CORK’S LINDA COLLINS knows that she can always go back.

Linda Collins leading the C James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

At just 25, there’s no need to sound out the death knell for her inter-county camogie career just yet. She needed a break abroad after almost six years of service to the Cork jersey, and she will be all the fresher for it whenever she decides to return.

Her new home for the moment is Dubai in the United Arab Emirates where she works as a teacher. This trip out to the desert, which she has taken along with some friends, has been a few months in the making.

She first began enquiring about jobs back in March, but always with the intention of finishing out the camogie season first before planning any moves. Collins was the Cork captain for 2021 and their campaign wouldn’t be concluding until after the All-Ireland final against Galway.

She would have to stay put until then.

“I had applied for one job that my friends were in,” Collins tells The42 as she takes up the story, ”and the day after the All-Ireland, I got a message asking if I still wanted that job and to fly over in two weeks’ time.

“They actually asked if I wanted to fly over on the Friday and I said that I needed a bit more time than that. So, I flew over two weeks after.”

Collins’ build-up to the All-Ireland final was already quite packed before that job offer arrived. As captain of the team, she had the usual stack of pre-match obligations to work through. There was also the added layer of uncertainty caused by the appeal for Orla Cronin’s red card from Cork’s All-Ireland semi-final win over Kilkenny.

Cronin was dismissed after a clash with Kilkenny’s Grace Walsh. The incident began when the Kilkenny midfielder barged into Cronin during an attack towards the Cork goal, prompting Cronin to swing back her hurl and touch Walsh’s faceguard.

At the time, Collins was starting Cork’s games on the bench as the management had deemed her to be more effective as a finisher for the side. Their intuition was proven to be correct as Collins stepped up to produce the winning point after being introduced with just 10 minutes to go.

But with Cronin’s playing situation for the decider looking unclear, Collins was forced to consider the possibility that she might be promoted to a starting place.

“I just felt that we’re in an All-Ireland final and that’s where you want to be,” she recalls. “I enjoyed every minute of the build up and I wouldn’t take anything back. And I feel from looking from the outside, it’s built up a bit more but you can’t buy into the emotions.

“You can enjoy it afterwards and say that that was a great time but in the lead up to it, you just have to enjoy training, train hard and not buy too much into the emotions because you can get caught up in them.

“You can get frustrated, but at the end of the day, some things are out of your control and all you can do is keep a good attitude, train hard and do whatever you can. Even Orla [Cronin] was so calm in the lead up. She was amazing anytime I met her and she was just like, ‘Well it’s out of my hands now. I can only do my best to get it appealed and it’s up to them and whatever they decide.’”

Cork brought Cronin’s appeal case all the way to the Direct Resolutions Authority [DRA] before she was granted an 11th hour reprieve which cleared her to play the final in Croke Park.

But the long wait for a verdict meant that Cronin was prohibited from participating in Cork’s training sessions before the final.

However, captain Collins kept an eye on their team’s temporary exile, meeting up with Cronin for coffee and chats to keep her spirits up. As for whether or not Collins might end up taking her place in the team, she was adopting her teammate’s attitude of accepting that certain things are simply outside her control.

Of course, Cronin did start after she earned that clearance and although she did help herself to six points, it wasn’t enough to prevent Galway from lifting the O’Duffy Cup.

“I suppose myself and Orla would be good friends anyway. And we’re a big fan of coffee so met a few times for coffee and she’d be updating me. But she still wouldn’t like to dwell on it too much because you don’t want everyone asking questions. 

“I suppose I knew what my role was and it didn’t matter what anyone outside was saying. I didn’t think too much about it because there was no point in thinking too much into it. I just wanted to enjoy being captain for an All-Ireland final.

Orla Cronin scored six points for Cork in the All-Ireland final. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO

“She [Cronin] was fab on the day as well, so it’s just about being positive and keeping going with that attitude because some things you just can’t change and they’re out of your control.”

While Cronin didn’t make the starting line up, she was still permitted to lead her side in the pre-match parade around Croke Park.

Incidentally, it was Matthew Twomey — who was part of Cork’s backroom team on the day and has since taken over as manager from Paudie Murray — who informed Collins that she was still entitled to perform this role regardless of the number on her back.

She obviously couldn’t go out onto the pitch to lead her team during the game, but she would get her chance to have an influence on proceedings. That was how things transpired in the semi-final against Kilkenny, where her match-winning point was interpreted by some as a moment of justice for Collins.

However, the Courcey Rovers forward saw it differently.

“I think once you accept it, it’s fine,” a measured Collins explains. “People have this idea of the starting 15 or whatever but I probably had the easiest role of the day, coming on for the last 15 minutes and being fresh while everyone else was tired. You felt like you could get to that hook or get to that block.

“I feel like it probably worked out better than it could have. I was just delighted and it’s always an honour to play in Croke Park, so whether you get 15 minutes or 60 minutes, it doesn’t really matter. It’s so enjoyable to play there.”

The narrow defeat to Galway crosses Collins’ mind from time to time. Both sides scored goals late in the second half but it was Galway who profited the most from the exchange of net-rattling scores.

It was Cork who struck gold first when Collins linked up with Katrina Mackey to slip the ball past Galway keeper Sarah Healy. But, as Collins tries to reconcile with the disappointment three months on from that September day, she wonders if perhaps Galway drew more inspiration from that score than they should have.

All the seemingly minor decisions in the days before the game race through her mind too. Tight margins and small turning points were the difference in Collins’ mind.

“It is upsetting and I don’t know, do you ever get over losing an All-Ireland final,” says Collins.

“It’s probably one of the loneliest places to lose a final. I just hope the girls drive on next year because they’ve gained so much experience. Even the younger girls who were starting in Croke Park for their first time this year. They’ll be one more year more experienced next year.”

The short-term plan for Collins is to come home for the Christmas break before returning to the desert in the new year. 

Cork camogie are making plans of their own too, with a new management in place for 2022. Twomey will be the new boss while Clare hurling legend Davy Fitzgerald is coming on board as a coach.

Collins hails that appointment as a huge step forward for her county as well as the wider sport of camogie.

She anticipates that she might feel a sting when they begin their next campaign without her, but the break is the best thing for her right now.

“You still would have that fear of missing out or I’d see the girls out together and you have so many memories with them, but then you also think that you’ve had some great times playing with Cork and I do want to try something different and see how I’d get on.

“If it wasn’t for me, I would have come home but I am really enjoying it so I will stay for as long as I’m enjoying it. I’m getting such a different experience out here. I’ve been to two or three different countries at this stage between midterms and weekends.

“But there’s been no camogie played at home since I’ve come out, so we’ll have to wait and see what I’ll be like in March and April next year. It might be a different story.”