Hannah Tyrrell bagged 2-07 against Cork in Páirc Uí Chaoimh last month
Ahead of this weekends NFL Division 1 final against Cork, Dublin captain Sinead Aherne spoke about the impact that Hannah Tyrrell has made on her return to the squad.
Tyrrell a former Irish rugby international out-half has been a revelation since her return to the panel this season after a seven year absence.
Hannah Tyrrell has proven to be a prolific score getter for Mick Bohan’s side from both open play and from placed balls and has amassed a total of 3-22 in Dublin’s league campaign to date including a game winning 2-07 in the Dubs meeting with this Saturday’s final opponents Cork in Páirc Uí Chaoimh last month in a thrilling encounter.
After impressing as a goalkeeper in her early playing years Tyrell who plays her club football with Na Fianna had brief involvement with the Dublin Senior panel back in 2014 but decided to give her full attention to rugby with great success.
Hannah returned to the Dublin panel a few weeks after they returned to training earlier this year.
Earlier this week Dublin Captain Sinead Aherne spoke about the impact Tyrrell has made since her return and how big an asset she is for the team.
“It’s been a good few years since she’s been back, she’s had a really successful journey with the international rugby team so she brings so much experience from that set-up. She’s a great athlete and has been going really well.
“She came in a few weeks after we went back. At that stage, she was deciding on the rugby side of her career. Obviously, she had a decision to make in terms of stepping away from that.
“But I think she enjoyed her time when she came into the set-up and decided at this stage of her life that it was something she wanted to give a bit of time to so it worked well for us.”
“Going back to 2014 is hard to remember but I know Hannah put in a good stint as a goalkeeper in her earlier years as well and you can probably put her anywhere on the pitch. Certainly from the rugby set-up, her athleticism and strength has really improved.
“You can really see all the attributes from that training environment has brought her on as a Gaelic football player. And she was playing with Na Fianna in the club championship last year so I know my own club (St Sylvester’s) had a tough game against her last year.
“She’s a great asset to us. She’s getting used to the players around her as well and there’s been a lot of players moving around in the team. It’s just been a familiarisation process but she’s certainly jumped into it with both feet anyway.”
Dublin completed a four-in-row of All Ireland titles last December and this Saturday evening in Croke Park they will be seeking to win just their second Division 1 league title, old foes Cork stand in the way.
The game has been selected as a pilot event for the gradual return of fans to live sporting events, 4000 fans are permitted to attend Saturday’s league decider and if the game is anywhere close to the thriller in Páirc Uí Chaoimh last month it will be some game to witness for those in attendance.
The league this year has been littered with some extraordinary high scoring games including the previous meeting between Dublin and Cork, Sinead believes the shorter season and the later return to action has certainly had an impact on the high scoring return from teams.
“I put it down to the shorter timeframe and coming back at the stage of the season that we are at, the pitches are obviously are much further on and players are much further on in fitness and you probably just haven’t had the time to work on the more intricate side of the defence and probably attack an easier thing to get right straight off the bat.
“I think teams are just going for it, they are just throwing in players, they are given a bit of freedom and they haven’t quite nailed down the fine tuning of the game yet and that’s probably just leading to more goals in the early part of the season.”