CORK GREAT ASHLING Thompson says a season spent battling three significant injuries has left her ‘worn out’ and unsure what the future holds.
The 36-year-old midfielder battled back from elbow, hamstring and calf injuries to capture her seventh All-Ireland senior camogie medal last Sunday.
Thompson’s half-time switch from midfield to the half-forward line was one of the moves that helped swing victory for the resurgent Rebels who trailed at the break.
She only returned to action midway through the championship after a bad elbow break which required surgery.
Then in a Cork training session before the semi-final win over Tipperary, Thompson suffered both hamstring and calf tears.
The veteran star, first called into a Cork senior panel 20 years ago, said the season has left her jaded and fatigued with no guarantees she’ll be back in red for 2027.
“I’ll have a good think over the winter, it’s hard to decide,” said Thompson about extending her career. “It’s hard to know where I’m at when you’ve spent an entire season injured. Because everyone is like, ‘Will you give it another go?’ If you asked me now, and I was this tired, I’d probably say, ‘No’.
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“But I know that injury has dictated a lot of my season this year and probably is the reason that I feel so fucking worn out, burnt out at times.
“So I’ll have a think over the winter. A fella said to me the other day, ‘If you think about it, that means you still want it’. Whereas if it’s a straight no, that’s when you know it’s over. So I’ll see. If I’m hungry for it again in the winter, I’ll be back on.”
Cork manager Ger Manley described Thompson’s horror elbow break in a league game against Kilkenny last spring as ‘one of the worst injuries I’ve seen’.
And it was widely known too that she suffered the hamstring tear after she returned.
But the calf injury she carried into the final against holders Galway was hushed up.
“I actually had a 1B tear in my calf as well but luckily that was asymptomatic,” she revealed. “So I kind of just kept that under wraps to be honest with you.
“I was very unlucky, it was the same session, I did both. But look, I managed to keep it in one piece in the last two weeks.”
The payoff was playing a central role on All-Ireland final day and helping Cork to a third title success in four seasons.
Thompson celebrating with the O'Duffy Cup. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“Croke Park is a mental game more than physical,” said Thompson, explaining the psychology behind an All-Ireland decider. “I always relate it to going into a UFC ring – there is no way out, and it’s completely mental. The physical kind of looks after itself.
“Psychologically, you need to stay clued in because you saw it there, a six-point lead at one stage and it came down to the wire again, one point in it.”
Despite how close it was in the end, after Galway reeled off the last five points of the game, Thompson still felt relatively comfortable in that closing quarter hour or so.
Over the course of the season, she has learned to trust in a group full of new players and fresh faces.
She saw the nerves in Ava Fitzgerald, Isobel Sheehan and Millie Condon on Sunday morning, before the game, but wasn’t worried. She told them she felt the same.
She saw the huge impact former All-Ireland winning Cork hurling manager Donal O’Grady had on the group too.
“Massive,” enthused Thompson. “What a cool man, just cool as a cucumber, cool as a breeze. He has the one-liners, he’s brilliant with the one-liners. Even when things seem like it’s a panic and the management might come in and it’s panic or, you know, they might feel like they need to get us motivated, but it’s always just the smallest, simplest piece of information that Donal will give you. And it just makes you feel nice and calm.”
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'I feel so f***ing worn out' - Ashling Thompson unsure of Cork future after seventh All-Ireland
CORK GREAT ASHLING Thompson says a season spent battling three significant injuries has left her ‘worn out’ and unsure what the future holds.
The 36-year-old midfielder battled back from elbow, hamstring and calf injuries to capture her seventh All-Ireland senior camogie medal last Sunday.
Thompson’s half-time switch from midfield to the half-forward line was one of the moves that helped swing victory for the resurgent Rebels who trailed at the break.
She only returned to action midway through the championship after a bad elbow break which required surgery.
Then in a Cork training session before the semi-final win over Tipperary, Thompson suffered both hamstring and calf tears.
The veteran star, first called into a Cork senior panel 20 years ago, said the season has left her jaded and fatigued with no guarantees she’ll be back in red for 2027.
“I’ll have a good think over the winter, it’s hard to decide,” said Thompson about extending her career. “It’s hard to know where I’m at when you’ve spent an entire season injured. Because everyone is like, ‘Will you give it another go?’ If you asked me now, and I was this tired, I’d probably say, ‘No’.
“But I know that injury has dictated a lot of my season this year and probably is the reason that I feel so fucking worn out, burnt out at times.
Cork manager Ger Manley described Thompson’s horror elbow break in a league game against Kilkenny last spring as ‘one of the worst injuries I’ve seen’.
And it was widely known too that she suffered the hamstring tear after she returned.
But the calf injury she carried into the final against holders Galway was hushed up.
“I actually had a 1B tear in my calf as well but luckily that was asymptomatic,” she revealed. “So I kind of just kept that under wraps to be honest with you.
“I was very unlucky, it was the same session, I did both. But look, I managed to keep it in one piece in the last two weeks.”
The payoff was playing a central role on All-Ireland final day and helping Cork to a third title success in four seasons.
“Croke Park is a mental game more than physical,” said Thompson, explaining the psychology behind an All-Ireland decider. “I always relate it to going into a UFC ring – there is no way out, and it’s completely mental. The physical kind of looks after itself.
“Psychologically, you need to stay clued in because you saw it there, a six-point lead at one stage and it came down to the wire again, one point in it.”
Despite how close it was in the end, after Galway reeled off the last five points of the game, Thompson still felt relatively comfortable in that closing quarter hour or so.
Over the course of the season, she has learned to trust in a group full of new players and fresh faces.
She saw the nerves in Ava Fitzgerald, Isobel Sheehan and Millie Condon on Sunday morning, before the game, but wasn’t worried. She told them she felt the same.
She saw the huge impact former All-Ireland winning Cork hurling manager Donal O’Grady had on the group too.
“Massive,” enthused Thompson. “What a cool man, just cool as a cucumber, cool as a breeze. He has the one-liners, he’s brilliant with the one-liners. Even when things seem like it’s a panic and the management might come in and it’s panic or, you know, they might feel like they need to get us motivated, but it’s always just the smallest, simplest piece of information that Donal will give you. And it just makes you feel nice and calm.”
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Ashling Thompson Camogie Cork uncertainty