Rebel star O’Connor makes most of second chance

WITHIN a week of Henry Shefflin winning his seventh All-Ireland senior hurling medal, Mary O’Connor matched that feat with the Cork camogie team, having won her first back in 1997 when teams were 12-a-side.

Unlike the Kilkenny star, she is also an accomplished footballer and captains the Cork team which defends its TG4 All-Ireland title against Dublin in Croke Park next Sunday after making it four-in-a-row 12 months ago.

However, as rewarding as these achievements are, the real satisfaction for the Camogie Association’s National Director of Development is that she came back from a career-threatening injury two years ago.

In one month, she was on the losing side in the camogie decider against Wexford and then watched from the stand as the footballers defeated Mayo to win their third consecutive title.

“I thought my inter-county career was over, so to come back last year and get to play in two All-Ireland finals was fantastic,” said O’Connor. “And then to be there again this year. I thought I wouldn’t get the opportunity to play in Croke Park again.’’

Before she travelled out to Dubai on the All Star tour in January of last year, she spent countless days in the pool, wearing an aqua belt and “jogging up and down” for an hour at a time. Not only did it help her to maintain a level of fitness, but it was also therapeutic.

“Out in Dubai, when everybody was running around and playing matches, all I could do was walk. And I did a lot of thinking on those walks, saying to myself that if I ever got the opportunity to play with Cork again, I’d make the most of it. Thank God I have.’’

Proud to be part of a team which won the county’s first Munster title in 2004, she says: “This group of players has changed the landscape of Cork ladies football in the last six years since Eamonn (Ryan) has come on board. There was always talent in Cork and Eamonn harvested it. He made us believe and play with ambition. And apart from myself (she is 32), this is a very young team.

“All the backs are under 24 and have an awful lot of experience. But, what makes the group unique is a willingness to learn. In 10 or 20 years, they’ll be seen as the group that brought ladies football to the fore in Cork and put it on the crest of the wave.’’

The fact of switching from one game to another on a regular basis creates its own pressure and it’s not surprising to hear her say that it’s much easier to switch to the big ball.

“Your first touch in camogie is so important,’’ she explains. “If you feel your first touch is good, in your head you are confident. Football is different. It’s about having willingness to work, to be out in front and attack the ball.

“But, in saying that they both complement each other in terms of fitness and in terms of your spacial awareness and your peripheral vision.”

Filling different roles – centre-back in camogie and either centre or corner-forward in football – can also be demanding. As a defender, she says it’s about being able to read the game, to make sure “nothing comes down the central corridor”. In contrast, as a forward her priority is to “get on the ball, help team-mates and add one or two scores if you can”. What both games have in common is they demand “fantastic work-rate off the ball”.

She regards Dublin as a “super” team, pointing out that they defeated Monaghan, who were strongly tipped to win the championship this year.

“Playing in their own backyards to an extent, they won’t fear us!”