It's mid-May and the 2023 Ladies Football championship is beginning to take full shape. For the first time in years, the outcome of this year's championship doesn't seem to be predictable, with four or five counties now starting to hit their stride and find form at the crucial part of the season.
Meath famously shook up the Dublin-Cork duopoly in ladies football two years back. We spoke with Meath ace Emma Duggan, who has played a pivotal role in Meath's All-Ireland success over the past two years, on her thoughts about the upcoming championship.
Duggan, who was speaking at the announcement of Optimum Nutrition as the Official Performance Nutrition Partner of the GPA, says League champions and All-Ireland runners up Kerry are the team to beat.
Kerry, they're the team to beat at the minute, that's for sure. We'd love a crack at them further down the line, hopefully. But for now it's one step at a time... There's so many good teams in it at the minute, that are well capable of beating you on any day, if you're having a down day at all, you will be in trouble. So it's just one step at a time for us.
Kerry made it to the All-Ireland final last year alongside Meath, which saw Meath be comfortable winners 3-10 t0 1-07.
The Kingdom since then, however, has gone from strength to strength, winning the 2023 league final against Galway, winning all but one of their matches en route to the final.
On their quest to retain their All-Ireland crown, Meath will play Laois this coming weekend to decide who takes the final spot up for grabs in the 2023 TG4 Leinster LGFA Championship Final.
Laois had a strong league campaign unlike the Royal County, who were nothing short of poor as they only won one match. Laois made it into the Division 2 league final but they came up short, losing to Armagh by 5 points. Dugagn said that her side is well aware of Laois' ability and knows it will be a tough game.
We're looking forward to the game against Laois, it's obviously a must win for us. We're going out there to hopefully get a job done. And we're not taking Laois for granted. They've been probably in better form than us this year as well. So we're well aware of that. We have to go back and lift our performance again.
Although Meath's recent league form was poor, they have been energised by the return All-Star and former footballer of the year Vikki Wall, following her recent stint playing semi-professional AFL in Australia with North Melbourne.
''It's obviously a massive boost for us. Having one of the best players in the country on your side coming back from Australia, It's only a massive confidence booster. So we're delighted to have her back. She has been a massive leader for us.''
16 July 2022; Vikki Wall of Meath shoots to score a point during the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Senior Championship Semi-Final match between Donegal and Meath at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Speaking about the recent partnership between the GPA and Optimum Nutrition, Duggan was excited about the new partnership as she believes it's another step in the right direction for the GAA and the GPA.
It's absolutely brilliant news, I think it's another massive step forward, and in terms of the GPA, and in bringing the game on a little bit more as well. The Standard of the brand, to have them involved is absolutely brilliant. And it's only going to be beneficial for the GPA and all the players involved as well. So I'm obviously delighted about it.
Pictured is Meath footballer, Emma Duggan, at the recent announcement of Optimum Nutrition as the Official Performance Nutrition Partner of the Gaelic Players Association. To mark the launch, Optimum Nutrition is giving Gaelic Games clubs across Ireland the opportunity to win a top prize worth €25,000 of a state-of-the-art gym and a year’s supply of Optimum Nutrition® product. The runner-up in the giveaway will win a year’s supply of Optimum Nutrition® product for their club worth €5,000. Entries can be made through Instagram, by direct messaging your performance photos/videos, to @optimumnutrition_ie and tagging your nominated club. The closing date for entry is Thursday, May 11th 2023.
Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
