North Melbourne stalwart Jasmine Garner and Tipperary native turned Brisbane Lions star Orla O'Dwyer will lead Australia and Ireland at a sold-out North Sydney Oval on Saturday for the first representative AFLW match in almost a decade.
Critics have lambasted holding the historic contest at the 9000-seater suburban ground, but Garner and O'Dwyer are thrilled to be play before a guaranteed full house.
"Having 8000-9000 at North Sydney Oval, I think the atmosphere is going to be pretty incredible," Garner told AAP.
"If we didn't fill the stadium, maybe the atmosphere wouldn't be as great."
Playing in Sydney instead of Melbourne, the spiritual home of Australian rules football, will put the international match-up near the heart of Australia's 129,000-strong Irish diaspora.
"Obviously there's so much Irish living in Sydney," O'Dwyer said.
"It's a big thing in Ireland for people to come ... it's so much Irish out here, it's kind of a sense of home.
"They might come to support Ireland but they'll leave AFLW fans and I think that's the main thing about it, growing our game."
Having traded the Gaelic football for the Sherrin in 2020, O'Dwyer is one of 76 Irish women to have featured on AFLW rosters.
She was the first Irish player to don an All-Australian blazer in 2022.
"It's something I don't think you'd have really thought would happen ... getting a chance to represent your country is huge," she said.
"I think of my family, my local GA (Gaelic football) club back home, my county and all the people who have helped me.
"It's not just that day of representing Ireland, but it's the journey of getting to where I am."
Australian captain Garner has ridden the AFLW wave from its very beginning in 2017, when fans witnessed the code's only other representative game to date between Victoria and the Allies - billed as a State of Origin - at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.
That clash was a 97-point romp for Garner's Victoria but the now-veteran midfielder is not certain Saturday will deliver a similar result.
"The Irish, when they come together, it's just going to be exciting, fun footy," Garner said.
"I know I wouldn't want to be chasing one of them back to goal or get chased by one of them.
"They're super quick. It's going to be two different game styles but it's going to be an exciting game."
The eight-time All Australian also hoped diehards won't have to wait almost a decade for the next showcase fixture.
"It's something we can just keep building on every year or every couple of years," Garner said.
"If it does go to a State of Origin or whatever it is ... any representative game is good for footy.
"There was a lot of talent there that missed out that could have been selected for the (Australian) team."
