Tom Meagher presents winning trophy to Australia in Perth

The husband of murdered Irish woman Jill Meagher presented the Cormac McAnallen trophy to Australia's winning captain Joel Selwood after this morning's international rules test.

Australian won the series with a 56-46 test victory in Perth.

Tom Meagher, who now lives back in Ireland, was guest of honour at the match and lead the crowd of more than 40,000 in taking the White Ribbon oath. It is just over two years since his wife was raped and murdered by serial violent sex offender Adrian Bayley, sentenced in June last year to life imprisonment.

Bayley had been on parole at the time of the Melbourne murder and the case, which caused an outcry of anger and grief in the city, was a catalyst in changing parole laws in the state of Victoria.

Jill Meagher’s family are originally from Drogheda but moved to Perth when she was a child and she was raised in the West Australian city where they still live and where her memory is honoured today.

White Ribbon, which originated in Canada in 1991, is a men’s movement dedicated to ending violence against women. Tom Meagher is now a leading figure in the Irish campaign.

He is quoted in Perth's Weekend West newspaper as saying: "We do need to pause and stop and have an awareness how prevalent this violence is in society and how hidden it can be. By saying it and having 40,000 people in the stadium saying it kind of breaks the silence."

Australia coach Alastair Clarkson met Tom Meagher at test venue Patersons Stadium yesterday.

“This game is something we want to grow,” said the AFL coach, “but it is also a chance for our countries to come together to recognise our humanity and the way we want our societies to live and have respect for each other.”