AUSSIE RULESORLA has all attributes demanded to make it DOWN UNDER
ATHLETICISM KEY TO O’DWYER SUCCESS SAYS HER FORMER BOSS AT TIPP SHANE
THAT Tipperary’s Orla O’dwyer is now excelling at yet another code in Australia comes as no surprise to her former manager Shane
Ronayne.
He bases it partly on her strongest attributes as a
Gaelic footballer, which carry a high premium in Australian rules, but also her application and workrate.
In the small hours of
Saturday morning Irish time, the Tipp dual star will line out for the
Brisbane Lions in the
AFLW Grand Final against
Adelaide Crows, who have
Clare’s Ailish Considine in their ranks, at the Adelaide
Oval.
They are two of 14 Irish players in the competition, with O’dwyer having already been named as the AFL Ireland
Women’s Player of the Year.
“I think the physical attributes that Orla has are very conducive to Aussie rules,” said
Ronayne, who managed Tipperary to All-ireland intermediate titles in 2017 and ‘19 and was appointed Waterford senior mens manager in January.
“I think the players who are going over from Ireland are doing very well but Orla is very physically strong, she’s very, very fast, very athletic.
“Orla would admit it herself, she wouldn’t be the best kicker of a ball, even in Gaelic football. She would have had to spend a lot of time working on it. I think the game plays to her strengths because of her athleticism and her speed and her strength.”
In what proved to be Ronayne’s last game in charge of Tipperary last November, they were eliminated from the Championship after a one-point defeat to Monaghan with O’dwyer having jetted out to Australia the day before.
“It was a massive loss to us. Look, we understood that as well. I’d never stand in her way but it was very disappointing.
“Orla was afraid of the quarantine rules that were going to come in over there and they’re very strict, as we know, so I think the opportunity came for her.
“She got her good pre-season in over there and from Orla’s perspective, the fact that she went out earlier has certainly benefited her. She’s had a fantastic season.”
Although the pathway to the top of Australian rules football is considerably shorter for women coming from Ireland than it is for men just now, Ronayne nonetheless says it would be a “massive achievement” for her to scoop a Premiership title.
“To divide her time between playing Gaelic and camogie here, and she did so unbelievably, I don’t know how she did it. You’d have to make her take a break. She’s that type of girl. She’s as diligent a trainer as I’ve ever come across.
“It’s going to be a huge achievement for her to do it because to excel at three sports is fantastic. She’s won the All-ireland twice with Tipperary in ladies football.
She’s won a couple of National League titles with
Tipp, she’s got to a couple of Allireland semi-finals with the camogie.
She’s multi-talented and she’s proving that with how well she’s playing this
year.
“If she does it on Saturday it’ll be a really massive achievement – but no more than she deserves because of what she has put into all of her sporting activities down through the years and she’s an incredibly pleasant girl to deal with and you couldn’t meet nicer. I hope she does it on Saturday.”