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Huge achievement: Cora Staunton (left) of Mayo and GWS Giants, and Tipperary and Brisbane Lions' Orla O'Dwyer. PA Images.

Two Irish stars in line for top All-Australian honours

Cora Staunton and Orla O’Dwyer are in the initial 40-strong squad.

TWO OF IRELAND’S Aussie Rules stars are in line for top honours in the game.

Cora Staunton and Orla O’Dwyer have made the initial 40-strong 2022 AFLW All-Australian squad, which will be whittled down to the equivalent of the All-Stars team on these shores.

21 players – including a captain and vice-captain – will make the final side, which will be announced at Tuesday’s W Awards in Melbourne.

Mayo great Staunton and Tipperary triple-threat O’Dwyer have both enjoyed stellar individual seasons, and could now etch their names into history as the first Irishwomen to make a final All-Australian team.

Jim Stynes was included in the men’s equivalent in 1991 and 1993.

With players from all 14 AFLW clubs nominated, 40-year-old Staunton is the only Greater Western Sydney [GWS] Giants star to get the nod, rewarded for her impressive 18-goal haul this season.

O’Dwyer, a Premiership winner with Brisbane Lions in 2021 and still in the hunt for the 2022 flag, has been the picture of consistency this campaign.

The 23-year-old has averaged 15 disposals and over 350 metres gained per game, kicking six goals and winning four Lions MVP awards — and is nominated alongside team-mates Emily Bates, Greta Bodey and Natalie Grider.

Melbourne FC – home of Dublin duo Sinéad Goldrick and Lauren Magee – dominate the list of nominees with seven players included ahead of their preliminary final against O’Dwyer Brisbane on Saturday.

Adelaide Crows (Ailish Considine) and Fremantle Dockers (Áine Tighe) lock horns in the other prelim decider, with the two winners facing off in the following Saturday’s Grand Final.

14 Irish players in total have featured in the AFLW this season.

This week on the Front Row – The42’s new rugby podcast in partnership with Guinness – panellist Eimear Considine makes a welcome return… and she’s brought her Ireland roommate, Hannah O’Connor, along too. They chat about broken noses, tanning routines, initiation songs and balancing the Women’s Six Nations with teaching, plus how one fan named her child after Ireland winger Beibhinn Parsons! Click here to subscribe or listen below:


The42 / SoundCloud

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    Mute Shimmy Shammy
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    Oct 19th 2020, 3:32 PM

    Right call

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    Mute Padraic McHugh
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    Oct 19th 2020, 4:00 PM

    @Shimmy Shammy: Will you cop on.Anywhere else on the pitch it would have been a straight red no question’s asked.

    109
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    Mute Seagoat returns
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    Oct 19th 2020, 4:12 PM

    @Padraic McHugh: This should of been a red but they got it wrong. End of discussion. Would rather see the ref association and FA learn from this and use VAR more effectively. No long term logic in handing out a ban because the Ref and VAR got it wrong.

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    Mute Kenh28
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    Oct 19th 2020, 4:17 PM

    @Shimmy Shammy: man United fans deluded as usual

    25
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    Mute Shimmy Shammy
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:47 PM

    @Kenh28: Wrong call made on the pitch, I think everyone is agreed on that. Liverpool fans looking for special treatment is what is delusional.

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    Mute Paul Crampsie
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:02 PM

    It’s bad enough losing VVD for the season without Everton further gaining by Pickford being suspended. Keeping him in goal is punishment enough.

    72
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    Mute Dave O'Shaughnessy
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    Oct 19th 2020, 7:18 PM

    @Paul Crampsie: What’s done is done, time for LFC to pick themselves up, hopefully full of furious raging fire to win the league.

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    Mute Paul Crampsie
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    Oct 19th 2020, 10:25 PM

    @Dave O’Shaughnessy: agreed, the other worry though is that we’re left with Gomez and Matip, I think they can rise to the challenge but both are pretty injury prone. If either gets injured we will struggle.

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    Mute King B
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    Oct 19th 2020, 4:11 PM

    He’s a liability so he’ll get caught out again during the season, a retrospective ban is meaningless to Liverpool but this can’t be allowed to happen again, especially with the ability to watch it over and over again to help make up your mind, challenges like that have ruined a players careers in the past.

    47
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    Mute Didithedevil
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    Oct 19th 2020, 4:50 PM

    Plain and simple it’s because he’s England’s number 1! Shocking again from the frank spencer brigade!

    46
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    Mute Fergus O'Connor
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    Oct 19th 2020, 4:58 PM

    We see these moments of madness from Pickford in every game. He’s panicked and flung himself into the situation without thinking. Anyone who thinks it’s pre-meditated or intentional gives him far too much credit.

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    Mute King B
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:22 PM

    @Fergus O’Connor: Ya it was pure instinctive which makes it much worse because he’ll do it again.

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    Mute Ger Power
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:25 PM

    Just like Liverpool will find it hard to win the league without VVD Everton will eventually slip back due to Pickford errors. While no action will be taken on Pickford surely there has to be consequences for the VAR official and the Ref. How they both saw it and thought nothing of it is baffling

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    Mute Conor Flynn
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    Oct 19th 2020, 9:47 PM

    I remember van Dijk went in late and studs up on Mertens against Napoli last year and only got a yellow when he should have seen red. His defense was “that’s football”, this is football too I guess.

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    Mute Eric Murphy
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:35 PM

    Fairly amusing that all last season it was ‘liVARpool’ and people just moaning about the calls they were getting and the second it goes against liverpool just a bunch of fellas saying “get over it”

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    Mute Stephen Foster
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    Oct 19th 2020, 5:58 PM

    @Eric Murphy: I think you’re making their point. Liverpool got a lot of dodgy VAR decisions last season and the first time one goes against them they are up in arms. Short memory. Swings and roundabouts.

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    Mute Dave O'Shaughnessy
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    Oct 19th 2020, 7:26 PM

    @Stephen Foster: Is that’s the Premier League title they won by 23 points? Yeah, VAR was the reason for that.

    Christ please change the record on this utter rubbish about LFC getting the majority of favourable VAR decisions, they were middle of the road for favourable calls according to searchable stats, United as an example received much more positive outcomes on VAR.

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    Mute Peter Byrne
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    Oct 19th 2020, 11:57 PM

    Reminds me of world cup 1982 Germany v France. German keeper charged out to demolish Patrick Battison of France. He wasn’t even booked. How come goalkeepers always get away with this kind of behaviour. Pickford should have got red card.

    8
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