Ailish Considine: Grand Final relief as 2021 heartbreak put to bed but Irish players facing difficult decisions

What a difference 12 months make. The celebrations compared to the commiserations last year are a welcome change. It's been a good couple of days.

This win feels very different to my first one in 2019. That was so unexpected and unknown. This time around it was more of a relief.

Coming up short last year was heart-breaking. We had that raw feeling so long after. Getting to the final again this year, it was more of a relief that we finally got over the line. The overwhelming joy of getting back on top, and finishing with a shiny cup at the end, was pretty special.

The Grand Final was a super tense game. It was always going to be tightly-contested and the scoreboard showed that. Melbourne are a really good side so we knew it wouldn’t be easy by any means. There was even huge pressure and a lot of tension in the build-up to the game. We were the top two teams in the comp, there wasn’t much between us in terms of the table.

We didn’t have a second to relax in the game and neither did Melbourne. It was one of those games where you couldn’t let up for the entire match or they would have capitalised.

The reaction to our victory has been fantastic, there is such a buzz around the place. It’s unbelievable how big football is here in Adelaide. Our supporters are second to none, they always come out and support us. We’re fortunate to be the only women’s team in South Australia so we get the backing of everyone.

We had an event on Monday night in Rundle Mall, which is the main pedestrianised shopping street in Adelaide city, where anyone could come out and see the squad and take photos. There was a decent turnout for that too. It was nice to be able to see all that.

The plan now is to get back to Ireland soon, although I’ve no idea when.