Fremantle have secured Irish footballer Orlagh Lally as a rookie as the Club adds to its list ahead of Season 7 of the AFLW.

A strong and athletic player in the Irish game, Senior Coach Trent Cooper believes Lally has the ability to play across all three lines and boasts a huge amount of upside by transitioning to the NAB AFL Women’s Competition at the age of 20.

Lally was an All Star nominee in Meath’s maiden All Ireland Senior Ladies Football Championship win, defeating Dublin in the final at Croke Park in front of 32,000 people.

While Gaelic Football is a strictly amateur sport, Cooper said Lally has thrived in what has been a professional environment with Meath.

“We’re really excited to get Orlagh on board, when word came that she was interested in pursuing an AFLW career, we jumped on that straight away,” Cooper said.

“She’s very young to be making the move at 20 years of age but she’s got a good head on her shoulders and is looking forward to the challenge of coming across.

“She looks like the type of player that will adapt to the physical nature of the game. The contact isn’t as strong in Gaelic as in AFLW but most of the Irish girls adapt really well and she looks like one that will actually relish the physical contact in the game.

“Orlagh is capable across all three lines. She’s reasonably tall at 172cm, not key position tall, but a really powerful runner with good evasive skills and kicks the ball well on both feet.”

Lally has already had the chance to meet up with fellow Irish-Docker Aine Tighe, with the pair having a kick of the footy and Lally impressing with the oval ball.

“Orlagh’s already done some AFLW training and she kicks the ball better than any Irish player I’ve seen at that stage,” Cooper said.

“She went for a kick with Aine a couple of days ago and Aine reported back she kicks it way better then she did at that stage.

“If she can become half a good as kick as Aine we’ll be happy! She has those basic fundamentals and at 20, she’ll pick up the game even quicker.”

After helping Meath to the 2021 All Ireland championship, Lally is currently playing an important role in their quest to go back-to-back.

Just two days ago she kicked the goal that ensured Meath would advance to the 2022 quarter finals, with her 54^th minute goal securing a draw and ensuring Meath had enough points to progress to the next stage.

Lally will see the finals series out with Meath before making the move to Australia, a move she can’t wait to make.

“I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a great opportunity and a bit of a new adventure as well,” Lally said.

“I’ve heard great stories about Australia and it was really nice to get to know Aine and put a face to the name. She told me how great it is over at Fremantle and in Perth. It added an extra bit of excitement and reassurance as well knowing that you have someone from home over there as well.”

Lally hopes she can taste a similar success at Fremantle after reaching the pinnacle with Meath.

“It’s been amazing at Meath. You play sport for the love of it but at the same time, it’s nice to get the wins,” Lally said.

“I’ve been fortunate to be with a really special group of girls and a really good team. To win the All Ireland was massive. Once you get that winning feeling you want to do it again and I suppose I want to bring that over, that energy and enthusiasm over to Fremantle and in the AFLW.”

While there’s less physical contact in Gaelic Football compared to the AFLW, Lally is confident she can make the step up.

“I feel my physicality has been a strength,” Lally said.

“The game in Ireland is getting more physical and we were lucky last year to be a part of a really good setup over here at Meath.

“Although it’s not professional, it’s very elite. We have good facilities and we train in a very professional manner. Having that background playing Gaelic and having good S&C will help me going over.”

Fremantle will finalise their list next week at the NAB AFLW Draft on 29 June.