![\"Amy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0023cd6e-614.jpg\"\/)
\nAmy trying out the AFL ball at her local GAA club in Moorock<\/p>\n
A prank, a troll or maybe even an old-fashioned mistake?<\/p>\n
Either way, the message sat unanswered for days. In these days of online scams, it was understandable that the Instagram message was viewed with scepticism.<\/p>\n
But the life of the young woman from Co Offaly was about to change dramatically.<\/p>\n
It all began when Amy Gavin Mangan checked her Instagram account in February 2024 and spotted an unusual looking ‘DM’, or direct message.<\/p>\n
“It’s a bit of a funny one,” she says now, looking back. “But I actually received a DM in my Instagram requests, and it was the manager of my now football club, North Melbourne, just reaching out and asking if I would be interested in having a conversation around potentially moving over to Australia to play with them.”<\/p>\n
Amy, 27, from Ballycumber, who represented her club Naomh Ciar\u00e1n and her county with distinction, admits now it took a while to realise “the reaching out” was genuine.<\/p>\n
“That kind of went on for a couple of months and then with the help of a guy in Cork, the conversation kind of kept going and eventually ended up getting drafted,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I sent it to my friend asking, ‘do you think this is one of the girls messing with me’?<\/p>\n
“But they looked them up on LinkedIn and found that it was legit. I took a while to respond but eventually went with it.”<\/p>\n
It would prove a prudent decision for the footballer known for her speed and agility.<\/p>\n
After linking up with North Melbourne, Amy would become an important member of the squad.<\/p>\n
On her Aussie Rules debut against Port Adelaide, she showed all her athletic prowess to score a well-taken goal, instantly endearing herself to the Roos’ fans.<\/p>\n
\nAmy trying out the AFL ball at her local GAA club in Moorock<\/p>\n
In keeping with her social media start, that goal has been viewed thousands of times on YouTube.<\/p>\n
By the end of her whirlwind season, she was savouring success with a team that triumphed in the Grand Final down under.<\/p>\n
She’s not the only Irish player who contributed to North Melbourne\u2019s victories. Bl\u00e1ith\u00edn Bogue, Erika O\u2019Shea and the Wall sisters, Vikki and Sarah, will all be in the Roos’ line up for 2026.<\/p>\n
“Firstly, I was unbelievably lucky to be a part of it, secondly there were challenges along the way as well. Like each week you are up and down a little bit, but (it was) a year it was phenomenal to be a part of – like getting to the Grand Final and the girls getting over the line in the end definitely made it a good Christmas!” she says, as she reflects on a spectacular year at her local GAA pitch in Moorock.<\/p>\n
“Some of the girls out there are really key players amongst their teams which is phenomenal for them. It’s great for the sport to be recognised and the attributes of ladies Gaelic footballers to be shown over there, what they can do in a different environment and in a professional set up. It’s exciting times for Ladies Gaelic footballers over in Australia definitely.”<\/p>\n
But should the exit of players from ladies Gaelic football to the ranks of the Aussie Rules cause concern in Ireland?<\/p>\n
“I’ve seen a little bit of talk about it lately, but it hasn’t really kicked off yet, I suppose. I personally don’t really have an opinion on it,” Amy says as she ponders the implications.<\/p>\n
Looking at it from my experience it’s not an opportunity I would get in Ireland or in sport in Ireland anyway, so I decided to jump full throttle at it, but maybe down the line if trends keep going as they are.<\/p>\n
“I do know that AFLW, the underage over in Australia are improving so maybe it’s going to slow down in the future. Who knows I suppose?”<\/p>\n
Amy is scheduled to embark on early-season training in March.<\/p>\n
As she’s poised to set off for what could be another jubilant season in the AFLW, she affords herself a wry smile.<\/p>\n
“God knows how it came about from their end but from my end it was a nice way to come about, but it was subtle as well, which is always nice.”<\/p>\n
“Someone from a small county like Offaly and a small village like Ballycumber, you never think that kind of opportunity will come about. Obviously, I was looking at my fellow club player Kate Kenny with Naomh Ciar\u00e1n and was looking at her experience with Geelong and admiring that.<\/p>\n
“You never think you are going to in that position, so when the message came in I was delighted to explore what the potential to be.”<\/p>\n
A football fantasy that began with a DM is a story straight from a social media fairytale.<\/p>\n
Amy Gavin Mangan is now savouring the unfiltered reality of it all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A prank, a troll or maybe even an old-fashioned mistake? Either way, the message sat unanswered for days.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":{"0":"post-266120","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}