Superstar Hawthorn forward Áine McDonagh will line up in her 50th AFLW game on Friday night when the Hawks host North Melbourne at Cazalys Stadium, Cairns. 

Hailing from Galway, Ireland, the 28-year-old was recruited by the Hawks ahead of their inaugural season in 2022, after several successful years playing Gaelic football and basketball in her home country. 

Despite never playing Aussie Rules previously, McDonagh quickly adapted and made her brown and gold debut four rounds into her maiden season at the club. 

Since then, she has never missed a game for Hawthorn, making her the first AFLW player to feature in 50 consecutive games for the brown and gold. 

McDonagh also holds the title as Hawthorn's all-time AFLW leading goalkicker and the league's all-time Irish leading goalkicker, with 68 majors from her 49 matches so far. 

Her emergence was first recognised in 2023 when she was named the club's Most Improved Player. 

Just one year later, McDonagh made the All-Australian squad for the first time after booting 16 goals and leading the Hawks to their first-ever AFLW finals campaign. 

In 2025, she cemented herself as one of the competition's premier forwards. 

After being named in Hawthorn's leadership group for the first time, McDonagh then claimed her first All-Australian blazer and first Hawthorn best and fairest win off the back of an outstanding season where she kicked a career-high 22 goals for the season to complement strong averages of 12.1 disposals, 1.6 goals, 5.4 score involvements, 2.4 tackles and 2.2 marks per game.

Remarkably, the Hawks star has taken her game to another level again in 2026.

After beginning the year representing Ireland in the league's inaugural international fixture, McDonagh is now leading the league in total goals (16) and goals per game (3.2) for Hawthorn, along with 12 disposals, 4.4 marks and 2.8 tackles per match. 

Just last week, she kicked a career-high four goals in the Hawks' win over the Western Bulldogs at the Kennedy Community Centre.