Kayleigh Cronin: ‘We definitely do appreciate it more’

After 31 years of hurt, the Kerry ladies ended their drought for an All-Ireland football title in August, with defender Kayleigh Cronin key to their success.

After final defeats in 2022 and 2023 to Meath and Dublin respectively, Kerry finally triumphed on the biggest day in Croke Park against Galway.

For Cronin, it was a journey of overcoming injuries and heartbreak, as she overcame a serious ACL injury in 2019, having just broke into the Kerry team.

With Covid in 2020, football was heavily disrupted, which allowed the 28-year-old to fully recover, something which is now a blessing for Kerry.

“We played Westmeath in Fitzgerald Stadium and I’d only been back playing football six months.

“My body wasn’t used to it, obviously. It was non-contact in the middle of the park, I just went to turn and chase the ball back and went down like a sack of spuds and I knew straight away what it was.

“Obviously at the time, I thought the world was ending. But looking back, if there was a time for it to happen, it was probably the best time for it to happen. It happened in July, and then I had the operation in September, I think. COVID was next January, February.

“So there were games still going ahead and everything, but we actually ended up going into lockdown. I was basically doing water and I was hoping to come back around the May mark, which would have just barely been nine months. And I was testing well in May and everything.

“So number one, I was lucky because the gyms and the physios and all that were open for the first three to four months, which is obviously crucial post-op. But after that, then everything closed.

“I set up a gym in the shed at home, so I was able to continue it, but I know for a fact if I had gone back in May or June I would have been no use to anybody and, realistically probably the re-injury rate would have been very high.

To win an All-Ireland is always special, but for this group of women, it was journey they were all on together.

Despite a hugely talented squad with a lot of experience, nobody had an All-Ireland medal to show for their efforts. While some people may see this as a disadvantage, it meant everyone was on the same page.

“It was 31 years since Kerry ladies won it, so nobody in the panel had won before, so it was the ultimate goal for every single member of the panel, whether they were 18, 19, or 32, 33.

“It is special to be part of something when you go to the group and every single person has the same goal in mind. Every single person is completely in tune with that goal, and working towards it together.

“I think we definitely do appreciate it more, we know how hard it is, obviously to get there in the first place, never mind to get over the line. We know what it is like to go through those couple of months after it, as a group.

“You’ve to stick together after some tough losses. So, definitely we do appreciate it that bit more.

“Everybody was there for the right reason, and that reason was for Kerry, and not for themselves. To have a management team have the same values is super important. To be honest, that was the tipping point that took us over the line.”

It was some journey for the squad under joint managers Declan Quill and Darragh Long, who have since left following the All-Ireland win.

From a relegation battle in the senior championship to All-Ireland champions, it was a journey that had it all with the ultimate prize at the end.

“We were actually in a relegation game for senior, we were below in Division Two, and not doing well in Division Two either. Within a year we could have easily been Division Two and Intermediate, which would have been unthinkable for a Kerry football team.

“So, the turnaround was massive and the buy in was huge from the players. The lads set their goal out fairly lively when they started, there was only thing on their mind, and that was an All-Ireland.

“The girls appreciated that, it is why you play football for Kerry, to get there eventually. We knew it wouldn’t happen straightaway, but we knew if we stuck together and stuck with the lads that it would definitely be a possibility.”

Sourse: breakingnews.ie