MAYO’S AILEEN GILROY has become the first Irish AFLW player to sign for Hawthorn.
Gilroy has been signed on the final day of the AFLW Expansion Signing period after making her name in the sport with North Melbourne.
Since being recruited as a rookie by North Melbourne in 2019, Gilroy played 28 games for the club as a defender.
Our first ever Irish AFLW player. 🇮🇪
— Hawthorn FC AFLW x VFLW (@hawthornwomens) May 30, 2022
We're super excited to welcome star defender Aileen Gilroy to Hawthorn! 🤩
Check out the full details below. 👇https://t.co/uYosXRBoef
Prior to taking up Australian Rules, the 29-year-old played for Mayo and was part of the team that contested the 2017 All-Ireland final when they lost to Dublin. She later suffered a cruciate injury but recovered to feature for Mayo against Galway in the 2019 All-Ireland semi-final, before then making the move to North Melbourne.
“Aileen is one of the premier defenders in the AFLW and we’re thrilled to have her in the brown and gold in Season Seven,” Hawthorn AFLW list manager Mitchell Cashion said.
“She has grown in leaps and bounds since entering the competition as a rookie in 2019 and we can’t wait to see her continue to develop her game under Bec Goddard’s leadership.
“The standards and expectations Aileen provides will be really important to the growth of our group.”
