football, so the combination of physicality and speed was a nice mix.”
She’s spent the past three months Down Under, in both Adelaide and Darwin, but said she’s still adjusting to the paralleled weather from her hometown in rural Ireland.
“Adelaide’s weather was a big shock to the system… the most we get to back home is 28 degrees and that would be super hot,” she said.
“Then going to the humidity of Darwin was another extreme, I’ve never experienced 90 per cent humidity in my life.”
For the first time, she’s 15,000 kilometres away from her family, but the people she’s met in Adelaide have made Ailish feel right at home.
“People are always asking me how I find Adelaide and obviously it’s so nice, the beaches are amazing, and the city is cool, but it’s actually been the people that have blown me away,” she said.
“Everyone’s been so helpful and welcoming that I haven’t really felt homesick at all and that’s big coming from me.
“The girls are just so welcoming that it’s like having another family over here.”
She’s had no problems slotting into the squad.
“When I first got here, MJ (Marijana Rajcic) gave me a list of the best cafes in Adelaide, so I’ve been checking off as many as I can and when the girls are free they come with me,” she said.
“We’ve gone to the women’s soccer and the basketball here too, so it’s been great.”
Back in Ireland, Ailish had been a part of several elite sport programs over the years, but the connection amongst the Adelaide squad is something she’s not seen before.
“I’ve been part of set ups where the training and the program has been really good, but the team hasn’t quite gelled and you’ll never win if they don’t,” she said.
“But here, the bond this team has is just amazing, I haven’t seen anything like it - it’s amazing to see just how well they get on, on-and-off the field.
“When you have that connection, you just know every single person will give it everything they have, and they really have it nailed here.”
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For as long as she can remember, it’s been Ailish’s dream to be a full-time athlete.
“Focusing 100 per cent on training and recovery is everything I’ve always wanted to do,” she said.
“It has been tough, and the heat has been tough, but I’m loving it so much that it doesn’t even bother me.”
Since making her AFLW debut in Round One, Ailish, has featured in every one of Adelaide’s games.
“The week before selection [for Round One] I was all over the place with nerves but once I found out I was in, the pressure lifted and I was able to really enjoy the game,” she said.
“I remember when I first came to the Club after being signed and seeing all the names of the girls who have played for the Crows on the wall and thinking ‘I really want to get my name up there’.
“When I got selected, I thought ‘oh my god, I’m actually going to be on that wall’… it was just an amazing feeling.”
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Stepping out onto Norwood Oval for her first game, Ailish said she was blown away by the atmosphere.
“The whole fan thing at the end where you’re signing autographs and taking photos, that’s really cool, I haven’t experienced that before,” she said.
“That’s something I’ve really embraced since coming here because it’s worlds apart from what I’ve known back home.”
