Geelong keep slim finals hopes alive as close friend and teammate Anna-Rose Kennedy reflects on Aishling Moloney’s rise
Aishling Moloney leads the AFLW goalkicking just 23 games into her career. Her close friend and Cats teammate — who made the trip from Ireland with her — reflects on how far she has come.
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The only thing more unlikely than Aishling Moloney’s stunning second season would be Geelong securing a finals berth from the position it was in a fortnight ago.
Somehow the Cats are still alive in season 2024, and they have Moloney to thank – and to a lesser extent, another key forward.
Irish sensation Moloney had the best AFLW game to date, becoming the fourth player in the competition’s history to kick six or more goals in a game as she lead Geelong to a 33-point win over Waalitj Marawar (West Coast).
Incredibly the Gaelic turned AFLW star now leads the league goalkicking with 21 goals just 23 games into her career.
Then on Saturday night, a defining behind from Richmond captain Katie Brennan in the final 80 seconds levelled the scores against Essendon to bring up a Darwin Dreamtime draw.
It kept the 10th-placed Cats in with a shot of making the finals entering the final round – but as has been the case over the past fortnight, results have to continue going their way.
The Cats not only have to knock off third-placed Kuwarna (Adelaide) at GMHBA Stadium on Friday night, they also need Collingwood to win just its second game for the season against Narm (Melbourne, in ninth) and Essendon (eighth) to lose to Carlton.
However, Geelong did defeat reigning premiers Brisbane a fortnight ago at the Cattery, and with Moloney at her brilliant best, anything is possible.
“That was always the aim to finish really strong and there are a few things that have to go our way above us, that’s not our concern,” Cats AFLW coach Dan Lowther told reporters post-match.
“Really pleased for the group to get a hard fought win.”
One of the features of Moloney’s standout performance was her goalkicking, slotting six straight in tricky wind conditions.
Lowther said that her goalkicking was ultimately “the difference” between the two sides.
Moloney’s footskills were all the more remarkable considering how far off the pace Moloney and her Tipperary and Geelong teammate Anna-Rose Kennedy were when they arrived at the club in July last year.
“Being brutally honest we had little to no knowledge of the game or the skills required,” Kennedy said.
“I mean, they all kept telling us that our Gaelic football skills would transfer quite nicely. But just the way in which you kick the ball is completely different, so we learned from the guys here in Geelong.
“When we came out, I mean, you have a little bit of a kick beforehand but it definitely wasn’t up to scratch in the way in which you need to do it to get it as accurate as possible.
“The first couple of weeks of last season we spent just on the basics and then we just progressed from there, just adding a small something extra to the game each round.”
Kennedy and Moloney are different personalities, but they are very tight.
The pair played with each other for County Tipperary in Ireland and turned out for their home club over the AFLW off-season, they live together with 2024 Irish recruit Kate Kenny, and they even match up on each other at training.
Kennedy, who has established herself as a senior regular this season after an injury interrupted first season at the Cats, is loving sharing their AFLW journey with Moloney and seeing her compatriot thrive.
“It is great to see when she is on form – nobody can stop her,” Kennedy said.
“It was great the two of us got to come out together. We didn’t realise at the beginning when we were both approached that we would end up in the same job.
“It’s definitely been a great help I think for both of us just to bounce a few ideas off each other and it kind of feels like that home (away) from home when you have someone so close across the other side of the world with you sharing the same experience,”
“I’d have to say we’re very different but we get on really well as a result. There’s actually three Irish women living in the same house… Then Rachel (Kearns) lives not far away, so between the four of us we get on really well.”
As a key defender, Kennedy knows just how difficult Moloney is to stop.
“I think she’s one of the most determined forwards. I often mark her in training and I think the battles that we have are one of the toughest,” Kennedy said.
“She’s got it all, she’s obviously super quick and fast, she’s really strong, so I think she kind of has all of that and her skills and the way she can kick the ball from the inside or the outside of the boot from anywhere on the pitch obviously means you can’t really predict where she is going to go.”
The two close friends will have to bring their A-game once again if the Cats are to clinch an unlikely finals berth.
And if they are successful, the pair will be joined by their parents from Ireland – who flew to Australia for Geelong’s finals run last season.
“If we were to make it, they said they would make the trip,” Kennedy chuckled.
Originally published as Geelong keep slim finals hopes alive as close friend and teammate Anna-Rose Kennedy reflects on Aishling Moloney’s rise
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