Champions Dublin are waiting anxiously on clearance for three players who haven't trained fully before Sunday's All-Ireland football final against Meath. Speaking at an AIG promotional launch on Monday, manager Mick Bohan said:
“There’s a few who haven’t trained fully yet. Carla [Rowe], Niamh McEvoy and Siobhán McGrath. So the three of them are carrying stuff so we obviously won’t know until later in the week how that goes.”
He also said that Sinéad Goldrick, who sustained a torn hamstring in Melbourne playing Australian Rules, would be pushing for a place.
“The person she is, not only has she herself under pressure, she’s me under pressure but that’s the nature of the animal. She’s probably one of the most competitive people I’ve ever met in sport but we’ve to be realistic.
“She came back from a career-threatening injury and we’ve had to manage her time in training and in-house games so she still hasn’t gone the distance in any of those but she’s done remarkably well considering where she started.”
Bohan said that he remains open to the idea of players going to Australia to sample the professional lifestyle even though increasing numbers are going down from Ireland.
“It was interesting at the time when Cora [Staunton] went out first that it was almost publicised by the LGFA as a coup that Aussies had come looking for their footballers. I’m not quite sure they foresaw what was going to happen next!
“My approach to that has been exactly the same as if someone was going travelling for studies or something like Noelle [Healy], whose career dictated that she couldn’t give the same amount of time.
"Much as they're here to play football, they're here to better their lives and I saw the football as enhancing that opportunity for Goldie, Macker and Lauren Magee and we were probably lucky with how the seasons fell. It didn't interrupt hugely, although in Goldie's situation she picked up a really serious injury.
“I don’t see it as my job to curtail people from living their lives fully; in fact I’d encourage it.”
He also commented on the style of play of Sunday’s opponents, who have strengthened their defence with a structured system to protect the goal.
“I’m sure you’ve watched them play – very different structure to a lot of teams, the way they play. Even Donegal, who would have quite a defensive system, this is very different to anything I’ve seen in the women’s game before.
“It’s a very organised defensive structure and then they probably attack with a little bit of mayhem which obviously causes its own difficulties. Their attack is kind of a freestyle one, but their defence is really well organised and is obviously going to take a bit of work to break down.”
