NEW TIPPERARY LADIES footballer Peter Creedon will be without three key players for the start of his tenure, having announced his panel for the upcoming National Football League this morning.
Aishling Moloney’s 2022 absence has been confirmed as she continues her recovery from a long-term knee injury, while Orla O’Dwyer and Aisling McCarthy are unavailable until April, at least, due to their Aussie Rules commitments Down Under.
Brisbane Lions reigning Premier champion O’Dwyer and West Coast Eagles star McCarthy get their respective Australian Football League Women’s [AFLW] seasons underway this weekend, along with 12 other Irish players.
Tipp were dealt a major blow ahead of last summer’s championship with news that Moloney, the 2019 LGFA Intermediate Player of the Year, had suffered a cruciate ligament injury.
“Joining the ACL club for a while,” the two-time All-Ireland intermediate winner wrote on Instagram in June, having been forced off in the Division 1 league clash with Dublin. “Shall be back.”
Unquestionably one of the best players in the country, the Cahir dual star had previously sustained a medial knee ligament injury in 2020.
Speaking to TippFM Sport late last month, Moloney explained that complications since her surgery and other setbacks have forced her to withdraw from the Tipperary panel for 2022.
“I met with Peter [Creedon] last week and it actually kind of hit me coming home in the car, it was probably the first time I probably shed a tear since it all happened because it kind of became overwhelming to me,” she said.
“It was like, ‘You think nine months and ah sure, we’ll give it 12,’ but for me it’s going into next year I’m not going to be back, so I’m going to miss two years.
“I met with Peter and I just explained to him, look, it’s just going to have to cut it for this year and take me out of your picture because it’s just unrealistic to go back.”
Creedon, the former Tipperary senior men’s boss who succeeded Declan Carr in the helm after his one season in charge, announced a 29-strong panel this morning, with 14 Tipperary clubs represented.
The two outliers are goalkeeper Lauren Fitzpatrick, who plays her club football with Waterford kingpins Ballymacarbry, and Angela McGuigan of Eadestown in Kildare:
Creedon is joined by Michael O’Loughlin (coach), (selector), Tony Smith (selector), Mairead O’Connor (FLO), Annie McCarra (S&C), Johnny Nevin (analysis), Niamh Browne (physio), and Laura Kealy (nutritionist) in his backroom team.
Tipp open their Division 2 league campaign with a trip to Kerry, before also facing Laois and Clare in the group stages.
While the county suffered league relegation and struggled in senior championship last season, they secured their top-flight status and will compete there once again this summer.
