The Facebook message from Troy Selwood that started a football career

GEELONG AFLW defender Rachel Kearns never imagined a holiday to Australia would change her life.

She certainly didn’t expect a Facebook message from the late Troy Selwood to set her on a path that would lead to the Cats and, next month, an Irish jumper in a historic representative clash against Australia.

The 29-year-old became Geelong’s first Irish AFLW player in 2021 after visiting friend Sarah Rowe, a fellow Irishwoman heading into her eighth season with Collingwood.

After seeing footage of Kearns playing Gaelic football for her home team Mayo, Selwood encouraged Geelong to contact her while she was visiting Australia.

 

 

Initially convinced the Facebook message was a scam, Kearns ignored it until Rowe persuaded her to at least meet with the club.

“I had no interest, I was such a homebird. I didn’t really want to leave the country,” Kearns said. “[Sarah told me to] just go down anyways… So I did.

“It’s a pretty funny story, but it worked out in the end.

“Growing up, I always would have said that I’m never leaving home, I’ll play for Mayo till I die.

“But then when I actually came over, I just changed so much as a person, in a good way.”

Kearns said the opportunity to represent Ireland in the inaugural exhibition match was something she had never imagined possible.

The clash aims to celebrate the growing influence of Irish talent on the competition, with 46 Irish-born players currently featuring across the league.

“I literally can’t wait for it,” Kearns said.

“It’s special and we’ll definitely never forget it. It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing and we’re not going to take it for granted.”

 

 

Kearns expects the match to be fiercely contested despite its exhibition status, saying the pride associated with representing Ireland would ensure nobody treated it like a friendly.

“All of us are such proud Irish people,” she said. “We absolutely just love our country, with everything we do.

“There’ll be that competitive edge that will really shine through when we’re all running out with the green jerseys on.”

Fellow Geelong teammate Aishling Moloney will join Kearns in the Irish side, while Cats gun Georgie Prespakis has been selected for Australia. The trio’s assistant coach Elise Coventry will also be involved, serving on Ireland’s coaching panel.

Kearns said there would be plenty of friendly rivalry when she and Moloney came up against Prespakis.

“We’re teammates, we’re used to playing with each other, but there’s nothing wrong with playing against each other just for one game,” Kearns said.

“It’s all just pure banter.

“It’ll be interesting to see who… will have the bragging rights on the next training session we’re back together.”

Kearns said one of the most rewarding parts of her AFLW journey had been inspiring the next generation of Irish footballers.

“Every time you go home, there’s more and more young girls coming up to you,” she said.

“When we were growing up, our dream was always just to play for Mayo or play for our county. It’s nice that we are those people to them now and that’s what they want to do.”

The match will take place at North Sydney Oval on 1 August.