AFLW Diary: Sarah Rowe – ‘The Championship Starts Here – and I’m Desperate to Correct Some Mistakes Against Richmond’
Championship starts here – a week early. There is no second chance. Win, and we advance to the final in sixth place. Lost, and that’s probably a lot of us for another year.
It’s hard to believe it’s Round 10 already. You spend so much time honing your skills in Ireland, you have to get through a tough two-month pre-season in Australia, and you spend hours mentally preparing in both countries. family. And then it was all over in the blink of an eye.
We need to seize the moment. We simply have to beat Richmond at our home Victoria Park on Friday. Outside of the final picture, they have nothing to lose. For us, everything is on the wire. There have been times over the past two months when I feel like we’ve turned a corner on this season’s bumpy road; I have written many of these pages. But in the end, we struggled to consistently hit last year’s peak.
Injuries and the departure of the coach played a part in that. However, we also fell far short of what we did well last season. The results dropped and our confidence started to drop, everyone’s voices started to soften.
However, that has all changed in the past few weeks. The dynamics changed with our 66-41 Victoria Park success against the Bulldogs – the team that chased us in seventh place – 12 days ago. The 66 points (10 goals and six goals) that we scored is an AFLW record for our club. Most importantly, however, our popular running game is back for all to see. We beat them with speed and movement of the ball; it feels like the old Collingwood.
Last weekend we were faced with one of the most challenging missions in AFLW – a trip to tackle the top Adelaide crows. No one prayed for us before, but we left South Australia in a gut because we didn’t win late.
Collingwood’s teammate Aishling Sheridan with her father Gerry, whose Cavan accent has puzzled Australians
However, leaving Norwood Oval with a 2-point defeat to the top team in the league, reminds us that we have the ability to compete with the strongest teams in this league. We won’t be afraid of anyone if we make it to the final. The fire was back in our bellies.
First of all, we need to cross Richmond on Friday. The tigers are material and go hard with you.
I also made a few mistakes in this match. My shoulder showed up in the first minute of a Round 3 match against them last year – rolling out and back. Stupidly, I didn’t tell the trainers about the partial dislocation. I kept playing, thinking I would be fine, but found myself trying to stay out of contact. And when you do that, you will definitely get caught.
In retrospect, it was unprofessional. No wonder I don’t have one of my better games.
I’m feeling satisfied with my appearance, though, and that’s been a common theme in our group. We were successful last season, winning the first six games on the rotation. But by the time we got to this stage of the season, fatigue started to set in.
This year is opposite; we’re just starting to hit top speed and we’re peaking at the right time. It looks like some of the sides above us may be lulling in form, so there’s a great opportunity for us. We just need to capture it.
The volume when training has increased by several decibels in the past two weeks.
We talk a lot about ‘voice’ here and the importance of communication. In such a chaotic game where you can be hit from any angle or direction, you constantly need guidance from those around you.
Speaking of which, Aishling Sheridan’s father, Gerry, a former Cavan player and women’s manager in Breffni County, arrived in Australia last week. It’s great to have him here – me and Aishling go back to our O’Connor Cup days in DCU.
However, Gerry’s AFLW communication still needs to work. . . he had been chatting with a few Australian girls the day before and they were all just bewildered – staring into his mouth trying to decipher what words were actually coming out.
Sarah Rowe is pictured with her Collingwood teammates during some of the downtime. Photo: Instagram: sarahrowe123
I think it gave them newfound appreciation for the effort we put in to make sure we were understood.
There’s a lot of chatter going on here, you need to be careful. It’s easy to get distracted, on and off the pitch. Speculation about the start date of next season is rife.
It looks like it will be in August, with pre-season starting a few months before that, which will put our Irish players in a dilemma where most of us are planning to return. home to play championships in the Irish summer.
With four new teams entering the competition, intense contract negotiations are also inevitable as agents find opportunities and each club will look to lock in their teams for the next campaign. .
Some will fear their top players will be tempted by better offers from Sydney Swans, Port Adelaide, Essendon or Hawthorn.
Personally, I just don’t want to know if any other clubs – current or new – are interested in me. Others are different, but my manager knows that not even mentioning it while the season is on. Starting next season too, I won’t worry about things that I can’t control.
I can get consumed by stuff like that, which won’t do me any good when (hopefully) play knockout.
The wider pool of players will need to expand, so I suspect there will be many Irish footballers in demand by 2023. I am frequently asked by opposition coaches if there is anyone they should. Pursuit or not, but that information is top secret and is for Collingwood use only!
If we get a spot in the finals, that means eight of the 14 Irish girls here will be in the business at the end of the season – Aishling and I at Collingwood, Ailish Considine ( Adelaide Crows), Sinéad Goldrick and Lauren Magee (Melbourne), Orla O’Dwyer (Brisbane Lions), Aileen Gilroy (North Melbourne) and Áine Tighe (Fremantle) – great to see.
Your priority here has always been your own club but beyond that, Ireland’s AFLW team are all backing each other.
It’s a measure of how influential Irish girls are as they are more likely to be recruited from looks at home. Many other athletes – rowers, basketball players, and net throwers – have tried to adapt to AFLW, but few seem to do so as quickly and successfully as other athletes. Gaelic football player.
It was Aishling and I’s start to cement that point as part of a winning performance in Collingwood on Friday. Then we can focus on the final.
⬤ Sarah Rowe is one of 14 Irish women in the AFLW, and the Collingwood star – along with Orla O’Dwyer (Brisbane Lions) and Cora Staunton (GWS Giants) – is reporting for ‘Irish Independent’ and independent .ie in throughout the campaign
https://www.independent.ie/sport/womens-sport/the-championship-starts-here-and-im-desperate-to-right-some-wrongs-against-richmond-41433533.html AFLW Diary: Sarah Rowe – ‘The Championship Starts Here – and I’m Desperate to Correct Some Mistakes Against Richmond’