How AFLW’s historic Australia-Ireland clash turned two Swans into rivals

Sydney Swans teammates Paris McCarthy and Zipporah “Zippy” Fish are used to doing detailed analysis on opponents each week in the AFLW; they just never expected to be doing it on each other.On Saturday, the friends will collide for their countries. Fish will represent Australia and McCarthy for Ireland at a sold-out North Sydney Oval for the first AFLW international match.Swans pair Paris McCarthy (left) and Zippy Fish will square off in a historic clash between Ireland and Australia at North Sydney Oval on Saturday.Wolter PeetersThe pair have been reflecting on the long and often challenging journey they have taken to represent their countries.Fish grew up in the remote small town of Newman in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. McCarthy’s childhood was spent in the rural town of Castleisland, in County Kerry, Ireland.Despite growing up on opposite sides of the world, McCarthy and Fish remain deeply connected to the beautiful small towns that shaped them as elite footballers.“When I do go out on Saturday, that will be in the back of my head that, for me, yes, I’m representing Ireland, but I am also representing Castleisland, where I came from,” McCarthy said.“I feel like I was always given the opportunity to play at a high level at whatever I did; on Saturday, that’ll be there in my mind: that I’m going out and bringing that flair from Castleisland.”Fish spent years kicking a football on the oval in Newman with no expectation of being a professional athlete, but her talent proved impossible to ignore.After being drafted by the Swans, Fish and her father Troy drove from Perth to Sydney, frequently stopping in towns along the way, giving her an insight into the diversity of Australia she wants to represent on Saturday.“I’ve met a lot of great people along the way, and they’ve all done a lot for me, so I’ll be playing for everyone I know, really,” Fish said.“I think that’s mainly one of the reasons that I play footy is to try and be an inspiration to those young girls, because I was that little girl one time. I just hope to inspire young girls and see them live out their dreams.”Zippy Fish in action for the SwansGetty ImagesThere are 46 Irish players on AFLW lists with 30 others who have previously played in the league.Despite the well-trodden path of her compatriots in the league, McCarthy now feels she is coming to grips with AFLW, having starred in Gaelic football in Ireland. She also played a season of top league college basketball with East Tennessee in the US.“You come to a new country to play a new sport and you go from a big fish to the smallest fish,” McCarthy said.“You do sometimes think, ‘If I went back to Ireland, would I just go back to being a big fish again?’“But that’s part of being a professional athlete. It’s not always going to be fun and I think that’s what I like about it: every day I can get better.”Alongside figuring out how to keep Fish, the 2025 AFLW Rising Star, quiet on the field, McCarthy has spent a long time thinking about what singing the Irish national anthem (Amhrán na bhFiann) at North Sydney Oval far from home will mean to her and her teammates.“I’ve thought about the anthem every day this week; I think that’s the one thing that will put me into the game and thinking about going out and giving it everything,” McCarthy said.“I feel like the national anthem means a lot to every Irish person and I haven’t heard it in four years, too, to get the opportunity to stand alongside those girls for Ireland and listen to it will definitely be something really special and something I’ll remember for the rest of my career.”From our partners