The GIANTS will unleash Irish rookie Eilish O’Dowd for her AFLW debut in the club’s season opener against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday.
Hailing from the small town of Ballinamore in Ireland’s County Leitrim - featuring a population of just over 900 people - O’Dowd joined the GIANTS as a rookie at the end of last year after helping lead Dublin to the All-Ireland Gaelic Championship.
Standing at 180cm tall, O’Dowd boasts a range of physical attributes that the GIANTS were hopeful would translate well into an AFLW system and they’ve been proven right across an impressive pre-season from the Irishwoman.
In a remarkable feat, O’Dowd will make her AFLW debut on Saturday in a sport she had never tried before uprooting her life in Ireland and moving to Australia in January.
The 26-year-old newcomer was informed of her upcoming AFLW debut by coach Cam Bernasconi at training on Thursday to the deafening applause of her teammates.
“It’s incredibly exciting that Eilish is going to debut for the club on Saturday,” Bernasconi said following the news.
“Since arriving at the club she’s shown an incredible appetite to learn a brand-new sport and her development has been remarkable and it’s fantastic we can reward her with a debut.
“To pick up a totally new sport so quickly and perform strongly at the elite level is a credit to her commitment and her talent and I can’t wait to see what she can do on Saturday.”
Impressing throughout pre-season as a ruck, O’Dowd’s combination of speed, endurance alongside her height make her an exciting proposition for the GIANTS this season.
Highlighting her physical attributes, O’Dowd was quick to make a first impression at the GIANTS, equalling the club’s all-time AFLW record for the 1.6km time trial in the early days of pre-season.
The fourth Irishwoman signed to the club’s AFLW side since 2017, O’Dowd will make her AFLW debut at 1:05pm on Saturday at Manuka Oval as the GIANTS kick-start their season against the Western Bulldogs.
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GIANTS fans can purchase tickets to Saturday’s match via Ticketek.
