AFLW 2024: Geelong’s Aishling Moloney firmly in frame for All-Australian as leading goalkicking race to go down to wire
Geelong cross-coder Aishling Moloney was voted best first year player by her peers in 2023. Now, the second-year Irish forward has put herself in the mix for several postseason accolades.
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Aishling Moloney arrived for her second pre-season at Kardinia Park late off the back of a successful Gaelic season with Tipperary.
It highlights just how quickly the cross-coder has picked up her new sport, and the remarkable season she is stringing together, with the 26-year-old arguably in the conversation for a maiden All-Australian jacket at season’s end.
“She’s had a great year – if she’s not under consideration for All-Australian I’d be very surprised,” Cats coach Dan Lowther said this week.
“We’re all very excited about, ‘what if you came back a little bit earlier, I wonder what you might be able to do off the back of really strong preparation’, she’s that good.”
From arguably the second half of round 2, Moloney, the AFLPA‘s best first year player in 2023, has been well on her way to earning more post-season silverware, whether it be in the league, and at club level for the Cats for a strong individual campaign.
Moloney is firmly in the race for the league’s leading goalkicker, outright second with 15 goals with two rounds to go, one behind Brisbane’s Taylor Smith who the Cats kept goalless on Sunday.
Moloney’s right footed-snap from the right pocket against Hawthorn also sees her up for goal of the year, though the forward is regularly doing something special to send the ball through the big sticks, including against the Lions, where she sidestepped one opponent and evaded another to get her kick off 40 metres out for a goal.
“It may look like she threw it on the boot, but she practices that kick a lot in regards to, it’s almost a hybrid drop punt-slash-banana,” Lowther explained.
“They (Irish players) get a lot of purchase on that. She knows the way the ball’s going to move off the back of that kick, she knows her distance, her footwork gets set to evade and kick the ball forward.
“It was quite planned and measured and yeah, she kicked it really well.”
Showing some threatening glimpses in their round 2 draw against North Melbourne, teammate Amy McDonald predicted a game was coming where Moloney would break open a game.
That game came two weeks later against Gold Coast, Moloney kicking a career-high four goals, while she followed it up with another three five days later against Hawthorn including that goal of the year contender.
But it’s not just the goals which has defined a standout season, the 26-year-old’s ability to play the game on natural instinct and with a flair we don’t often see making her a stand out, as does her athleticism and agility for a 6’0” forward.
She polled a maximum 10 votes from coaches for her performance against Richmond, reaping a career-best 22 disposals, six marks and four tackles, alongside one goal.
With only 22 games to her name, Moloney’s average statistical markers are up across the board in disposals (+3.8), tackles (+1.5), shots on goal (+0.7), accuracy at goal (+20.4 per cent), score involvements (+1.3), ground ball gets (+0.8), inside 50s (+0.9), and bounces (+0.9), while she has played more than 90 per cent of gametime in six of her nine appearances this year, indicating just how important it is she in on the ground.
But for someone who only took up the sport last year, even more improvement lays ahead for Moloney.
“Off her form this year and how exciting she plays the game, her strike rate and juts her flair as a player, as a tall forward who can move and can finish in front of goal, she’s only adding layers to her game each week,” Lowther said.
“If you ask her, she still wants to be a better mark, she’s getting opportunity to mark the ball but she’s just not quite taking it,” Lowther said.
Whether she earns All-Australian honours this year or not, it goes to show just how much more we have to look forward to with Moloney in hoops.
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Originally published as AFLW 2024: Geelong’s Aishling Moloney firmly in frame for All-Australian as leading goalkicking race to go down to wire
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