{"id":10014,"date":"2022-03-27T23:28:23","date_gmt":"2022-03-27T23:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/?p=10014"},"modified":"2022-03-27T23:28:23","modified_gmt":"2022-03-27T23:28:23","slug":"it-was-a-tough-pill-to-swallow-but-ive-digested-it-now-just-about-dublin-star-dunne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/?p=10014","title":{"rendered":"‘It was a tough pill to swallow. But I’ve digested it now, just about’ – Dublin star Dunne"},"content":{"rendered":"

DUBLIN STAR JENNIFER Dunne says her side are fuelled by \u201ca new drive\u201d this year, after their bid for a perfect five-in-a-row came crashing down in 2021.<\/p>\n

Click Here: <\/a><\/p>\n

Senior newcomers Meath stunned the reigning champions in September\u2019s All-Ireland final, getting their hands on the Brendan Martin Cup for the very first time.<\/p>\n

But with Mick Bohan back on board for the 2022 season and no sign of big-name retirements two weeks out from the Lidl Ladies National Football League, Dunne reports that there\u2019s no shortage of hunger in the camp, with continuity key as they look to bounce back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a different kind of drive this year,\u201d the midfielder said as Yoplait was\u00a0 announced as the new sponsor of the LGFA\u2019s Third-Level Championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, there\u2019s hunger \u2014 in the past, we\u2019ve been the ones on top and this year, that\u2019s not the case. There was a lot of shock and upset and everyone had to digest what happened last year but definitely going into this year, there\u2019s a new drive, something new to look forward to and to go after, which is exciting as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving Mick still around and that core group definitely [helps]. People have been through that and lost together, so hopefully we can drive on.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, obviously, it\u2019s my first loss, so it\u2019s probably a good thing as well. It\u2019s not all always happy and everything like that. Experiencing a loss like that definitely drives you to push on and want to do better. That\u2019s definitely the atmosphere within the group this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

21-year-old Dunne had known nothing but winning in the Sky Blue jersey, playing a central role as Bohan\u2019s charges previously won 25 straight championship games since he took over after the 2016 All-Ireland final.<\/p>\n

That \u201916 decider was the last of their three-in-a-row final defeats to Cork, while they then went on to win four on the bounce.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI was lucky enough to come into the group when they were winning and I was there for three of the All-Ireland wins,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat feeling of loss, some of the older girls that have been around know how to deal with it, but it never gets easier as you\u2019d imagine. It\u2019s never nice and it took a lot of time to even sink in. I didn\u2019t really want to talk about it to anyone to be honest, and it was a tough pill to swallow. But I\u2019ve kind of digested it now, just about.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s mad, it\u2019s a few months later, but even still, it will stick with me forever. I definitely leaned on my team-mates and the girls, they helped. The crew are all still sticking around and we\u2019ll push on this year and hopefully we can go after it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Dunne in action against Meath.<\/p>\n

Source: Laszlo Geczo\/INPHO<\/p>\n

The Cuala ace hailed Meath\u2019s \u201cincredible run\u201d and admits that Dublin \u201ccouldn\u2019t perform on the day,\u201d while noting that the coverage of the Royals\u2019 feat in the aftermath may have made it harder to take.<\/p>\n

That said, she believes \u201ceveryone has their time to shine\u201d and is relishing a \u201cclean slate\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pressed at one point on the Dublin men\u2019s team\u2019s \u2018decline,\u2019 Dunne offered diplomatic answers, laughing that \u201ceveryone has it out for the Dubs,\u201d while certainly not ruling out another capital double in 2022.<\/p>\n

The DCU Primary School Teaching final year student also wouldn\u2019t rule out a move to the Australian Football League Women\u2019s [AFLW] in the future, where two of her team-mates Sin\u00e9ad Goldrick and Lauren Magee are part of a 14-strong Irish contingent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a challenge that I would be interested in,\u201d she said. \u201cAt the moment obviously I\u2019m finishing college and I probably will work for a few years, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s something that I would completely rule out of the picture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m focusing on college and obviously college football and Dublin for the year, and then we\u2019ll see what happens. But it\u2019s definitely an exciting concept and something that I\u2019d love to maybe challenge myself to do but at the moment it\u2019s definitely not at the top of my priority list.\u201d<\/p>\n

The league, in which Dublin are out to defend their Division 1 crown, and championship certainly are, as Dunne forecasts a competitive season ahead.<\/p>\n

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Dublin and Cork shared every Brendan Martin Cup title since 2005 before Meath\u2019s 2022 upset, and the ever-rising star predicts an \u201copen playing field\u201d with the title \u201cup for grabs\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n Yoplait have been announced as the new sponsors of the LGFA\u2019s Third-Level Championships.\n<\/p>\n

It\u2019s certainly a case of all to play for, with the Leinster championship an exciting prospect for the first time in some years.<\/p>\n

While it has been interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic of late, Dublin had long dominated, and uncertainty even reigned ahead of the 2020 edition as they were the only senior team in the province.<\/p>\n

With Meath and 2021 All-Ireland intermediate champions Westmeath back in situ, an historic Croke Park double-header was confirmed for the final last week.<\/p>\n

Dunne says it\u2019s exciting, especially given \u201cthe fact that there was only ourselves and maybe one other [county] in the past or even one year, I think it was just ourselves. Meath and Westmeath are there as well, it\u2019s going to be really competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd obviously for the women\u2019s game and the sport, it\u2019s great that there\u2019s a double-header going ahead in Croke Park for coverage and everything like that,\u201d she added. \u201cSo we\u2019ll take it and just look forward to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great for Leinster GAA as well, to kind of have that push and get more teams hopefully coming up from intermediate to compete as well at senior level.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DUBLIN STAR JENNIFER Dunne says her side are fuelled by \u201ca new drive\u201d this year, after their bid for a perfect five-in-a-row came crashing down in 2021. Click Here: Senior newcomers Meath stunned the reigning champions in September\u2019s All-Ireland final, getting their hands on the Brendan Martin Cup for the very first time. But with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10014\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}