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Changes to AFLW season mean this could be the last summer for some of the LGFA’s brightest stars

Conor McKeon

Meath’s Vikki Wall under pressure from Dublin’s Katie McDaid in the TG4 Leinster SFC final last month in Croke Park. Photo: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Meath’s Vikki Wall under pressure from Dublin’s Katie McDaid in the TG4 Leinster SFC final last month in Croke Park. Photo: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Vikki Wall

Meath’s Vikki Wall under pressure from Dublin’s Katie McDaid in the TG4 Leinster SFC final last month in Croke Park. Photo: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

June 09 2022 02:30 AM

It's tempting to view this year’s All-Ireland Ladies SFC through the lens of the swift escalation of competition between Meath and Dublin – and the likelihood that they will, form holding, meet for a fourth time this season in an All-Ireland semi-final on July 16.

As rivalries go, this one is into its key phase. A point at which it has arrived with unnerving speed.

From non-existent to peak rivalry in less than a year.

Last year’s All-Ireland final, their one prize fight so far, still resonates now, on the eve of another championship and Meath’s defence of their All-Ireland.

But they’ve been sparring away since early spring.

On March 5, Dublin won by a point in Navan in Division 1B of the league. It was tempting to attribute the low scoring (1-9 to 1-8) to the early-season conditions in which the game was played.

But two months later, in Parnell Park, Meath prevailed by the same skinny margin in a Leinster round-robin game, played almost identically on the same constrictive terms, 1-8 to 0-10.

In the Leinster final in Croke Park a couple of weeks back, Dublin won again – this time by 1-7 to 1-5.

Three games. Two wins for Dublin. One for Meath. An average score of fewer than 11 points per game. To be continued, most likely, in a match unrecognisable to last year’s final.

Before that game, Dublin boss Mick Bohan described Meath’s as “the most structured, defensive system I’ve seen since Jim McGuinness’s Donegal”.

But, clearly, being able to appreciate it and actually breaking it down are different disciplines.

After suffering the brunt of that stunning performance, Bohan noted the unique difficulties posed while playing against Meath.

“To prepare for those challenges, first of all, you need to play against them. And, secondly, when you’ve dealt with it, then you can equip yourself better.”

Whatever issues Dublin might have with Meath this year should they meet again, it won’t be for a lack of practice.

But again, to confuse that juicy Leinster subplot as the lead story of this year’s All-Ireland Ladies SFC would be to ignore the lesson Meath themselves taught us last year in winning against expectations and most forms of logic.

Who wins a senior championship straight out of intermediate, let alone an All-Ireland? For the previous 16 seasons, either Dublin or Cork claimed the All-Ireland senior ladies title. But Meath, who have since been crowned league champions to reinforce the quality of work Eamon Murray has done with them, have recalibrated expectations.

Only a couple of weeks back, Armagh and Donegal played out an Ulster final of immense quality in Clones, a game that suggested both could be viable All-Ireland contenders this year if they can get their scoring power to Croke Park.

Or, at least, become the first Ulster team to make an All-Ireland final since Monaghan in 2013.

The final score was Armagh 3-17 Donegal 2-19. Aimee Mackin kicked 1-5 (0-3f) for Armagh; Geraldine McLaughlin hit 1-11 (0-4f) for Donegal – and given the consistency of both players’ respective output over recent seasons, a final appearance would be fitting of their talents.

First, there’s the sorting-out process of the group stage. Meath v Armagh and Cork v Donegal seem like the key games of that phase, which begins this weekend, but by the time it concludes, should propel eight familiar names into the quarter-finals.

It’s six years since Cork won the last of their six All-Irelands in a row, but form would suggest they’re tracking back in the right direction.

As are recently-crowned Connacht champions Galway, who beat a Mayo team in the final that was without some notable names.

Last month, Michael Moyles named a championship panel that had no Sarah Rowe, Niamh and Grace Kelly or Aileen Gilroy in it.

The Mayo manager subsequently confirmed that they were not part of Mayo’s plans due to their AFLW commitments.

It’s a growing trend.

With the next AFLW season scheduled to start in August, the practice of players lining out for their counties before returning to Australia has slowed. At some point in the near future, it’s likely to stop altogether.

Last week, North Melbourne confirmed they had recruited Footballer of the Year, Vikki Wall, and Cork’s Erika O’Shea though both are expected to travel after their interest in the All-Ireland series has ended.

For now, it’s a decent compromise.

But the expansion of the women’s AFLW and the late August start means this could be the last summer some of the LGFA’s brightest stars shine for their counties.

Changes to AFLW season mean this could be the last summer for some of the LGFA’s brightest stars

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