Geelong Cats has a new “Lingy” in the red-haired, lanky forward Irish recruit Aishling Moloney, who impressed on debut last Saturday in the AFLW season-opener against Western Bulldogs at GMHBA Stadium.
Moloney picked up eight disposals and booted her first goal, just six weeks after arriving in Australia to take up her post with the Cats.
An emotional Moloney received her hoops jersey as her parents watched on from their home in Ireland before the game.
“I didn’t anticipate or know that my parents were going to be on the big screen and to have them there to witness it with me, sitting in front of my whole house in Tipperary in Ireland, was definitely something that I will carry for a long time,” Moloney said after the match.
“The presentation with mum and dad there had me a bit emotional, for the first 15 minutes into the game I was trying to calm myself down and refocus again and try to just figure out is this actually real that I’m here and it’s such a pinch-me moment.”
Moloney was given number 45, but was unaware of its significance from being famously worn by three-time premiership player, 2011 premiership captain and Madden Medal winner Cameron Ling.
“I think I’m feeling a bit of the pressure now and since I’ve actually been called Lingy, so I feel a bit of the pressure after all his accolades and what he’s done for the club,” Moloney told Krock Football.
Recruited from the Gaelic Athletics Association where she starred for her home team of Tipperary, she is certainly off to a great start but said she was surprised with how quickly it has all come together.
“It’s been a whirlwind six weeks since I’ve been here and the first two weeks I nearly slept in the club, did a few onvernighters here trying to learn the rules and trying to get the basics,” Moloney said.
“I suppose debuting this early was unbelievable in itself, something that I did not expect to happen so soon, and of course being a forward we are there for a reason, to try and score, but to get my first goal on debut was something really special.
“It wasn’t as easy (as it looked), all the things going through my head at that moment of time, but I’m just happy that it went between the posts.”
The Cats defeated the Bulldogs by 48 points, 10.5 (65) to 2.5 (17) to take the top of the ladder and face Sydney, who won their first ever AFLW match last weekend in a nail-biter against GWS, next Saturday in Sydney.
