TG4 have announced that the station will broadcast weekly matches and highlights from the upcoming Australian Football League Women’s (AFLW) season.
The NAB AFL Women’s Competition begins on the last weekend of January with fourteen teams battling it out over twelve weekends to see who will reach the Grand Final in April.
The agreement between TG4 and the Australian Football League (AFL) will see matches being broadcast deferred each weekend as well as weekly highlights.
The coverage will begin on TG4 on Saturday 30th January at 5.10pm.
There will be fourteen Irish players playing in this season's NAB AFL Women’s Competition which is Australia's national semi-professional Australian Rules Football league for female players.
There are five players from Mayo in the league.
The Kelly sisters Niamh & Grace both play for the West Coast Eagles, Aileen Gilroy is with North Melbourne, Cora Staunton of the Great Western Sydney Giants and Sarah Rowe of Collingwood.
Meanwhile, Aine Tighe from Leitrim plays for the Freemantle Dockers.
AFL Head of Women’s Football Nicole Livingstone said she was pleased with the announcement and looked forward to the NAB AFL Women’s Competition being broadcast in Ireland. “We are proud to expand the AFLW broadcast to Ireland, a significant announcement for Australian Football given the impact Irish footballers have had on the NAB AFL Women’s Competition,” Ms. Livingstone said.
“We have 14 Irish players currently on AFLW lists and it is great to know that their family and friends back home will be able to watch them in action this season.”
TG4's Head of Sport Rónán Ó Coisdealbha said: "We are extremely pleased that TG4 have agreed a deal with the Australian Football League (AFL) to broadcast matches from the NAB AFL Women’s Competition. There are a lot of players from Ireland who play in the AFLW and we would like to thank the AFL for giving us the opportunity to showcase their sport in Ireland."