Tipperary star Aisling McCarthy remains open to a third season in the women's AFL but admits that if the All-Ireland Ladies Football Championship is played later this year it'll complicate her decision.
The 2017 All-Ireland Intermediate player of the year has impressed in her two years with the Western Bulldogs and returned home after they missed out on the conference finals this year.
McCarthy had already penned a new contract at this stage of 2019 but the midfielder has told Off The Ball that the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the timing of new deals being agreed for 2021:
"Obviously you have to weigh things up and originally the trade and sign period would have been around now. This time last year I would have re-signed for the Bulldogs already but because of everything that's happened they've pushed things back until after the end of May.
"They're not even sure if that's going to be the case because things are constantly changing so I haven't had any real conversations about next year. If GAA games were to get underway in October then that would be a spanner in the works. Should Championship be taking place around then it'll be a more difficult decision that I would have thought it was going to be.
"Up until now it's been possible to play both and it's important for me that I'm able to play for Tipperary. I have to take all those factors into consideration when I make the decision...I'm am potentially thinking about it (another season in Australia), I'm not ruling it out at all but those conversations haven't really taken place at all yet."
The Cahir club woman, spoke to OTB as part of our "How's The Head?" series and she admits it takes some time to readjust to ladies football after six months in Melbourne:
"Last year when I went to Australia I completely focused on the Sheerin and didn't touch a round ball because I wanted to get comfortable kicking it and I found when I came home that I was expecting to just pick up where I'd left off but then noticed I was kicking a bit funny. It's different movements and patterns of movement (in ladies football) too so that was something I found really tough because the learning curve in taking up a new sport is so steep. So when in Australia I could consistently see myself just getting a little bit better and you can see that happening over a period of time, whereas when you come back to Ireland you'll have regressed a bit.
"You have it in the back of your head that people are expecting you to return as a better player and to be a more conditioned athlete and that's a tough thing. But our training here in Ireland is probably the same standard as Australia. I take great pride in my kicking, passing and shot accuracy and that had gone a bit awry when I got back but after a few weeks and then in challenge matches it was possible to ease back into it. The whole thing was remembering not to be too hard on myself and by summer you forget how bad you were a few weeks before!
"I was able to bring back little mental aspects which I learned in Australia but physically I wasn't that different. You probably train a little bit harder here and you're put through your paces a bit more while at the Bulldogs they manage your workload a lot more. The running is quite different in the AFLW as well so you're preparing more to be explosive in stop-start scenarios while in gaelic football it's constant running, especially when I was getting back and playing in midfield and tracking back. It was little nuggets of information and knowledge which I was able to bring back rather than being transformed as an athlete."
The 24-year-old scored five goals in six games in her debut campaign with the Bulldogs but was re-deployed deeper out the field for the 2020 season:
"It was disappointing that as a team we didn't do well this season. At the start of the year we set our goals fairly high we didn't reach them which was obviously disappointing but I was pretty happy with how I progressed from last season.
"I had played predominately in the forward line last year, so it was my job to get those five goals at the time but this year I moved into a more central role and it allowed me to play to my strengths a little bit more. In midfield I was involved in those contests for the ball a lot more and scrapping for it and I probably had the mindset of chasing the ball down and if I didn't retrieve it I was at least making it difficult for the opposition to get clean possession.
"It became a simple game for me and also afforded me a chance to show that competitive edge which I have so I really enjoyed it. Being in midfield you don't have to wait for someone else to feed the ball to you which can be frustrating when you're in the forward line. This year I had the responsibility of having to win my own ball and to hold my own against opponents so I relished that and it enabled me to play my best football this year."
18 Irish players lined out in the AFLW in the 2020 season and McCarthy says it's proved attractive for players seeking a chance to experience a professional environment:
"It started off with Cora Staunton, she was the real groundbreaker, and it opened up a route for other players because clubs were seeing the potential of ladies footballers making the transition to the league. I was contacted through Cross Coders and that's how my opportunity came about (for a one week trial with the Bulldogs ahead of being drafted in 2018). It was all fairly rushed but it's nice to be able to challenge yourself to take on another sport and to take on elite players. Money-wise you wouldn't be making a huge amount so it's more about the experience of getting to play professional sport.
"You can't work out there because of visa restrictions so all of your focus is on training well, recovering and being able to prepare food and eat well. It just means you can be in the mindset of a professional, you're trying to do all those things when at home but you're balancing a job so you're rushing home and then chasing to training so it's nice to get that chance to have the time.
"It can be tough as well though to have your entire focus on football, last year I found because it was just me and Sarah Rowe in Melbourne you kind of are constantly in that bubble with your teammates and it's always football, football, football. If training or a game doesn't go well then it's difficult to escape it when you get home but this year I've been living with four Irish girls and meant it was possible to have conversations away from football, and we were able to head off to the beach and we just understood each other. The mental side of it was therefore easier this year because I was able to get little breaks and it was a bit less full on."
Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
The Ladies Football Association announced today that All-Ireland Championship structure will change for 2020, if it goes ahead at all. Having not played football since Tipperary's win over Meath in last September's All-Ireland Intermediate final, McCarthy is keen to get back out on the field - but only when it's safe for games to return:
"I'd give anything to play a gaelic football match at this stage, so as an athlete you want to be a bit selfish and want to compete but you have to look at all the barriers that are there at the minute.
"Potentially I'd be happy enough to play behind closed doors and I know spectators are unlikely to be happy with that. At the same time though, if we have to socially distance then I obviously can't socially distance from my marker on the field and as well I'm about to start work in a hospital and I'm sure there are loads of teams who have frontline workers as well. They'd be potentially exposed to the virus by coming into a team environment and playing matches so I think there's a lot of unknowns and unanswered questions at the moment."
"I hope that we'll have football at some stage this season but we have to understand that the focus is on containing the virus and protecting those who are vulnerable so I would love to play but we have to take into consideration all the safety factors as well," McCarthy added on the prospect of games returning.
"I've been in Australia and not had the chance to play in Division One (of the Lidl Ladies National Football League) over the last two years but we've been holding our own up there. Watching on this year where they put in an excellent performance in the opening match against Dublin and came away with a draw. We've shown our potential and I had marked off in the diary that we had Cork coming up this summer in a Munster Senior semi-final and that was going to a big one and a chance to test ourselves. They're one of the real kingpins of ladies football and that's who you want to be playing against and seeing where you're at.
"Training away by yourself at the moment it's hard to know time-frame wise when we potentially get back together for collective training so it's about being consistent at the moment and doing little bits and trying not to think too far ahead. It's tough and I was very excited about what could have been this summer but hopefully at some stage we'll get the chance to realise out potential when we get back on the pitch."
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