Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Sarah Rowe faces her former club in tomorrow's decider, as Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne Victory go head-to-head for glory.Alamy Stock Photo Sarah Rowe: 'I'm a risk taker in general, no matter what it is in life' A-League Women’s Grand Final glory the immediate aim for the Mayo multi-sport star, who will always hold Ireland ambitions. 7.31am, 17 May 2025 Share options THE 5.30AM DRIVE to training is well underway when Sarah Rowe’s phone rings. She’s half-an-hour or so from her Sydney base, heading north to Central Coast Mariners Football Club, and more than happy to chat away. It’s the Wednesday morning of A-League Women’s Grand Final week, this early start a particularly easy one for the Mayo multi-sport star. “There’s definitely a really nice feeling in the air at the moment,” Rowe tells The 42 during the hour-long journey she makes for 7am training five times a week. Still basking in the glow of the stunning semi-final win over unbeaten defending champions Melbourne City — “a memory in my career that I’ll never forget” — the focus quickly moves to Central Coast’s first-ever decider. . . against her former club, Melbourne Victory. This Australian soccer adventure is the latest chapter in Rowe’s colourful sporting career, with AFLW and Gaelic football also mastered at the top level. The 29-year-old has predominantly been in Australia since 2018, when she took her shot at professional sport with AFLW outfit Collingwood. Seven seasons into her journey with the Melbourne side, Rowe has also enjoyed several soccer stints along the way. She balanced Gaelic football and soccer through her youth, representing Mayo and Ireland on the biggest stages. Reaching the semi-finals of the U19 Uefa Women’s European Championships in 2014 on a team which featured Katie McCabe was an undoubted highlight, while she starred for Castlebar Town, Raheny United, and later, Shelbourne in the Women’s National League. While chasing All-Irelands with Mayo and the AFLW dream soon took over, Rowe never lost that love for soccer. Rowe's first season for Collingwood was 2019.Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo A brief return to Shels, who she previously helped to a league and cup double, in 2021 indicated unfinished business, and in January 2023, she signed for A-League Women’s club Melbourne Victory as an injury replacement player. A few weeks later, she came home to Ireland and joined Bohemians ahead of the new domestic season as the World Cup neared. Rowe ignored the “narrative” around the move, but The 42 understands she was on Vera Pauw’s standby list for the tournament. Collingwood took precedence once more thereafter, but last December, the Ballina native ventured back into Australian soccer with Central Coast Mariners. “I think after not playing a full season with Melbourne Victory in the A-League, it was something that I always said I wasn’t done with,” she says. With the 2024/25 campaign in its infancy, Victory didn’t have an international player spot free, but Rowe enquired about another via a performance coach she was working with, Dean Benton, formerly of Rugby Australia and England Rugby and currently of Central Coast. The Mariners’ rise since their reform in 2023 — after a 15-year hiatus — has been remarkable and the project, led by Emily Husband, interested Rowe. She asked for the head coach’s number and soon approached Collingwood with a potential off-season proposition. Contact was established between both clubs, and Englishwoman Husband shared immediate interest. “Then I gave her a ring, and we just got on really well,” Rowe picks up. “I have to say, she’s one of the best operators that I’ve ever worked under, from every angle I look at. “She’s an extremely respected person, humble, empathetic, but then has this real hard, competitive side to her that kind of filters down into us players. She just has this real personal touch. Advertisement “As soon as I spoke to her, I was like, ‘Ah, this girl gets it. I want to play for her.’” Rowe played for Bohs in 2023.Tom Maher / INPHO Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO Minutes after Central Coast announced their new international signing, Collingwood wished their long-serving star well and confirmed she would return for pre-season training in May 2025. “For me, it was just a no-brainer,” Rowe, who has transitioned from winger to right-back this season, explains. “Our off season for AFLW is so long, six months. I’ve played 19 games with Central Coast, almost twice of what I play in an AFLW season being 11 games. It’s such a long time to be out of competition while you’re fit, while you’re able and while you can. “Obviously, Collingwood would love me to be there in the off season, but they understand the individual as well and the way I’m wired. I was like, ‘I really want to do this, and I feel like it will benefit me and I feel like I will come back a better AFLW player.’” She points out the benefits of the crossover: the transitional game, how she covers 10 more kilometres per soccer week than AFLW week, and the acceleration/deceleration meaning she should be able to evade space better when returning to the oval ball. “I find soccer really complements AFLW. I do find it harder going back from AFLW to soccer, and I think it’s because there’s so much skill involved in soccer and your feet need to be really quick, but AFLW, you’re generally running through things rather than evading space. I do find the transition pretty difficult, but if you work hard on it, it’s about six weeks, I reckon it takes me to transition properly.” The multi-sport life clearly works for her, thriving in the chaos of moving between sports. “And if I had the time and they would let me play Gaelic football, I would be playing Gaelic football,” Rowe laughs. “I think as well I enjoy the fact of being under pressure — I enjoy that I’ll need to do extra work when I get back [to AFLW] to get right, but