Jenny back to make up for lost time

When she first came onto the panel in 2001 as a shy 17-year-old, the county had scarcely been in better shape.

Established players like Fiona O’Driscoll, Mary O’Connor and Linda Mellerick provided the spine of the side and between 2002 and 2007, they reached every senior camogie decider, losing as many as winning. O’Leary bagged four All Stars, a teaching degree from UL and a hat-trick of Ashbourne Cups in that glittering spell.

But times have changed. O’Leary hasn’t featured at Croke Park in mid-September for five years, and the county have been overtaken by Wexford as camogie’s pacesetters.

Little wonder the secondary school teacher is itching to go. “I’m getting excited,” she admits. “And a little bit nervous as well. I’m trying not to think about it too much because if you do you get worked up. It’s good nerves though, excited nerves. It seems so long since I played a final.”

In 2008 she left Ireland, and camogie behind, to travel to Australia with college friends. Cork landed two All-Ireland titles in her absence but O’Leary has no regrets about her decision.

“It was great,” she said of the trip. “You have such a freshness when you come back. I went to Brisbane and lived there for six months, did a bit of travelling around. I went to Sydney for a year and played football with Central Coast and we won every competition. I love camogie and I really enjoy it but I needed a break. I know a lot of people don’t get to go away because of it and I didn’t want to be in that situation so I just said ‘Go, you’ll miss out on things but you have to take the risk’...

Five years is a long time to be out of the spotlight. Such a journey has made the destination all the more worthwhile. “I know! I knew we had a great team and big panel with loads of potential (when I was gone). I didn’t think that it would be so long for me waiting to get back though. The years just go so quickly. Years roll into the other and they’re so hard to come by that you relish each one and that’s what I’m thinking this year. How many All-Irelands will I be in again? So you have to kind of grab it by both hands.”

And avenging that 2-7 to 1-8 defeat to Wexford in the 2007 decider is high on her list of priorities. “We didn’t really perform on the day (2007) and it was very disappointing. I kind of put it out of my mind but when you come back to an All-Ireland I suppose you have that incentive to want to go out and win. We know what it’s like to lose but I’m hoping to change that Sunday.”

O’Leary is hitting form at the right time and has been one of Cork’s standout players this term. She directs the praise and plaudits towards the management. “I think every year you need to bring something new, just in tactics and different ideas at training. They’ve been really, really good all year and anything we’ve asked of them they’ve provided. They all know what they’re talking about. They’ve experience in camogie and really want it too and when you see that it rubs off on you and it drives you so it’s a big team effort. For a lot of us we’ve been there and done that but at the same time we relish the build-up and the whole day itself so hopefully everything goes well for us.”