Orlagh Lally has timed her arrival in Australia perfectly, landing in Perth on Thursday night and heading straight to the Club to meet her new teammates after training.
It’s been a whirlwind week for the star midfielder in Gaelic Football, winning back-to-back championships with her country Meath on Sunday in front of 46,440 fans at Dublin’s famous Croke Park.
She then celebrated her 21st birthday before flying out to Australia to embark on her AFLW career.
On arrival she was greeted by Fremantle captain Hayley Miller with a bouquet of flowers.
“It’s been pretty busy, we obviously won the All Ireland back at home and we had a big celebration and I had my 21st thrown into the mix and then jetting off here. It’s been really exciting and a really good time,” Lally said.
Amy, Orlagh and Aine 🇮🇪 #foreverfreo pic.twitter.com/wBnYwPsYKm
— Fremantle Dockers AFLW (@freodockersAFLW) August 5, 2022
“It was amazing, just coming off the plane and having Hayley and Darryn (AFLW Football Operations Manager) and Claire (AFLW Player Development Manager), it’s great to put a face to a name. Everyone has been so welcoming.
“I’m really looking forward to starting training, and getting to mix and bond with the girls from now on in.”
Lally is joined in Australia by Meath teammate Vikki Wall, who will play for North Melbourne this year.
“Vikki is on my team at home and she’s heading to North Melbourne. We’ve been really lucky to have each other to know what to bring, what to expect and to be able to help each other and practice,” Lally said.
“Everyone at Meath has been amazing, it’s been hard saying goodbye to your teammates, we’re so close to each other and it’s hard to be leaving everyone when we’re on such a high, but they’ve been so supportive the whole way.”