Ryan feels Ladies game would benefit from Football rule changes

By Thomas Conway

There was a point in this year’s National League campaign when the Tipperary players and management team must have been feeling the heat.

After three games, Tipp were effectively down and out. Never mind that those games were against heavyweight opposition (Galway, Cork, and Monaghan).

Neither the Tipp players nor their manager Ed Burke think like that. They’re an ambitious bunch, and harboured serious hopes of promotion. So, to suffer three successive losses must have been pretty galling.

But, true to their character, they bounced back, ultimately securing third place in Division 2 and dispelling any relegation fears. For Moyne-Templetuohy wing-back Ava Ryan, the league was very much a trial and error experience.

Those first three games were hugely disappointing, she concedes, but the fact that Tipp had the resolve to revive their campaign was a sign of the team’s mental strength.

She openly acknowledges that they have yet to really produce a seventy-minute performance against a top side, but does feel that, in patches at least, Tipp stood up to the mark.

“There were good moments during the league, we showed in glimpses what we could do,” she admits.

“It will come together for championship, I think we had a bit of time now to settle as a panel and I think we’re ready.”

Athleticism

Ryan is a fast, mercurial wing-back, low in stature but exceptionally athletic. And athleticism is now a core component of this Tipperary team.

Ryan maintains that AFLW stars Aishling Moloney and Anna Rose Kennedy have brought fitness standards to a new level, but the squad has also benefited from the expertise of Annie McCarra, their new strength and conditioning coach.

“The AFLW girls are great,” Ryan added.

“They’re just so athletic like, that’s the main thing. Watching them run around the field and chasing after them is obviously going to improve our fitness level overall.

“That’s something we’ve focused on anyway, with our S&C coach. A lot of the emphasis in ladies football is on fitness and strength, so that’s been a huge part of our approach this year.”

Tactically, it will be fascinating to see what way Tipperary confront each of their respective Munster and All Ireland opponents, particularly Kerry.

Do they sit back and try to absorb the inevitable waves of attack, and or do they just let Danielle O’Leary and Síofra O Shea do their thing and instead focus on their own attacking game?

Ryan and Tipp are keeping their cards close to their chest, but they have a system, and they very much intend to trust in that process.

“We’re sticking to our system,” Ryan insists.

“We’re getting sharper and sharper in training week on week, and you can see that there’s real hunger there.

“We know that we’re ranked fourth in Munster, and we know how good those other sides are, but we still feel we can match them on the day. We’ve grown in confidence since the start of the year as well.”

On a broader note, there was a general acknowledgement in Mallow GAA Complex last week at the launch of the Munster Championships that the Division 1 & 2 League finals were not the spectacles they should have been.

The entertainment quality of both games was pretty dire, which leads to the inevitable question: does ladies football need to go down the same route as the men’s game, and will rule changes be necessary? Ryan, like most there, was unambiguous in her response.

“It can be, not boring but very predictable,” Ryan admits.

“That’s not a good thing for the game. So, in the future I think we’ll definitely see changes, without doubt.”