As the Central Coast Mariners team bus arrives at AAMI Park on Sunday morning, Sarah Rowe’s mind will be flooded with memories.
The bus will cruise down Olympic Boulevard en route to its final destination. One glance out of the window, Rowe’s gaze will fixate upon Olympic Park, where she’s trained for the past six years – not as a footballer, but as an AFLW star.
The Irishwoman is a triple-sport athlete; her sporting career began as an Ireland youth and senior international, before a stint playing Gaelic football in her homeland.
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In 2018, she joined AFLW club Collingwood, adding Aussie Rules to her repertoire.
But five rounds into the 2024-25 Ninja A-League season, with her AFLW duties fulfilled for another term, Rowe decided to fill the Aussie Rules off-season with a stint at the Mariners. On Sunday, she’ll play in her very first Ninja A-League Grand Final, just down the road from Collingwood’s home base.
“Collingwood train right beside AAMI Park, so it does feel like I’m going home this weekend,” Rowe said in the days before the Grand Final.
“I’ve gotten so many messages from the girls (Collingwood) throughout the week, and a lot of them are coming to the game on Sunday. It’s an exciting time for everyone. And yeah, they’re all behind me.”
GRAND FINAL PREVIEW: Coach’s ‘risky’ XI call in play as ultimate wildcard looms
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Rowe’s transition from Aussie Rules to football has not come without its challenges, despite her history, plying her trade across three sporting codes, and beginning her sporting journey playing the world game.
Adding to the complexity of the code swap has been a change in her natural position on the park, with a shift from right wing to the right side of head coach Emily Husband’s defensive line.
Rowe has made 19 appearances for the Mariners en route to the 2025 Ninja A-League Grand final.
Late nights spent at Mariners HQ with head coach Husband, reviewing video and discussing tactics, have been key to Rowe settling into Central Coast’s strongest starting lineup along the way.
“I think it comes with highs and lows,” Rowe said. “And I think every time you transition back into another sport, you have to really dial in and really focus. When you have coaches around you and good players around you can help you, so many of the girls have helped me so much throughout the season.
“I used to be a right wing, I changed into a right-back. I needed so much help on the defensive side. Em (head coach Husband) has obviously been amazing putting extra time and effort into me. And you know, in the lonely hours when everyone goes home, we do a lot of video stuff.
“So there’s been a lot of help that I’ve gotten from people around here. And then when I go back to Collingwood, it will be the same thing. I have to get that extra help from coaches around me to get me to where I need to be.”
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Rowe will have her Collingwood teammates in the stands at AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon, but they won’t be the only familiar faces outside of the Mariners squad when Rowe takes to the field in the Grand Final.
The triple-code Irishwoman’s first stint in the Ninja A-League came in 2022-23 at Victory, Central Coast’s Grand Final opponents.
“I know a lot of the players,” Rowe said.
“I got a text from Jeff (Victory head coach Jeff Hopkins) after the (Semi-Final) to say, ‘Well done, delighted for you guys’. I was like, ‘I hope you’re not so delighted for us next Sunday!’
“But yeah, there’s real respect between Victory, and I think all of us girls have massive respect for Victory.
“But of course, on the day when we cross the white line, it’s all business, and we want to go at the game and give it absolutely everything we’ve got.”
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GRAND FINAL PREVIEW: Coach’s ‘risky’ XI call in play as ultimate wildcard looms
The Mariners reached the 2025 title decider after a shock Semi-Final triumph over Premiers Melbourne City.
City hadn’t lost a single game in 2024-25 heading into the second leg of the Semi-Final tie but an upset 1-0 win to the Mariners settled a 3-2 aggregate victory to Emily Husband’s side, after a 2-2 draw in leg one.
The Mariners finished fourth on the table at the end of the regular season, and come into the Grand Final against second-place finishers Victory as the underdogs, just as they were against City in the Semi-Finals.
“We feel like there’s no pressure on us,” Rowe said.
“We feel like we’re the club that no one thought was going to be here, and we’ve always believed that we can be here. So we don’t feel like we have pressure on us. We just feel excitement, and we feel that we can go out and play freely at the weekend.”
“We’ve got to the final day, and that’s what every club wants to do,” Rowe added.
“These are the days that you dream about. So you just really want to enjoy it, soak it all up, and stay present in the moment, and not get fixated on anything else, because at the end of the day, it’s another game, and we want to compete and we want to win the game.”
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