Month: September 2021

IT WAS A weekend that had Division Four outfit Limerick beating hot favourites Tipperary, Wicklow pushing Kildare close, Clare stumbling over the line against Waterford and John Maughan’s Offaly running Meath to the wire.

But, Derry — who operated from Division Four in the 2019 National League — gave Tyrone — who finished third in Division One — an almighty scare in Healy Park. The Red Hand needed all 70 minutes to put them away.

Tyrone stand for the national anthem.

Source: Lorcan Doherty/INPHO

Mickey Harte and his team will come away happy to have had a six-point win in the finish and that they have a championship game under their belt, but there is no doubt that there are some headaches and concerns over the way his team performed throughout the 70 minutes for him to reflect on if they are to return to the All-Ireland final in 2019.

• Trailing with seven minutes left, Tyrone hit 1-5 to see off Derry in Ulster clash

***

Kickouts 

Tyrone’s persistence not to press up on opposition kickouts as much as possible is, for me, one of the reasons why they will not be lifting the Sam Maguire in 2019.

This is not a new issue for Tyrone, it has been a problem over the past two years and one that they still have not rectified. Derry had 26 kickouts with Tyrone winning seven of those (27%). On a deeper look into these restarts, Tyrone allowed Thomas Mallon to go short uncontested on twelve occasions.

Source: @GaaStatsman.

It was only in times of pressure and late on in the game that Tyrone felt the need to press up on the Derry kickout. The problem with allowing them to go short was that it allowed Derry to gain momentum when they decided to play a shorter style game and this was the game plan that caused Tyrone the most problems.

Interestingly when Tyrone did push up on Thomas Mallon’s kickouts, they forced 14 contested kickouts. They went on to win seven of these kickouts, that’s 50%. Of these seven kickouts that they won, they went on to score four points from play.

It is vital that Tyrone make a more genuine effort to press up on the opposition kickouts going forward or they will not be able to compete with the top teams in the country and try to go that one step further than their All-Ireland final appearance in 2018 — to notem in that final they only won a meagre 6% of Dublin’s kickouts and allowed Dublin to go short on 23 restarts.

Source: @GaaStatsman.

Ill-discipline

One of the main reasons that Tyrone allowed Derry to stay in this game was through the total lack of discipline that they adapted throughout.

Mickey Harte’s men allowed Derry nine kickable frees, to which Derry converted all nine through the sharp shooting of Ryan Bell and Shane McGuigan. There is no way that Tyrone can afford to do this again and if they do, it will surely end in defeat.

This again is another trait that has not happened overnight, In the three games that Tyrone lost in 2018, they conceded a combined total of 20 kickable frees. This is not good enough and will continuously be punished by the top teams.

Lack Of Intensity

This was not like the Ulster Championship that we are used to where it is full of high intensity tackling, big hits and dispossessions. This game contained none of that and was lacklustre through its entirety.

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Tyrone manager Mickey Harte.

Source: Lorcan Doherty/INPHO

Tyrone finished the game with a total of 30 tackles while Derry racked up 24. Tyrone’s average in 2018 was 47. The stat which sums up how tame this game was is that there was not one blockdown made between both teams in the full 70 plus minutes.

Shooting Efficiency

One area that will please both managers is their shooting efficiency. Tyrone will also be quite content with their attack efficiency.

From 36 attacks (the ball entering the opposition 45 metre line) Tyrone had a return of 30 shots — 24 from play and six from placed kicks, That’s an attack efficiency of 83%. Out of the 30 shots, Tyrone converted a total of 20 scores — 1-19 which leaves an attack efficiency of 67% of which any manager would be happy with.

Source: @GaaStatsman.

Cathal McShane must be given a mention here for an outstanding afternoon throughout and for being a nightmare to the Derry defence, He finished his evening with a total of seven points, five from play. It was not just his scoring that was being showcased though, but his fine fielding of the ball inside.

