Irish Daily Star - Inside Sport
Gaule’s back to the small ball
For as long as Denise Gaule can remember, camogie has been her passion. There was only one sport ever in the Kilkenny and Windgap legend’s vista and after the postChampionship break. The emphasis in the New Year would always be on preparation for the Littlewoods Ireland Camogie Leagues. This time around, however, the four-time All Star and dual player of the year had another outlet, adding a new string to her bow when helping Mullinahone from just over the other side of the Tipperary border to county and Munster junior ladies’ football titles. Gaule scored 1-1 in the provincial decider, added a goal in the All-Ireland quarter-final and two points in the semi-final. Falling at the final hurdle to Dublin powerhouses St Jude’s was a disappointing conclusion but it was a memorable journey. “I’d say the last time I played football was in secondary school which is a long time ago,” says Gaule. “When we got knocked out of the camogie (with Kilkenny) and went back club training in Windgap, one of the girls from Mullinahone, Lorraine O’Shea just asked myself and Michaela Kenneally would we be interested in going over and we said it would be a bit of extra training anyway.
Respect
“There’s a few other Windgap people there like Catherine Foley, who used to play with Kilkenny. “I actually didn’t realise how good football was. You’d be looking at it on the telly sometimes and you’d be like, ‘Ah Jesus’, but I have a new respect for them now. “The skill involved in it. It’s a lot different than camogie, I didn’t think it would be so different. I think camogie is a lot more physical. “Maybe it changed in the last few years with camogie gone to another level with the new rules. I wouldn’t I was the most skilful anyway!” Gaule revels in the dressing room bonds as much as the games themselves. While some of her longtime sparring partners with Kilkenny have stepped away, defender Collette Dormer the latest to retire, there are plenty still around she has stood shoulder to shoulder with for more than a decade. Fresh faces add to the mix though and according to Gaule. Indeed, last weekend, Miriam Walsh had her Hen Party on a river cruise, organised well in advance of the end-of-year wedding in recognition of the demands of the camogie season. The vibes are that the occasion did not suffer for the combined onslaught of Dudley, Eunice and Franklin and nobody fell overboard.
Grown
“I suppose we kind have grown up there between playing minor, in college and county through,” she adds. “When you retire, you’d miss going even into training and just having the chat in the dressing room before going out onto the field. “It wasn’t really the weather for the Hen. We didn’t see much of the landscape anyways.” An engineering, environmental and project management consultant with Waterford city firm Malone O’Regan, Gaule turned 31 in January. Knockbacks have come in the gut-wrenching number of narrow defeats suffered by Kilkenny. They have won two AllIrelands in her time but there have been six final losses also. Two of those were by a point to Cork and the Rebels also edged them by a minimum in last year’s semi-final. The wheel has turned to a new season, with Kilkenny getting off to a good start in Group B of Division 1 at the beginning of the month with an 11-point victory over Limerick. They travel to Cusack Park in Ennis today to take on a Clare team that made life awkward for Cork last Sunday (1pm throw-in).