Conor Meredith and James Kielt, both 19, are training with the Kangaroos this week with an aim to follow the footsteps of the competition's established Irish players – Tadhg Kennelly and Marty Clarke – and Essendon's recent signing, Michael Quinn.
Meredith (County Laois) spent last week with Richmond, while Kielt (County Derry) will head to St Kilda for the second part of his fortnight in Melbourne.
Both attended player manager Ricky Nixon's draft camp in Ireland in August and, while poised to be stars of Gaelic football, entertain the thought of becoming professional sportsmen through AFL avenues.
"It's a completely different experience really," Kielt said. "The training's a bit similar but ultimately the difference is you're training for three or four different sessions every day, whereas maybe you'd get three or four sessions a week back home. [We have to see] if we can adjust to that.
"[Then there's the opportunity] to come over the other side of the world and see a completely different country, a great country. As Gaelic's not professional, and I'm not sure it ever will be, to wake up every morning and do what they (AFL players) do ... how could you not?
"I've watched this game for 10 years. I was watching them back in Wayne Carey's days, so I know a lot of the players."
Meredith spent a fortnight with the Brisbane Lions in July but said the chance to join that club waned when Michael Voss replaced Leigh Matthews as coach.
Colm Begley, who also hails from County Laois, was delisted by the Lions at the end of the 2008 season but is now training with Collingwood.
Meredith returns to Ireland on Saturday and, when he boards the plane, will have a pretty good idea of whether he's earned a spot with Richmond or North.
It's a similar predicament for Kielt, with the Roos and Saints to meet with Nixon at the end of next week.
In the second of a five-year dentistry course at Queens University, Belfast, Kielt gave the impression that his family had some reluctance about his potential relocation.
"I'm not sure long-term if they want me to stay out here," he said.
"That's what you’d expect but I'm sure whatever decision I make they'll be supportive. And they know it's my decision.
"Either way it'll be tough, whether I get the offer, whether to take it and just to see whether I'd like to do it every day for the next 10 years hopefully.
"It's definitely something I'd like to [do], have a go and see how I get on as a professional," Meredith added.
"It's something I've always wanted to do. As a young guy growing up, you always want to be a professional sportsman – a soccer player or a footballer or whatever.
"[I've seen] two different set-ups. (Brent) Harvey, he's a really experienced player, captained Australia and all that this year, so there's a lot of players you can watch on the training field and how they put it across and their mental build-up, even to training. It's so professional, even diets and stuff like that you have to watch."
The pair has been assigned mentors for their time with the Roos; defender Scott Thompson and ruckman Todd Goldstein.
Meredith also acknowledged that the growing network of Irish players in Melbourne would make it easier to move.