Derry on the other end had a total of 29 attacks and amassed 18 shots — 62%. From the 18 shots, they converted 14 scores — 1-13 leaving a shot efficiency of 78%. Derry only had 1 wide throughout the full game.

Source: @GaaStatsman.

What will disappoint Derry manager Damian McErlain is that despite the high shooting efficiency, they were only able to tally 1-5 from play and squandered some attacks by kicking first time ball into the D area making for easy ball for the Tyrone defence to deal with when they were causing Tyrone greater problems by working the ball through a running game.

Key Battles 

One of the matchups to savour in this game was that of Karl McKaigue and Peter Harte. It is fair to say that McKaigue frustrated Harte from start to finish, putting in an excellent shift holding the Errigal clubman scoreless from play. 

Brendan Rogers also had a very interesting evening, firstly picking up Cathal McShane who got two points on him in the early exchanges. Rogers then went to mark Mattie Donnelly who was causing problems for the Derry defence linking up with his brother Richie on two occasions. Donnelly struggled to get to grips with the change.

Cathal McShane however scored two more points before Rogers returned.

Cathal McShane and Brendan Rogers battle for the ball.

Source: Lorcan Doherty/INPHO

Paul McNeil did an excellent job on Niall Sludden, holding him scoreless.

Credit must go to Michael Cassidy who scored two points on his debut with bursting runs forward.

Also to note, Padraig Hampsey did not look comfortable in the sweeper role in the Tyrone defence.

***

Albeit the first day out and a new year, it would seem that Tyrone may still have some of the same problems that let them down in 2018. They will have to push higher up on the opposition kickouts and also improve their discipline greatly. These however are not overnight problems and will be hard fixed.

At the moment, they are not within the top three teams in the hunt for Sam Maguire. While they may still win Ulster, it would seem now that they are somewhat off All Ireland glory.

Derry on the other can be encouraged going into the qualifiers with a valiant performance against a Division One outfit. They will be a tough draw for whoever they meet in Round One of the qualifiers.   

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THE LGFA AND Camogie Association are fully independent bodies, separate from the GAA but is it time for them to be welcomed into the fold?

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That’s one of the questions Dara Ó Cinnéide asks on tonight’s episode of GAA Eile. Ladies football and camogie are under the microscope in this, the third episode of the four-part RTÉ series.

Cork goalkeeper Aoife Murray speaking on GAA Eile.

Source: RTÉ.

Attendances, support, players’ commitment and sacrifice are all looked at in greater detail with visits paid to the Mayo and Donegal football camps as well as to back-to-back All-Ireland camogie champions Cork — and there are plenty of voices heard throughout.

A fair chunk of time is spent in Peter Leahy’s Green and Red set-up where a controversial player walkout occurred last summer, and that’s discussed in greater detail with those at the centre of it.

One thing that’s really delved into is the fact that the LGFA and Camogie Association remain separate organisations and don’t fall under the GAA banner. Hurling, men’s Gaelic football, handball and rounders do.

“I’m not a member of the GAA,” 2018 Cork captain and goalkeeper Aoife Muray tells Ó Kerry legend Cinnéide.

“It’s mad to think that handball has a greater right to play in Croke Park than I have a right to play in Croke Park.

Source: RTÉ – IRELAND’S NATIONAL PUBLIC SERVICE MEDIA/YouTube

“I remember being moved off a pitch because U12 boys wanted to train, and we couldn’t play a camogie match. We couldn’t be annoyed about it because it’s not our grounds.

“They say GAA is the grassroots of who we are as a nation. We’ve done so much in this country for equality over the past number of years. To think that we are still treating men and women differently in our own national sport and our own national heritage…

“It’s actually mad when you say it out loud. Maybe the more people that say it out loud, the more ridiculous it might sound and we might actually push on and do something about it.”

“It’s odd, and it is because of the way things have evolved,” GAA director general Tom Ryan offers, as Ó Cinnéide explores the history of the organisations.

“I think that it probably is in all of our mutual interests that the three organisations are far more closely aligned, if not combined. Personally speaking, I’d like to see that happen.”

