Ladies Gaelic Football

ladiesgaelic.ie // 21 TIPPERARY'S SHANE RONAYNE Volume 14 | Issue No 2 | PEIL Summer Tipperary Manager Shane Ronayne talks to Darragh Small about the state of play in Tipperary Ladies Football. ipperary have gone through the ultimate renaissance in ladies football, and despite the tragic loss of Rachel Kenneally, manager Shane Ronayne has endeavoured to keep the graph sloped upward. Former Tipperary defender Kenneally died earlier this year, on 26 March a er a battle with breast cancer, and her passing reverberated around the GAA community, but most of all in her native county. The 26-year-old started for Tipperary when they lost their TG4 All-Ireland intermediate final 1-14 to 1-12 against Cavan at Croke Park in September 2013. She finished playing with the county the following year but was still a friend of many of the players and management alike. T "It's 11 months since Rachel was diagnosed. If she hadn't been away in Dubai and hadn't been sick she would have involved in the panel," said Ronayne. "She played with me at minor for two years and at senior for a year. I knew her fairly well. A lot of the girls would have played with her and known her very well, and would have been in constant contact with her. "When she got very sick in March just before the Sligo game we knew things weren't good. It was a very difficult time but in fairness to the girls they are resilient bunch. "Rachel was a very special person for everyone within the squad who knew her. She inspired lots of people and was very positive. She had a great outlook on life, that's something that the girls will take forward. They can see how she dealt with her adversity. She didn't let it get to her. You wouldn't have known she was sick. "We tried not to overplay the impact within the group. People can get too emotional in the lead up to games and some people can't deal with it. It is not something we mention within our dressing room. I felt that would have been disrespectful to be using Rachel's name. "We didn't do it and the players wouldn't have wanted it. As a group we discussed what we should do. But we tried to keep it low key." It has le a profound impact within the dressing room but the Tipperary ladies continue to build and build. And even though they lost their TG4 Munster semi-final against Cork, 2018 still has plenty le on offer. The new championship format will see Tipperary placed in a group with the losing Munster finalists and the Ulster champions. The top two teams advance, while the possibility of relegation awaits those who finish third. "Last year, the old format was shown up because Galway won the Connacht championship, lost the next game and were out. They lost to Cork who had already lost two games," said Ronayne. "There was an imbalance. But there are more games now. All the groups are exciting. Whatever group you end up in you get two good games. There are going to be some novel pairings in the championship and that's good for everybody. "It gives you two chances in the group. If you lose a game you still have another chance. We hope to be competitive right the way through. It will be an exciting format. We are looking forward to pitting our wits against a few senior teams." Tipperary may have missed out on their first TG4 Munster senior final since 1982, but a er winning the Lidl Division 3 title last year they went on to claim Munster and All-Ireland honours at the intermediate grade. Progress has already continued this year where they won Lidl Division 2, while a 2-12 to 1-10 defeat to Cork in a Munster semi-final was definite evidence of a rejuvenated Premier outfit. "We said a er the match: 'who would have thought 18 months ago we would have le Ardfinnan disappointed to lose by five points to Cork?' The girls have made incredible progress but they are very ambitious and I am very proud of the effort they put in against Cork, and the fact they went toe to toe with them," said Ronayne. "I know a lot of those Cork players very well. They are the cream of the crop in the country. It was a very proud day to be involved with Tipperary. They did put in such an effort and they weren't overawed. "They showed that they can compete. If we can be competitive for the rest of the year we can go places. Our target is an All-Ireland quarter- final and it's very achievable." " We tried not to overplay the impact within the group. People can get too emotional in the lead up to games and some people can't deal with it."

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