Lyn Savage, the new chief executive of the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA), hopes dialogue with Australian Football League officials can help facilitate a more satisfactory arrangement in relation to Irish players moving Down Under to play AFLW.The player-drain of the top women Gaelic footballers joining Aussie Rules clubs is now more pronounced than ever, with 44 Irish players currently on squad lists for the 2026 season – up from 39 last year.The restructured AFLW season – with more games and an earlier start, the opening match of the new season being played on August 9th – has all but prevented most players from juggling both sports at this time of the year as preseason in Australia starts well before the All-Ireland championship heats up.Just like the GAA in relation to the men’s game, there is very little the LGFA can do when amateur players accept the offer of playing professionally in Australia.But Savage, who succeeded Helen O’Rourke as LGFA CEO in March, hopes a formula can be found that would in future allow players line out for their county in the championship before concentrating on the oval ball.“We don’t want to have players caught in the middle of this,” said Savage. “I’m sure that a lot of those girls would love to be donning their county jerseys, so there’s an onus on us to keep that communication open now to see if we can work together.”The recent announcement of an AFLW game between Australian and Ireland players has actually increased the dialogue between the two organisations.The LGFA insist the match – which will be played in the North Sydney Oval on August 1st, the day before the All-Ireland finals at Croke Park – is not an International Rules fixture, with the game being organised entirely by the AFLW.“Some people thought it was an International Rules games, which it’s not,” said Savage. “[We have] nothing to do with, it is completely based on a preseason game of AFL.“It’s not even bringing over players, it’s the Irish players over there already playing against an Australian selection, but it has allowed us to open communication with the AFL. Lyn Savage was appointed CEO of the LGFA in March, succeeding Helen O’Rourke. “Obviously, for those players going to the AFLW, I think anybody who’s sitting at home and saying they wouldn’t have taken the opportunity themselves is being a bit hypocritical.“We’d love to have all those players here, but we are an amateur sport, we can’t pay our players. We’re working really hard on player expenses and other improvements over the last number of years – our biggest thing is to work to make sure we create the best environment possible for girls to play and to strive to keep them in their county jerseys.”The launch of the 2026 TG4 All-Ireland Championships at Croke Park on Tuesday was something of a full circle moment for Savage.Her first experience of the annual championship launch was as a Louth player, but after almost two decades working for the LGFA, on Tuesday she was announcing details of this year’s competition as CEO.“It’s only a couple of months and yet it feels like probably much longer,” she said of her appointment. “It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, but I suppose the fact I’m 18 years in ladies’ football, that has benefited me.“When I played, I just absolutely loved the sport. It’s great to be working in a sport that you absolutely love and believe in.”At a Special Congress in April, the LGFA voted through a package of 12 new playing rules after they were trialled during the National League.Six of those mirrored ‘rule enhancements’ introduced to the men’s game last season – the kick-out mark, the two-point scoring arc, the requirement to keep three players in the opposition half at all times, the solo and go, and frees being brought forward for tactical fouling or dissent from the sideline. The six other rule changes looked specifically at current LGFA rules, including those related to the tackle.“I was at the provincial finals over the last few weekends and the new rules have brought an air of excitement, the players have just got a real buzz from them,” Savage added. Meanwhile, TG4 and the LGFA have announced a five-year extension to the broadcaster’s sponsorship and broadcast commitment to the All-Ireland women’s football championships. The extension will see the partnership, which began in 2001, continue to the conclusion of the 2032 season.2026 All-Ireland Senior Women’s Football Championship fixturesRound 1 (Sunday, June 7th)Mayo v Dublin, 1pm (Live on TG4); Kerry v Tipperary, 2pm; Meath v Galway, 2pm; Cork v Armagh, 3pm (TG4).Round 2 (Saturday, June 13th)Dublin v Donegal, 2pm; Galway v Tyrone, 2pm; Kildare v Kerry, 3pm (TG4); Waterford v Cork, 7.30pm (TG4).Round 3 (Saturday, June 20th)Donegal v Mayo, 1pm; Tyrone v Meath, 1pm; Armagh v Waterford, 3pm; Tipperary v Kildare, 3pm.