A good chunk of time is spent in Peter Leahy’s Mayo camp tonight.

Source: Morgan Treacy/INPHO

LGFA president Marie Hickey and Camogie Association head Kathleen Woods both explain how a memorandum of agreement with the GAA has been signed, which is looking at different ways the associations could come under the one umbrella.

“If we were to start our games today, we all would be the one,” Woods adds.

“We’re moving there, we’re moving nicely, slowly and carefully because we probably only have one chance at this. To rush into it would be wrong.”

Win or lose, effort and endeavour should always be agknowledged. We’re all in this together, the episode concludes.

GAA Eile continues tonight at 8.30pm on RTÉ One.

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RYAN MCHUGH SAYS he understands Odhran MacNiallais’s decision not to link up with the Donegal panel this summer. 

MacNiallais helped Declan Bonner’s side lift the Ulster title in 2018 but following Gaoth Dobhair’s run to the All-Ireland club semi-final earlier this year he announced his decision to take some time off from football. 

The 26-year-old’s close friend Micheál Roarty was one of four men who died in a Donegal road accident in January, a tragedy which deeply affected MacNiallais.

“I’m personally extremely close with Odhran as loads of boys in the Donegal set-up are,” said McHugh. “You have to respect his decision.

“From a Donegal point of view we’d love to have Odhran playing for Donegal all the time but you have to respect his decision as a team-mate and as a friend.

“As you touched on, there was a huge tragedy in Falcarragh and Gweedore. Unless you were really involved in it you wouldn’t have realised how much of a tragedy it was. 

“And Odhran was extremely close to Micheál Roarty, they were best friends, so he’s been going through a lot and you have to accept the decision he has made. Hopefully in the near future we’ll have him back.”

It’s the second time in three seasons Donegal have to plan without the services of the 2014 All-Star nominee. 

Odhran MacNiallais during a 2016 league game for Donegal.

Source: Presseye/Lorcan Doherty/INPHO

On a bright note, Paddy McBrearty has made a successful comeback from the torn ACL he suffered last season. As club-mates, McHugh witnessed McBrearty’s return to form with Kilcar in recent weeks.

“He’s doing great since he got back playing. He’s played four matches for the club and back flying. He kicked 11 points one day. 

“He’s trying to get that wee bit of match sharpness back for himself. Paddy’s an extremely disciplined person and he does everything to the letter of the law.

“He’s done his rehab extremely well and he’s back and scoring well. Hopefully, he can get back to as good as he was for Donegal in the championship. 

“He’s a top, top player. I think before he picked up the injury last year in the Ulster Final he was, if not the best, then in the top three forwards in Ireland the way he was playing at the time. 

“Unfortunately he picked up an injury and, when you look back on the year last year, at the time you’re trying to say to yourself that it’s not that big of a deal and you try to stay on the positive side. 

“But looking back on the year as a whole I think it was a huge turning point in Donegal’s year when Paddy picked up that injury. He was playing so well and probably leading the attack and leading it extremely well for us. 

“Kicking six, seven, eight points a game which is huge. Looking back now, it was definitely a huge turning point in Donegal’s year.” 

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TWO MORE IRISH players look set to make the move to the Australian Football League Women’s [AFLW], linking up with Fremantle for the 2020 season.

The42 understands that Louth captain Kate Flood has landed a deal, and this will come as a double-swoop for the club with another Irish player joining her there.

Like with Mayo’s Niamh and Grace Kelly and Tipperary ace Orla O’Dwyer, CrossCoders — the programme that brought three Irish players to the league last year — is central to the move, with more information to come from their Athlone-based trial camp this weekend.

The Dundalk Democrat first reported the Flood news this evening, stating that the 2018 LGFA Junior Player of the Year is expected to move to Australia in November for pre-season training.

A key player for Darren Bishop’s side, 26-year-old Flood has been central to the Wee county since making her inter-county debut in 2010.

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Last year, she starred in midfield as Louth reached the All-Ireland junior final — but they were defeated by Limerick in Croke Park.