it kind of helps me redial, refocus, whereas when you have too much time as an athlete who is out of competition for too long, it’s hard to not feel like you’ll get the work done eventually. Rowe last played for Mayo in 2021.James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO “It’s that procrastination thing: if you have loads of time to do a job, you’ll probably do it on the last day. I think that it just really keeps me dialled in and focused, essentially year round. We’ll see how it goes, we’ll look back in a year and see if it all worked out.” That begs a burning question: does she think deeply about long-term plans, or just go from one sport to the other, one season to the next, and see how her body and mind is? “I think people think I’m crazy in terms of what I do! I’ve just always had this mindset where I’m like, it may or may not work out, but I want to take the risk anyway. I’m a risk taker in general, no matter what it is in life. “I’m in ways going with the flow, but I’m open to opportunities coming my way, and I’m open to doors opening — and I don’t know which one I’m going to walk through, there could be 10 of them open in front of me, I just don’t know which one I’m going for. “I will have all the conversations to put myself in the position to be able to go different directions. It’s quite confusing for people, I’d say. I tried to explain to Collingwood, I was like, ‘Guys at this point now I’m predictably unpredictable.’ So if I come to you with another surprise tomorrow, why would you be surprised at this rate?’” Basically, don’t rule out more twists and turns. It’s certainly not beyond the realms of possibility that Rowe adds to her sole senior international cap. The 42 understands she is on the Ireland radar, and has been making a push for extended squads after an impressive individual season. Asked if she still holds international football ambitions, Rowe says: “I’d never turn down an opportunity to play for my country. “Wearing the green jersey has been some of the proudest days of my life, and it represents so much more than the sport. It’s my family, it’s who I am, it’s what I stand for. There’s so many reasons why I would never turn my back on Ireland if it came up — and the time was right.” Rowe (13) with her Ireland U19 team in 2014.Anders Hoven / INPHO Anders Hoven / INPHO / INPHO For now, however, it is all about Central Coast — and targeting Grand Final glory. After reaching the semi-final last year, Husband has brought her side one step further. The former Huddersfield Town player has a new right-back in Rowe — “She asked me had I ever played right back? I didn’t lie. I said yes, but when I did was when I was like 16 and not in a professional set-up” — and her hand in that transformation reflects her incredible work across the team. Rowe speaks glowingly about their adaptability and ability to play different systems, a huge challenge for opposition. Athletes are often uncomfortable with change, she adds, but Husband stresses the need for evolution and discomfort. “There’s just this real trust between the players and coaches, which is hard to foster. I’ve been in many different team environments and cultures, it’s a big challenge, because everyone has different beliefs, and everyone wants it their way. To get everyone to believe in the same thing at the same time is a hard thing to do. I just feel like this is a very special group, but I think it starts with the top and it filters down.” Resilience has been key too, a 121st minute winner — controversially awarded as most feel it was offside — seeing the Mariners shock Melbourne City in the semi-final. The focus now switches to the other Melbourne side, Victory, as Rowe gears up to face her former club. A text exchange with their coach, Jeff Hopkins, provided some entertainment during the week. ‘Well done. Absolutely delighted for you, and delighted for Central Coast,’ Hopkins text. Rowe’s reply? ‘Hopefully you won’t be so happy for me next weekend!’ In action against Melbourne City last weekend.Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo “There’s a real respect between Victory and I. They were so good to me along that transition, before I went back to Bohs, they did so much extra work with me when no one else was watching. I’ll always really appreciate them for that. “But it will be all is fair in love and football at the weekend!” AAMI Park is the stage as the latest chapter in Rowe’s journey reaches a climax [KO 3.15pm local time / 6.15am Irish time]. It’s a short distance from Collingwood’s home venue, Victoria Park, and the Irishwoman is hoping for some personal Melbourne support. Her father, Alan, will also be in the crowd — he wouldn’t miss it for the world. Just how much this all means. It’s not the Grand Final she originally dreamt of when she touched down in Australia — the AFLW showpiece alluding Collingwood to date, just like the All-Ireland did Mayo in her day — but in some ways this could be more special. Further success on another huge platform on the other side of the world, earlier highlights including that 2016 double with Shelbourne, Connacht titles won with Mayo and O’Connor Cup glory for DCU. “It would mean so much,” says Rowe. “When you look at my career, you might think I’ve had a lot of success — I probably feel like I haven’t. “You put in so many tireless days every year, year in, year out. Most people don’t win consistently. I think these days are very short come by and extremely special. It’s a team that I’ve really built something with over the last six months. Although it’s my first season with them, it’s been amazing. “It’s been a great story the whole way through, there’s been so many highs and lows. I left my life in Melbourne to move to Sydney, just gave everything to Central Coast and I’m glad that I made the decision that I did.” “I’m extremely excited,” Rowe adds, the time 6.29am as she turns into the training ground. 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