PLENTY MORE IN THE TANK FOR THE 2022 TG4 SENIOR PLAYERS’ PLAYER OF THE YEAR NIAMH MCLAUGHLIN
By Daire Walsh
It might be several weeks since the All Star awards ceremony took place in Dublin’s Bonnington Hotel, but Donegal footballer Niamh McLaughlin insists it still hasn’t sunk in that she was named TG4 Players’ Player of the Year for 2022.
The O’Donnell County captain throughout their productive league and championship campaigns, McLaughlin edged out fellow nominees Emma Duggan (Meath) and Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh (Kerry) to claim this prestigious individual award. Already over the moon after being named at midfield – alongside Ní Mhuircheartaigh’s team-mate Cáit Lynch – on the All Star team, this capped off a memorable night in the capital for the Moville ace.
“It was very unexpected on my part. It’s just a bit mad, to be honest. I don’t think it really has sunk in. Once I get a wee bit of downtime, when we reflect back on it, it will settle in then. The reaction to it has been really nice and people have been really lovely. I’m getting messages from all over and different people. It was really nice to get it on the night,” McLaughlin explained.
“The two girls being nominated, that’s why I hadn’t even contemplated it at all. It wasn’t even a thought in my head that I might win it. The All Star was obviously lovely too, my first nomination, but the Player of the Year was just complete madness. Louise has obviously been around for a long time, she’s just brilliant at what she does.
“Emma as well being so young, unfortunately I don’t think we’ve seen the best of her yet! She was on the winning team against us twice this year. Two very, very good players and I’m sure they’ll be back at their best again next year and in the years to come.”
What makes this award extra special for McLaughlin (and the same is undoubtedly true for all the previous winners) is the fact that it is the players themselves who decided that she was the stand-out performer of the year.
“That’s definitely the nicest thing about it. Even just chatting about it to different people, it just makes it all a wee bit more surreal. You want to be playing against the best players and the teams that we played against every year, you always have your great battles with them. To get the players’ vote definitely makes it a lot more special.”
By being named the Players’ Player of the Year, McLaughlin – a community physiotherapist based in Letterkenny – has broken new ground. While Armagh duo Caroline O’Hanlon and Aimee Mackin have represented Ulster in this category before, McLaughlin is the first Donegal player to secure this accolade.
It is a similar case in the GAA/GPA All Stars, with Karl Lacey (2012) being the sole winner of Footballer of the Year from the county. Given how rare it is for someone from Donegal – whether they be men or women – to be honoured for their on-field exploits, McLaughlin recognised how much it means in an overall context.
“Those boys in 2012, they’re still superstars. You see the guys walking about and what not or even the girls that won intermediate in 2010. In Donegal as well, the reaction has been so nice. All those people within your county. I think that’s what makes it more special because it means a lot to the people in your own club and your community. The reaction I got.
“It’s obviously an individual award, but I think it’s a really nice thing to be able to bring back to your own county. It gives people a bit of a lift too. We probably have a few high standards for ourselves up here and we think a lot of all our players. In terms of that recognition, Karl was obviously the last guy and myself now. It’s a big honour.”
In regards to 2022 from a team perspective, there were some great highlights for Donegal. In the LIDL National Football League Division One semi-final against Dublin at St Tiernach’s Park, Clones in March, late goals from Emma McCrory and Yvonne Bonner helped to turn a five-point deficit into a dramatic one-point victory.
When the two sides met again in an All-Ireland SFC quarter-final at Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada in Carrick-on-Shannon, Karen Guthrie struck two goals as a substitute to propel Donegal into the last-four of the Brendan Martin Cup.
However, despite scoring penalties in both games, McLaughlin found herself on the losing team for the matches that followed these impressive successes. Meath had two points to spare over Donegal in the NFL Division One decider at Croke Park on April 10, before the Royals triumphed by the same margin in an All-Ireland semi-final three months later.
This latter contest also took place at GAA HQ and McLaughlin feels their Leinster counterparts’ greater experience of playing in the Jones’ Road venue ultimately came to the fore.
“We’ve always had the belief in Donegal that we can have that end goal of an All-Ireland. We’ve always felt as if we’ve had the players in the county. I suppose last year we didn’t talk about All-Irelands or anything like that, we just focused on one game at a time and making sure our training was at as high a level as we can.
“Definitely the one against Dublin in the league was like a snatch and grab. We’ve been on the end of those as well, the other side. You take your win when you can. The loss to Meath in the final then was obviously disappointing. Then going into the All-Ireland semi-final, we knew there’d be nothing between us. Meath obviously have that experience.
“Definitely more experience than us of playing in Croke Park on the big days in the last few years for sure. We knew we could drive them close. I don’t think we’re really too far away at all. We’re not looking for any big crazy changes, just small improvements. Bringing it together more consistently.”
While he has already spent five years at the helm of the team, Maxi Curran has agreed to stay on as Donegal ladies manager for a sixth season. This has been greeted with great enthusiasm with Curran (who also worked alongside the aforementioned Lacey as a selector on the Donegal men’s team) having made huge strides during his time in the O’Donnell hot seat.
This has whetted McLaughlin’s appetite for the 2023 inter-county season, which begins for Donegal on January 22 with a LIDL NFL Division One away trip to Galway. Although Meath (now under the management of Davy Nelson) are looking to hold onto both national crowns in the new year, McLaughlin believes the race for top honours will be wide open.
“It’s definitely a lot closer than it has been. I think it’s going to be very difficult to call games. Whereas maybe in the past you could put a decent enough guess on who might come out on top, but you can take nothing for granted,” McLaughlin added.
“I think that’s just good for the standard of the game. The closer the games are, the better players come out and higher performance is needed. I think it will make for a really interesting league and then pushing into championship too.”