The St Patrick’s attacker steered them to glory in the same competition in 2015, and was recognised for her efforts with the same Player of the Year honour she scooped last year.

Also an extremenly talented soccer player, Flood has plied her trade with Raheny United and Newry City through the years, but gave it up to focus on Gaelic football last year.

On the ball with Raheny in 2012.

Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO

After Louth’s championship campaign, her focus will switch to a new challenge and the oval ball where she’ll join the eight other Irish players confirmed for the 2020 AFLW season. 

The Kelly sisters recently signed for West Coast Eagles, O’Dwyer put pen to paper with Brisbane Lions, while Cora Staunton, Yvonne Bonner (GWS Giants), Sarah Rowe (Collingwood), Ailish Considine (Adelaide Crows) and Aisling McCarthy (Western Bulldogs) have all renewed terms for next year.

With two more appearing Fremantle-bound, The42 understands that more Irish exports will be announced over the coming weeks and months.

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LIMERICK HURLER AARON Gillane and Kerry footballer Sean O’Shea have landed the the opening GAA player of the month awards for the 2019 season.

Limerick’s Aaron Gillane and Kerry’s Sean O’Shea starred this spring.

Source: INPHO

The PWC GAA-GPA scheme saw Gillane and O’Shea chosen as the individual stars with the April award rewarding their displays throughout the Allianz leagues.

Gillane was part of the Limerick squad that delivered the county’s first hurling league title since 1997, shooting 1-9 in their victory in that final over Waterford in Croke Park. That scoring return brought his tally to 2-45 from the spring campaign.

O’Shea did not taste success in their league decider against Mayo, notching 0-5 as Kerry fell short in the football showdown in Croke Park. There was no disputing O’Shea’s status as Kerry’s main man throughout the league though, he finished with 1-55 to his credit as proof of his scoring capabilities for the Kingdom.

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CORK ALL-IRELAND winner Diarmuid O’Sullivan has highlighted an ‘ineffective’ attack as an issue at the root of their problems as they fell to defeat in last Sunday’s Munster opener against Tipperary.

Patrick Horgan was again top scorer for Cork with 0-14 and O’Sullivan feels it is vital he gets greater support if they are to rebound successfully against Limerick next Sunday.

“It was interesting after the game when John Meyler come out and questioned if the Cork forwards (outside of Hoggie) working hard enough? Was that the right platform to single them out?

“It was an interesting take on it, but it is probably something that was better kept inside the dressing room to have it out. Was it the right thing to do in the public domain? Maybe he has his reasons.

“The two things Cork need going forward are Bill Cooper and Alan Cadogan. Alan has obviously picked up an injury again, but they need him back quickly for his running and scoring ability if they are to get back into this Munster championship campaign.

“Cork are far too reliant on Patrick Horgan and have been for a while now. Unless other guys start taking the responsibility and sharing the load with Hoggie, Cork are going nowhere. Hoggie nearly always turns up, but what about the day he doesn’t? Cork should be really worried about that day.

Patrick Horgan swings over an incredible point for Cork. pic.twitter.com/PYOTqNrZzO

— The GAA (@officialgaa) May 12, 2019

“Seamus Harnedy got 1-02, but to be honest, I thought he went missing for a lot of the game. I’d actually rate Shane Kingston higher than him. Kingston finished with three points and we fouled on numerous occasion. He also got no reward from the officials as more fouls on him went unpunished, but at least he carried a threat. Harnedy got a point in the first minute, a goal with five minutes to go and a point somewhere in between – where was he for the rest of it?

“The rest of the forwards were ineffective and that’s very worrying. Conor Lehane also need to stand up next Sunday and be the player we all expected him to be if Cork are to get anything out of the Limerick game.”

O’Sullivan also pointed to the contrast between the performance of the Cork and Tipperary half-back lines.

“The entire game was a tale of two half-back lines really. Tipperary’s was totally dominant and the three Mahers hit four points from play between them. They easily handled any scenario Cork threw at them, which was mainly throw the ball right down their alley.

