Cork's Hannah Looney says more respect must be shown to dual players

Cork footballer and camogie player Hannah Looney says she fears dual players will not continue in the game, as fixture scheduling continues to impact those playing both codes.

As the Cork camogie side prepares to take on Clare on Saturday at 2 pm, the ladies footballers face Mayo in Castlebar in a must-win game in the All-Ireland group stages.

Not the only player forced to make a decision ahead of this weekend, Looney will line out with the footballers alongside Aoife Healy, while Libby Coppinger will play with the camogie side.

This is not a new problem for Looney, who has always played both codes. She says more must be done to highlight the challenges facing dual players.

“There was a lot more respect for the dual player. If you look at ten years ago, everything has evolved so much and keeps evolving.

“When I first started, there were male players dabbling in and out of dual, but now it has totally gone out of the men’s game, and it seems to be going that way for us too, unfortunately.

“It’s fine for me — I’m at the latter end of my career — but I do see it’s going to be harder. In Cork at the moment, if you had a 17- or 18-year-old breaking into the senior set-ups, I can’t see how they could start out on a dual journey the way things are going.”

In years gone by, some players have been forced to play two games in one day. Looney says she is disappointed more has not been done about ongoing fixture clashes.

“The bottom line is I feel there’s less interest, less respect, and less value, unfortunately.

“Even the fixture clash this weekend — a couple of years ago, there would have been huge uproar about this. You would have had the backing of the media, and you might have had the support of the county boards and managers