Sometimes Eamonn Murray says ‘thank you’ to Vikki Wall for just being herself.
The Meath boss believes Wall will go on to be “the face of the AFL,” when she moves to Australia after Sunday’s All-Ireland final against Kerry.
The manager and father figure for a generation of Meath ladies footballers is a little choked up talking about his players, and you can feel both his protective nature and his pride in them.
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Footballer of the Year nominee Emma Troy is heading off to travel next year.
Wall (23) and Orlagh Lally (20) are heading to Australia to play WAFL.
It’s the first of the starting All-Ireland 15 from 2021 that Murray will lose.
Wall, he says, is one of a team of “special ones.”
“I’d always say to Vikki, ‘Thank you for staying Vikki Wall’.
“She never changed. She’s the nicest person to every child in Meath. The last person leaving the pitch. It’s a great bond we have with the players.
“The craic we have. Go watch any of our sessions. The fun we have. Long may it last.
“They talk about Vikki going away, it’s never mentioned. I’ve never mentioned it.
“It won’t be. I wish her the very best – whoever wants to go.
“It’s tomorrow’s problem. I don’t know how she is holding it together. There’s a lot of stuff in her head, college and that. She’s a very level-headed girl.
“She’s still everybody’s friend. You’d see it after the last match.
“She’d go round to every table and have the chat. They are all equal to her, from the weakest to the strongest.”
Murray continues: “She’ll not be the only loss. There’s three or four going.
“She’ll probably turn into the face of ladies AFL, I presume that’s the idea. She’s a fluent Irish speaker and all that.
“She’s going to be a massive loss for us. Not just for us but for the country.
“She wants to get a taste of it and she is very young.
“I know she will be back playing with Meath. I will not be around probably, but I hope somebody will have her again.
“She is a very special person, but she is not the only special one we have. We have plenty of them. That’s why we are All-Ireland winners.”
Emma Duggan, he says, was being written off at the start of the year.
“We gave her a few weeks off training – she was tired.
“Did her the world of good. Look at her now, one of the all-time greats. She probably took over in the last three games.
“We always tried to tell them all year, ‘You are from a very humble place.’ Most are from little country clubs. ‘Keep that underdog thing in your heads. Don’t listen to what anyone says’.”
Murray points to the amazing, arduous and joyful journey the Meath team have gone on to arrive at this point, winning intermediate and senior All-Ireland titles in 2020 and 2021.
“We probably expect far too much from ourselves (this year),” he continues. “We’re never going to go out every week and play like the All-Ireland final.
“That’s the last game people remember from last year. They don’t remember the tough games we had.
“They all think we should be able to do that every week. That’s never going to happen.
“This is our sixth big year in a row. Our fifth All-Ireland final. So we’ve been going flat out for years.
“Three strange games (in this year’s Championship). A draw, a point win and a two point win. So tough.
“I wouldn’t expect any different. I think that Galway team are an awesome team.
“Then we came across a very good Donegal team. We were probably a bit lucky. We are fast learners in Meath.
“We have never discussed winning All-Irelands. Just discuss playing Kerry.
“We haven’t mentioned winning All-Irelands this week – and we won’t.
“It’s just go out and play the next game. Even at that, you divide the game up into sections as well.
“The team is very relaxed. We’re in a good place.”
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