“As for the Cork half-backs, to call a spade a spade, they were utterly ran ragged! Bubbles (John O’Dwyer) was named at corner-forward for Tipp, but operated at centre-forward for large parts of the match and did untold damage to Cork. You have to set your platform from your half-back line and Cork didn’t do it.”

John O’Dwyer in action for Tipperary against Cork on Sunday.

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

O’Sullivan didn’t feel referee Sean Cleere did Cork any favours.

“There was a lot of cynicism from the Tipperary backs let go in the second half. Sean Cleere seems to ignore the clear pulls and trips on the Cork forwards.

“It’s like someone had a word in his ear at half time because he reffed the second half completely different from the first. There’s no doubt that the leeway he gave Tipp to be cynical helped them to victory. He won’t be on Cork’s Christmas card list, that’s for sure.”

Tipperary head into next Sunday’s encounter with Waterford brimming with confidence whereas Cork face the onerous task of heading to take on All-Ireland champions Limerick.

“From a Tipp prospective, it will go a long way to appeasing supporters for the very poor run form they carried through last year’s Munster championship. To come down to Cork and walk away with a comfortable victory – and it was comfortable, they could have won by more even – will be very pleasing for them.

“The Cork bubble burst. There was a huge emphasis put on the importance of winning home games and now they’ve left themselves a big ask heading into the next three games. Is it beyond them?

“The funny thing is, it’s not and they could go to the Gaelic Grounds and get a victory. If we can even get a point that would be great. If we can get into third place that will be fine.”

******************

– Diarmuid O’Sullivan is GAA hurling ambassador and columnist with Paddy Power News

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THE MAKE UP of a Fixtures Review Group will be announced by GAA President John Horan at the end of this month with their recommendations to be submitted by October/November 2019 before being voted on at Congress in 2020.

The CPA have confirmed this afternoon that four members of their executive met with Horan and Director-General Tom Ryan at a meeting last Friday, where the formation of a Fixtures Review Group was discussed.

The primary aim of the group is to aim to bring certainty to GAA fixtures for both club and county players and the following points were agreed:

• Horan will announce an independent chairperson and committee members for the group on the week of 27 May with no more than 10 people expected to be part of it and there will be a CPA representative.
• The group will have a remit to look at all existing structures and no idea will be off the table.
• The first meeting will take place in early June.
• Recommendations will be submitted to Croke Park in October/November 2019.
• Clubs and counties will have time to review the proposal and a decision will be voted on at Congress in February 2020. If passed, the changes will take effect in 2021.

“While a lot of work remains to be done, we are optimistic that there is sufficient goodwill on all sides to deliver real and lasting change,” outlined the CPA in a statement. 

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THERE HAVE BEEN many calls for amalgamation through the years, but perhaps they heightened last night as ladies football and camogie stars from across the country appeared on our TV screens during GAA Eile.

Cork manager Ephie Fitzgerald.

Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO

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The third episode of the RTÉ series focused on the female Gaelic games codes, and how they don’t fall under the GAA banner like men’s Gaelic football, hurling, handball and rounders do.

2018 Cork camogie captain and goalkeeper Aoife Murray and legendary dual star Rena Buckley were among those to share their opinions, frowning while doing so as they called for the GAA to take the women’s games under its wing.

Cork ladies football manager Ephie Fitzgerald is another advocate for amalgamation.

His side lifted the Lidl Ladies National League Division 1 title after beating Galway last weekend and while much of his pre-match captains’ day interviews revolved around the game itself, he also used the platform to voice his thoughts on many other things associated with the ladies’ game. 

Attendances, double-headers, support (or lack thereof), standards, physicality, dual clashes and the lure of the AFLW were all touched on in a wide-ranging interview with The42. Once you start him, you can’t stop him.

A question on double-headers through the league was what set it off and with every word, Fitzgerald delved deeper and deeper into the issues that go hand-in-hand with ladies football today.

