For many first-year players, season launches can be intimidating affairs; with speeches, panel discussions and a swarm of new faces.
For Irish recruit Saoirse Lally, any lingering nerves at St Kilda’s launch quickly evaporated during a hilarious exchange with her new coach, Nick Dal Santo.
Lally and teammate Sophie Butterworth were chatting with families in the room, when Dal Santo showcased some Aussie slang, and asked his new Irish recruit “How are you travelling?”
A puzzled Lally replied, “By car”.
“Oh god, I had no idea what that meant,” Lally laughed when interviewed by this masthead.
“I think nearly every day someone says something, and I don’t know whether to say ‘what does that mean’ or just to like nod and smile. But I’m getting there.”
The former captain of the County Mayo Gaelic team, 24-year-old Lally was picked up by the Saints in the pre-season draft, injecting speed and athleticism into the midfield. The presence of Gaelic football cross-coders in AFLW has skyrocketed over the last few years with 46 Irish players in the league – a statistic Lally said she was proud to be a part of.
Teammate Butterworth is full of compliments for the Irish star, praising her footy brain and dedication to picking up a new code.
“She’s [Lally] just done so much homework to being able to analyse the game… and we’re really proud of how she’s stepped into this environment,” Butterworth said.
Lally boasts an impressive resume before her journey to Australia, working as a physio in Dublin and winning numerous accolades in her sporting career.
However, there was a time when her dream to sustain a full-time career as a professional athlete seemed precarious. In 2024, a month into her Mayo captaincy, Lally underwent a routine cardiac screening provided by the Gaelic Players Association, only to find an irregularity on herelectrocardiogram.
Follow-up testing revealed Lally needed a cardiac ablation – a procedure used to correct irregular heart rhythms.
“When the whole heart situation happened two years ago, I was kind of thinking, ‘oh, like, will I even play sport again’,” Lally said. “Everything was in question.”
The experience taught Lally to take whatever opportunities came her way – a mindset that helped her make the “bittersweet” decision to move from Ireland to Australia.
The risk has paid off, Lally debuted in the clash against Geelong – only 15 weeks after being drafted – and said she rarely feels homesick, crediting St Kilda’s welcoming environment.
Despite making finals for the first time last year, the Saints have had a challenging start to 2026 with four consecutive losses –a winless ratio they currently share with Collingwood, Essendon and West Coast.
The team suffered a heavy 92-point defeat to reigning premiers North Melbourne last week, but both Butterworth and Lally maintained the group “had belief”.
The team face a new-look Richmond on Sunday afternoon at Windy Hill.
“Progress isn’t always linear,” Butterworth said. “We’ve still got weeks of football ahead of us, so for us, it’s sticking together, trusting the work that we’re doing, and just continuing to get better.”
About the Author
