It’s a crude take but there’s some merit to the suggestion that, at 40, life is just beginning for Cora Staunton, in AFLW terms at least.
Fresh off her best season yet in the Australian game, which included 18 goals, the veteran poacher said she feels as if she’s “still only learning the game” and not, as is the case, that she’s the oldest female player ever to have played.
“When I go out there I train fully, I don’t go on any limited program, I get through all the sessions and the more AFL I play over there, the more I feel I get better, just by playing matches and training,” said Staunton.
The Carnacon woman was speaking at the launch of the Bord Gáis Energy GAA Legends Tour series. She certainly earned that legendary status during her Mayo days, winning four All-Irelands and 11 All-Stars.
That seems like a lifetime ago now as she continues to impress in the AFLW, kicking 46 goals from just 40 appearances since joining Greater Western Sydney Giants in the 2017 draft. She booted 18 of those goals in the season just gone, enough to get her into the 2022 AFLW All Australian squad but not, controversially, into the final team of the year.
“To be honest, my days of worrying about individual awards are long gone, I probably worried about them when I was a teenager, or in my early 20s,” said Staunton.
“I was just delighted that finally someone from Ireland got recognised, Orla [O’Dwyer] obviously got recognised. But it didn’t really bother me with my own situation, it was water off a duck’s back, to be honest.”
It would be a surprise if Staunton didn’t return Down Under though she has nothing to put into the public domain on that just yet.
“The date for that hasn’t come out yet,” said Staunton. “It normally would be at this time but every three years they do a thing called the CBA, the Collective Bargaining Agreement for the competition so that basically looks at salary, holidays, health insurance, all that. So they are just negotiating that at the moment.
“Once that has been negotiated, then they will tell us the sign in trade period and then there’s a two-week period where you have to sign on. I’d imagine you’d have to have that decided by mid to late May. I certainly wouldn’t have any decision yet, I’ll make that when it needs to be made.”
Massive impact
Staunton was among 14 Irish women contracted to AFLW clubs last season. The new season looks set to begin in August and she has predicted that with four new clubs coming on stream, building the league to 18 teams, there will be plenty of new recruits picked from Ireland.
It has been confirmed that Cork's Erika O'Shea will join an unnamed club while Vikki Wall, the 2021 Player of the Year, seems certain to take up an offer when Meath's interest in the championship is over.
“I think she will have a massive impact when she goes out,” said Staunton of Wall. “It will take a little bit of time to adjust and get used to the sport but I see over the next few years that if she enjoys it then she is going to be a massive player for whatever club she joins.”
Staunton said she knows of several more players who are actively looking to get involved in the AFLW, as well as players who have been approached by clubs. That’s not good news for Meath fans in particular.
“There has been more than just Vikki approached,” claimed Staunton. “Whether those individuals are interested in going or not, that’s up to them. It depends on who the club is, the contract they’re offered and what they want, you know, what their motivation is. Is it to win more All-Irelands with Meath or is it to pursue a professional contract, a professional sport?”
Staunton said the league’s ambition is to make the AFLW fully professional by 2026 and she reckons that Irish players combining their LGFA and AFLW commitments each season won’t last much longer.
“I think this is probably the last season you’ll be able to do both,” she said.
* The Bord Gáis Energy GAA Legends Tour series, which start on Saturday, May 28th, will feature Joe Canning, Cora Staunton as well as a host of legends from across the GAA world. Bord Gáis Energy customers will get the exclusive opportunity to attend all tours throughout the summer. The full schedule and details of how to book your place on a tour can be viewed at crokepark.ie/legends
