Dublin’s Jennifer Dunne became the first player to win an All-Ireland and AFLW title in the same year as the Brisbane Lions triumphed 7.2 (44) – 4.3 (27) over North Melbourne in the AFLW Grand Final Sunday.
Dunne celebrated with teammate Orla O’Dwyer of Tipperary, who earlier this year marked her 50th appearance with Brisbane, and is now the second Irish player to win two AFLW premierships.
Dunne and O’Dwyer both contributed substantially to the win, with four disposals and 11 disposals and a goal respectively.
The other side had plenty of Irish representation as well with Cork’s Erika O’Shea starting and Tipperary’s Niamh Martin on the interchange bench.
HISTORY MADE
Huge congratulations to Jennifer Dunne who earlier this morning (Irish time) along with her @lionsaflw teammates were crowned AFLW Premiership champions
Jennifer becomes the first player to win an All Ireland and premiership medal in the one season. What a… pic.twitter.com/4Eey1A0vQf
— DublinLGFA (@dublinladiesg) December 3, 2023
More than 12,000 fans watched as the Brisbane Lions came from behind, leading for the first time after O’Dwyer’s third quarter goal and keeping North Melbourne scoreless in the last quarter.
33 Irish players were signed to 12 AFLW clubs at the start of this season, an increase of 11 from last year. Of the eight teams that made it to the knockout phase, seven had Irish players.