Leitrim's Áine Tighe tasted victory on her long-awaited AFLW debut on Saturday, helping Fremantle to a 6.7 (43) to 2.3 (15) over West Coast Eagles at the Fremantle Oval.
Tighe's Fremantle career has been ravaged by knee injuries over the past two seasons, but the club showed just how highly they rate her by giving her a new deal last June.
Speaking ahead of the season opener, Tighe said: "We've had our ups and downs over the last couple of years but I've learnt a huge amount about the game as well over the past three years, which hopefully will hold me in good stead when we do get out on the field."
Tighe lined up in the West Coast derby on Saturday and duly showed why the Australian outfit have shown such faith in her ability as she produced a fine performance.
Mayo sisters Niamh and Grace Kelly, and Tipperary's Aisling McCarthy, all played for West Coast Eagles.
Elsewhere, there were two other Mayo players involved in the North Melbourne-Geelong collision.
Aileen Gilroy came away with the bragging rights as North Melbourne took a 4.2 (26) to 2.6 (18) win against Geelong, for whom Rachel Kearns featured.
Not a dry eye in the room!
— GWS GIANTS (@GWSGIANTS) January 7, 2022
The moment our three debutants were told they'd be playing this weekend 🧡 pic.twitter.com/c56e4WvybV
On Sunday Cork legend Bríd Stack looks set to make her debut for Greater Western Sydney Giants, a year on from making the move Down Under.
The 11-time All-Ireland winner suffered a career-threatening neck injury during a practice match against the Adelaide Crows last January.
The injury ruled her out of the Giants' entire 2021 campaign when she had been due to line out alongside team-mates including Cora Staunton.
Having made a full recovery and been included on the Giants' re-signing list for this coming season, Stack has returned to Australia for the 2022 campaign and the club's coach Alan McConnell has confirmed that she is in line to make her league debut against the Gold Coast Suns.
Forty-year-old Staunton meanwhile will become the oldest player to play a top-level AFLW match and the second oldest player in AFL /VFL history to play a first-class game. Vic Cumberland played when he was 43 back in 1920.