“The girls… playing before the men, I’m not sure,” he ponders. “But they like playing in front of crowds and in the nice stadiums. And that’s the one thing: I do wish that women would support the women’s game more than they do.

“Last week, they said there was a thousand at our game [semi-final against Dublin]. I don’t know, I doubt that there was. At our game there might have been five or six hundred. It was a quality game but it’s just not supported well enough.

“I think the only way forward probably because of the gates — obviously you need finance if you’re going to be paying the players in terms of their expenses and that — is an affiliation with the GAA. I don’t think there’s any other option but to go down that route.

“I do feel very aggrieved that the girls… we have Melissa Duggan as an example, comes from Dublin to training on the train. That’s at her own expense. We have girls coming from Castletownbere. Cork is a huge county so there’s massive travel and commitment involved. Only for their parents and themselves…

“I don’t think they should be out of pocket for doing it… okay, they love it, you could argue that. But at the same time, they’re representing their county and it’s disappointing.

Libby Coppinger and Ephie Fitzgerald.

Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO

“We’re one of the lucky ones because our county board are very good to us. We wouldn’t want for anything. But I would like to see the girls receive expenses, what the men get.”

Another player on his panel who he mentions travels crazy distances is dual star Libby Coppinger.

A Bantry native, she’s been at the centre of several high-profile clashes through the years with inter-county ladies football and camogie championship matches fixed for the same day.

As Rebels ladies football selector James Masters asked The42 in August 2017: “Would it happen in the men’s game? Not a hope. It’s actually embarrassing.”

An affiliation with the GAA may see those avoided.

Ye’ve had your fair share of them in the past, Ephie….

And he’s off again.

“Oh, we have,” he begins. “And that’s grossly unfair on the players. Now, we have a great relationship with the camogie below. Myself and [camogie boss Paudie] Murray, we get on grand. There’d be no issue.

“Our thing is not to flog the girls in terms of them doing too much training. We just have two this year — Hannah Looney and Libby Coppinger. We have a good relationship there so there’s no issue.

“It’s just having fixtures on the same day. Even a day between them is something but having them on the same day is disappointing. You can’t expect any athlete to play two games at that intensity in the one day. Hopefully that will all improve.

“As I say, if there is an affiliation, then those things can be worked out I’m sure.

“The ladies game, there’s so much room for improvement there and so much potential. It’s a great product. It’s a fabulous game to look at. These girls are every bit as skilful, our girls are every bit as skilful as any fella I’ve ever worked with. Lots of them are. It’s just the wheel turns slowly in Ireland, I suppose and it takes time to get things going. I think we’re moving in the right direction.

“From the LGFA’s point of view it’s not as easy as just saying, ‘We’ll affiliate with the GAA’ because there’s employment issues and a whole range of other stuff. There’s pride as well, but there comes a time in everything I suppose when the product outgrows what you can provide for it. I think we’re at that stage now with the ladies, and we want to grow it.

Orla Finn tackles Megan Glynn.

Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO

The Nemo Rangers clubman adds: “I think ladies football is probably growing way faster than the men’s side of it. It’s just the catch that the bus doesn’t leave the station and there’s nowhere for it to go. That’s the biggest problem.

“Probably not in my time, but I would hope that that affiliation will take place and that they’ll be treated as equals. I do think that ladies need to get out more and support.

“And to be fair, the players themselves, they don’t do enough themselves in terms of pushing themselves. Girls are very accepting — ‘Ah, sure it’s grand… we’ll get on with it’. Whereas fellas would be pushy, pushy, pushy. I kill my girls for that. I’d say, ‘Come on, girls. Ye deserve better than that’. Because they do like.”

In Monday night’s episode of GAA Eile, Dara Ó Cinnéide visited — and spent a fair chunk of time with — the Mayo and Donegal ladies football camps.

We got a taste of the amount of time, effort and sacrifice players put in, and just how much the game has evolved and standards have risen through the years.

