Standing at crossroads, champions poised to retain title
Murray’s side to get over line despite an uncertain future
IN terms of profile and promotion, not to mention the skillset and conditioning of the players, ladies football has never been in such a positive space. And yet the impact of the expanded AFLW is such that the exodus of so many stars Down Under for the 2022 season raises questions as to whether it will ever get a chance to realise its full potential.
Take Meath, on the verge of backto-back All-Irelands after the milestone senior triumph of last year, the first in the county’s history. A second title would confer a level of greatness on this team, on this bunch of players. But at what should be the optimal stage of their development, this afternoon could very well be the last time this group plays together.
Vikki Wall jets out soon to line out for North Melbourne, one of a roster of 21 Irish players on the books for the new season which sees all 18 AFL clubs now field a women’s side.
As Meath manager Eamonn Murray put it: ‘She’ll probably turn into the face of ladies AFL below, I presume that’s the idea. She’s a fluent Irish speaker and all that. She is going to be a massive loss, not just for us but for the country.’
That is how much star appeal the 2021 Footballer of the Year carries. Her loss to the game, to Meath – if contracts and the nature of the expanded season in Australia decree that players won’t be able to juggle roles on different sides of the world – is inestimable. Midfield powerhouse Orlagh Lally goes with her after signing for Fremantle Dockers.
Emma Troy – a Footballer of the Year nominee in 2021 – is taking a year out to go travelling with a plan to link up with her Meath teammates Down Under, though not in a playing capacity.
It would be naive to think Emma Duggan – whose scoring exploits have carried Meath over the line in the All-Ireland quarter-final and semi-final – isn’t near the top of any list of follow-up targets.
In light of the speculation linking well-regarded S&C coach Eugene Ivers with the Meath men’s set-up and Colm O’Rourke’s new regime, Murray himself toyed with the idea that the day might be coming when he won’t be there on the sideline after overseeing this remarkable period in which Meath have won back-to-back intermediate and senior All-Irelands, back-to-back National League Division 2 and Division 1 titles, and are appearing in a fifth successive All-Ireland final across the grades.
So in a way, for Meath, the stakes couldn’t really be higher today. It’s their chance to make the most of things while this special group of players are all together.
And it offers an intriguing clash of styles. Meath’s welldrilled tactical set-up, the team’s carefully constructed defensive web that involves flooding bodies back and counter-attacking at whirlwind pace in numbers – if it feels like we’ve seen a version of this before, well we have. Just not in the ladies game, to such effect. It’s no coincidence that Ivers is involved, given that he was with a Jim McGuinness Donegal team that broke with football orthodoxy and shook up the game’s traditional order with a similar blueprint.
The set-up makes Meath maddeningly hard to break down, it’s designed to frustrate the opposition. Look at the low scores the champions have conceded: 1-11 against Galway in the quarter-final; 1-7 against Donegal in the semi-final.
And just 0-12 in last year’s final against a star-studded Dublin team going for a five-in-a-row. The Leinster final which Meath narrowly lost to Dublin was 1-7 to 1-5. Halftime score, 0-5 to 0-1.
Now when another team decides to mimic it, it can make for a frustrating watch. But Kerry have been playing with the sort of free-scoring swagger that suggests something will have to give.
This is where the irresistible force meets the immovable object. Louise Ní Muircheartaigh’s face is on the Kerry Centre of Excellence for a reason. For years, she has been their own answer to David Clifford, a silky scoring machine.
In four games the Corca Dhuibhne wizard has produced 3-22, a total of 31 points. That’s 13 clear of Meath’s leading scorer, Stacey Grimes, who has collected 0-18.
It’s the quality of the support cast that has turned Kerry from pretenders to contenders, having scooped the Division 2 title of the National League, just as Meath did last year. In many ways, their emergence mirrors their opposition’s success story of 2021.
The four goals plundered against Mayo in the emphatic semi-final victory came from Aishling O’Connell and Paris McCarthy along with a brace from Síofra O’Shea. Captain Anna Galvin is a natural leader with a decade’s worth of experience, while Cáit Lynch is another dynamic presence.
Kerry haven’t tasted glory since way back in 1993 but they still have tradition on their side. A win here would be their 12th in total and move them one ahead of Cork on the all-time roll of honour.
Coming on the back of the men’s final success at the same venue last Sunday, it would be a neat double.
Duggan has been Meath’s matchwinner against Donegal and Galway and don’t rule her out from doing the same given her red-hot form. Wall, too, will want to sign off with a statement performance and this could be the day she does just that.
Meath have looked at their electric best when daring to press high and force prized turnover ball. It’s when they have sat back and adopted a more conservative approach that they have struggled for scores down the other end.
Whether Kerry can unpick the lock remains to be seen.
Before any Irish eyes turn to the AFLW, Meath can secure history in the shape of a two-in-a-row.