Aisling Louise McCarthy[1] (born 24 February 1996) is an Irish Australian rules footballer playing for Fremantle in the AFL Women's (AFLW), having previously played for the Western Bulldogs and the West Coast Eagles. She became an Australian citizen in July 2022.
From Cahir, County Tipperary in Ireland, McCarthy began playing Gaelic football from the age of seven.[2] She also played camogie, captaining her club Cahir to victory in the 2016 All-Ireland intermediate finals. In 2017, she was the player of the match in Tipperary's victory in the All-Ireland Intermediate Ladies' Football Championship, scoring one goal and four points. She was also named the TG4 Intermediate Player's Player of the Year.[3]
McCarthy's interest in Australian football began in 2015 when Colin O'Riordan, a Tipperary footballer, moved to the Sydney Swans.[4] In September 2018, she was among 18 international prospects to attend the CrossCoders program, a week-long Australian football camp held in Melbourne.[5]
McCarthy was drafted by the Western Bulldogs with pick 23 in the 2018 AFLW national draft.[6] She debuted in round 2 of the 2019 season against Geelong at Whitten Oval, kicking her first goal in the third quarter.[7] At the season's conclusion, she re-signed with the Bulldogs for the 2020 season; she played six matches and kicked five goals in her first year.[8] After a second year with the Bulldogs playing more as a midfielder and kicking two goals from six games, she finished 4th in the Bulldogs Best and Fairest. She and the Bulldogs' 3rd pick in the 2020 AFL Women's draft were traded to West Coast in exchange for picks 2 and 16.[9] She came second in the West Coast best and fairest voting in 2021, with 37 votes, three behind first-placed Isabella Lewis.[10] She signed a two-year contract with the Eagles on 26 June 2021, keeping her with the team until the end of the 2023 season.[11]
Following the 2023 AFLW season, McCarthy was traded to the Fremantle Football Club.[12] Round four of the 2024 AFLW season saw McCarthy kick a goal after the siren to win the match against the Melbourne Demons at Fremantle Oval.[13] She finished her first season at the Dockers as their leading goalkicker, having kicked eight goals across twelve games.[14] She was also selected for a spot in the 2024 AFL Women's All-Australian team.[15]
G
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Goals | K
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Kicks | D
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Disposals | T
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Tackles |
B
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Behinds | H
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Handballs | M
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Marks |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 2019 | Western Bulldogs | 15 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 41 | 20 | 61 | 11 | 15 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 6.8 | 3.3 | 10.2 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 0 |
| 2020 | Western Bulldogs | 15 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 57 | 24 | 81 | 20 | 24 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 9.5 | 4.0 | 13.5 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 0 |
| 2021 | West Coast | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 69 | 30 | 99 | 10 | 32 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 9.9 | 4.3 | 14.1 | 1.4 | 4.6 | 3 |
| 2022(S6) | West Coast | 11 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 118 | 32 | 150 | 19 | 53 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 11.8 | 3.2 | 15 | 1.9 | 5.3 | 0 |
| 2022(S7) | West Coast | 11 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 21 | 20 | 41 | 5 | 10 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 10.3 | 1.3 | 2.5 | 0 |
| 2023 | West Coast | 11 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 112 | 46 | 158 | 16 | 53 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 11.2 | 4.6 | 15.8 | 1.6 | 5.3 | 1 |
| 2024 | Fremantle | 7 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 184 | 77 | 261 | 31 | 98 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 15.3 | 6.4 | 21.8 | 2.6 | 8.2 | 10 |
| Career | 55 | 25 | 22 | 602 | 249 | 851 | 112 | 285 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 10 | 4.4 | 14.4 | 2 | 4.6 | 14 | ||