With Fitzgerald’s 11-time All-Ireland champions to the forefront of that along with Mick Bohan’s Dublin, Fitzgerald takes a look back at the main things he’s seen change since taking the reins in 2016.

“I suppose the big changes are probably strength and conditioning, nutrition, psychology, individual training — goalkeeper-specialised training, backs training, forwards training; we do an awful lot of that.

“Our girls, I’d safely say are training six times a week. Four times with us and twice doing sessions on their own. There’s an awful lot of time and effort being put into it.  The game has got so fast and so physical. 

“I would hope that the game doesn’t get too physical though. That’s one worry I might have — that the game gets a little too physical. The beauty of it is the free-flowing stuff.

“Girls are crashing into one another now and it’s becoming a more physical game. You don’t want that with ladies going forward in terms of their future, maybe having children in the future and that. It’s alright for us. We get crashed and we get crocked and that, but I think it’s a little bit different for ladies.”

Mayo’s Peter Leahy feeding his team. I’m sure James Horan would do it too if he had to… but it’s a start contrast. It shows how much harder it is to coach women’s football. #GAAEile pic.twitter.com/2kPjKn0MSM

— MáireT (@MaireTNC) May 13, 2019

Strength and conditioning training has gone through the roof, he adds. But after all, like the men’s game, inter-county football has turned into a lifestyle of sorts.

“You’re gone from the days now that you can kind of go out, play your game and have a load of sweets on the way home,” he grins. “We’ve moved on big time from that.

“Senior ladies inter-county football is a lifestyle choice now really, as much as anything else. The easy bit in a sense is the playing. It’s the nutrition and strength and conditioning and your sleep and managing your time and what not..”

As it’s been said before, it’s almost like living professional lifestyle while still an amateur sport. 

Over the past few years, many players have opted to fully follow the professional dream to the AFLW however. As it stands now, inter-county players can head out for pre-season in October if the opportunity arises, the league starts in January and finishes up at the end of March — just in time for the business end of the league and championship season at home.

While Cavan’s Laura Corrigan Duryea was the first to play professionally Down Under, she had been living there already, but Cora Staunton showed the potential to do both in the 2018 season.

Her fellow Mayo native Sarah Rowe was one of four others to follow suit in 2019, along with CrossCoders graduates Ailish Considine, Aisling McCarthy and Yvonne Bonner.

Mayo sisters Niamh and Grace Kelly, and Tipperary’s Orla O’Dwyer have all signed deals for next season, with an Irish duo also on their way to Fremantle and more to go elsewhere over the coming weeks. 

There are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities there, and that can’t be ignored.

Saoirse Noonan scoring a goal against Galway.

Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO

While none of Fitzgerald’s panel have approached him about it yet, he fully understands the lure, and feels it comes down to the choice of the individual.

“When you compare Australia — beautiful country, big country, freedom for girls, gorgeous weather, sights are second to none, you’re training as a professional; I suppose it’s a choice really,” he says.

“I wouldn’t discourage anybody from going. The only thing I would say is that it has to be a short-term thing because from a financial point of view, it’s not viable for people to go and make a living out of it I would assume now.

“That’s in the very early stages of development as well. If it’s an adventure for somebody for four or five months… now, I haven’t heard of any of our girls that want to go on their adventure, but you never know. I would never stop anybody going to be honest or ask them to stay if they want to go.”

“We’re lucky enough that most of our girls would want to stay and play,” he concludes. “I’d say it will become more of a problem as the years go by. Already, there’s been what? Five, and two more now [our conversation was shortly after the Kellys signed].

“They’re starting up new teams and the obvious place to come is Ireland, isn’t it?”

It seems to be, yes.

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THEY REACHED THE championship summit in dazzling fashion last August and backed that up with their output in the league in March.

The upshot for John Kiely as his Limerick hurlers start out on the 2019 championship road on Sunday is his team are concrete favourites to repeat last year’s trick by the close of this season.

They look to have greater weapons in their armoury entering this year’s Munster championship and have the experience of accumulating silver.

