{"id":243624,"date":"2025-10-27T07:20:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T07:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/243624\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T07:20:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T07:20:07","slug":"round-11-talking-points-possible-australia-vs-ireland-exhibition-fixture-in-2026-state-of-origin-north-melbourne-kangaroos-vs-hawthorn-hawks-aileen-gilroy-the-w-debrief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/243624\/","title":{"rendered":"Round 11 Talking Points, possible Australia vs Ireland exhibition fixture in 2026, State of Origin, North Melbourne Kangaroos vs Hawthorn Hawks, Aileen Gilroy, The W Debrief"},"content":{"rendered":"

With representative football confirmed for the 2026 AFLW season, one \u201cmouth-watering\u201d option for an international fixture has emerged with the full support of a star Hawk.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the AFL has been queried on a potential location change ahead of one of the competition\u2019s largest-ever home-and-away fixtures in recent memory.<\/p>\n

The big issues from Round 11 of the 2025 AFLW season analysed in foxfooty.com.au\u2019sTalking Points!<\/p>\n

Watch every match of the 2025 NAB AFL Women\u2019s Season LIVE ad-break free during play. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2018MOUTH-WATERING\u2019: AUSTRALIA VS. IRELAND FIXTURE GAINS MOMENTUM<\/p>\n

State of Origin is back for the AFL next February, but for the AFLW, they may just go one step greater than that.<\/p>\n

The league\u2019s recent confirmation that women\u2019s representative football will be played in 2026 has sparked curiosity over the finer details of the fixture, such as whether or not the match would be played as state vs. state, or even Australia vs. Ireland.<\/p>\n

Some of the AFLW\u2019s best talents hail from the \u2018Emerald Isle\u2019, and given their prominent presence league-wide, an exhibition match between the two sides now looms as a genuine possibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan they play tomorrow? I would love that!\u201d Herald Sun journalist Lauren Wood said on The W Debrief.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a Marvel Stadium, completely unhampered by wind or anything, just let these two teams so absolutely hard at it. You know what, I actually wouldn\u2019t put it past the Irish team. These are the players that have taken this competition to the next level.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we can start the campaign here … I think this would be a huge exhibition event for the game. It would take the game global, and it would be a heck of a contest, wouldn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s mouth-watering!\u201d Fox Footy commentator Kelli Underwood added when taking a look at the theoretical sides.<\/a><\/p>\n

What a hypothetical Australian AFLW side could look like.Source: FOX SPORTSWhat a hypothetical Ireland AFLW side could look like.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n

Within the current framework of the AFLW season, any fixture would likely come post-season given the number of Irish players with commitments to their Gaelic football counties back home.<\/p>\n

When probed on a preferred time for any clash between the two countries, Hawks star Aileen Gilroy was in favour of seeing the match take place a couple of weeks after the grand final \u2014 which currently would align with around mid-December.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to know (when to play)… obviously if we were going to do it, we\u2019d want to do it properly. Maybe towards the end of the season after the All-Australian, after the Grand Final,\u201d Gilroy said. \u201cI would definitely think at the end of the season is where you\u2019d get best.\u201d<\/p>\n

“People want to be there for history” | 02:11<\/p>\n

\u2018SHOW A BIT OF INNOVATION\u2019: CALL FOR AFL TO CATER FOR TOP-OF-TABLE BLOCKBUSTER<\/p>\n

In one of the greater AFLW storylines in recent times, powerhouse North Melbourne will come up against rising force Hawthorn for the first time ever on Friday night.<\/p>\n

The clash marks not only a historic first, but also a mouth-watering finals preview between the minor premiers and second-placed side respectively.<\/p>\n

So great is the occasion, that calls for the Frankston Oval fixture to be moved up north to Carlton have been voiced.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we moved it to Ikon Park, you just sense this is the type of marquee clash that could, on a nice night, could draw 5-7,000 \u2014 even 8,000 fans at a bigger venue,\u201d Fox Footy commentator Kelli Underwood told The W Debrief on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Lauren Wood continued: \u201cI think even greater than that. Why put a ceiling on it? We saw a record crowd at Arden Street last week, so we know that North fans are really behind this team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much to play for, people want to be there for history. I don\u2019t think we should put a ceiling on this. I think moving it to somewhere like Ikon Park… let\u2019s show people that the sky\u2019s the limit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gone to the AFL today, no response thus far. I know clubs aren\u2019t looking to buy into it just yet about whether they will look to get this game moved. But I think if we\u2019re looking like we\u2019re serious about growing the game, getting a new audience and greater attendances, I think it would be a huge clash \u2014 1 v 2 on the eve of finals, 26 degrees.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kangaroos registered a record-equalling 23rd consecutive victory on Sunday afternoon<\/a> over St Kilda, leaving Hawthorn with a huge task ahead if they\u2019re to win and secure a home qualifying final.<\/p>\n

\u201cDown at Frankston, it is our home ground, and we still love it. The crowd that comes out there, come out in numbers \u2014 and we are so thankful for that,\u201d Aileen Gilroy added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wind down there can be very, very strong. Obviously Ikon has great facilities and that desk is absolutely amazing. It\u2019s more central to Melbourne, so you probably would get more numbers there. But either or, we don\u2019t mind if we play in Frankston or at Ikon Park. Either or, we just hope that the crowd does come out.<\/p>\n

Underwood ended by saying: \u201cI\u2019d just love the AFL to show a bit of innovation and foresight to say: \u2018You know what, it is about the crowds, it\u2019s about getting people there. Let\u2019s go big, let\u2019s think a little bigger than Frankston.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Should the Hawks fall short of a North Melbourne upset, they could slip to fourth on the ladder if both Melbourne and Brisbane win their matches as expected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With representative football confirmed for the 2026 AFLW season, one \u201cmouth-watering\u201d option for an international fixture has emerged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[145224,64,63,689,55,2057,145221,145217,145218,145220,13617,11288,7492,101482,145225,26779,145219,15631,145226,145222,7204,3583,677,141751,145050,94362,85,1122,145223,7663,124751,660],"class_list":["post-243624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-aileen-gilroy","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-europe","tag-exhibition-event","tag-exhibition-fixture","tag-exhibition-match","tag-football-counties","tag-frankston","tag-grand-final","tag-hawthorn-hawks","tag-home-ground","tag-international-fixture","tag-ireland","tag-largest-ever-home-and-away-fixtures","tag-lauren-wood","tag-location-change","tag-marquee-clash","tag-north-melbourne-kangaroos","tag-northern-europe","tag-oceania","tag-representative-football","tag-representative-game","tag-show-people","tag-sports","tag-st-kilda","tag-table-clash","tag-talking-points","tag-the-w","tag-victoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}