Does that all increase the burden of pressure? It’s a scenario Kiely will gladly accept when he casts his mind back to his opening season in charge as they were left in a glum mood in early July when Kilkenny nudged them towards the 2017 exit door.

“That’s just the way it is. We have to cope with that, but that was the whole point. We always wanted to be successful, and now we are successful, or we’ve had a taste of it, we know it’s a hell of a lot better than 2017.

“I didn’t go home with a very sweet taste in my mouth after that experience and it’s not one I want to go back to.”

Limerick supporters applaud their players after the loss to Kilkenny in 2017.

Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHO

Limerick face Cork in their seasonal opener on Sunday before a rapid burst of three games in 15 days will be unleashed towards them in June.

The schedule may be perceived as gruelling but Kiely questions that school of thought.

“It is what you make of it, and I know that having spoken to people involved in league of Ireland soccer.

“They play maybe five games in 20 days or seven games in 20 days in Dundalk’s case maybe. They could be involved in Europe, the FAI Cup or the league and they only get three or four days to recover.

“You tell them boys that they have a week to recover from a match and they’ll say “this is an inordinate amount of time, we don’t scarcely need it,” so it is what you make of it.

“They are playing 90 minutes and only have panels of 16, 17 or 18 players. They often only have 14 or 15 fit players.

“It’s all about perception and it really is what you make of it. If you make it out to be an insurmountable task, it will be an insurmountable task.

“The challenge is laid down, we have three games to play in the back end of the championship, we have a strong panel and we’ll maybe use the panel a bit better and wiser than we did last year.”

Limerick boss John Kiely brought the Liam MacCarthy Cup home to Galbally last August.

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

For Kiely the focus is on trying to maintain Limerick’s elevated level of display and he’ll cast an eye to other sports to help him achieve that.

“I love listening to other sports people speak about their sport and the challenges of it be it rugby, soccer, golf or any particular sport to be honest. I’m always cognisant of listening to those sports people because most often than not, they are in a professional environment and we’re not.

“They are worth listening to and they are facing the same hurdles and challenges as we are, trying to get consistent and high level performance on a repeated basis. Why is it a golfer does well one weekend and misses the cut the week after? What do players who miss the cut repeatedly do to make the cut a different weekend?

“How do Leinster rugby repeatedly find ways of upping their performance at the key point of the year when it’s trophy time? They always seem to find a way of performing well when it matters most. Why wouldn’t you listen to people like that if there is some learning to be got from it?”

Limerick are currently the holders of two major hurling trophies, thriving in Munster will see them complete the set.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the last box (they have to tick). It’s a box I’m sure they would love to be part of. We all know how competitive that Munster championship is, how unique a competition it is.

“It will be a very tough challenge for whoever will win it. If you end up winning a Munster medal, in the present era, you’ll have really earned it because you’ll have played five games.

“Five games to win a Munster medal – you’d have won an All-Ireland and maybe a Munster championship years ago with that. It’s a wonderful competition to be part of.”

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CORK HAVE INJURY worries to contend with ahead of their Munster semi-final with defender Sam Ryan ruled out for the rest of the season while Sean Powter is a major doubt for the game.

Limerick’s win over Tipperary last Saturday means they will provide the opposition to Cork at the senior semi-final stage on 1 June in Páirc Uí Rinn.

Ryan, who started last summer’s Munster final against Kerry, tore a hamstring tendon in a recent challenge game against Laois. He suffered an impact injury when contesting a ball and will now undergo surgery.

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A county senior football winner in Cork with St Finbarr’s last season, Ryan will watch on for the rest of the campaign with his Grade 4 tear injury similar to the severe one that has struck down attacker Brian Hurley twice in recent years.

Powter’s injury is not as serious but he is in a race against time to be fit for the Limerick match and needs further specialist opinion before the extent of the problem is fully known later this week.

The 2017 Young Footballer of the Year nominee has damaged his hamstring but it is not the same one that he injured in a league game against Tipperary in January 2018 which subsequently ruled him out for over a year.

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