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AFLW Player Jennifer Dunne (2023-)
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ZoBlitz
The Ghost Who Walks
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Dynamic Jennifer Dunne built to prosper in new voyage Down Under
Nothing is guaranteed when an athlete attempts the delicate transfer of abilities to a different game, regardless of similarities or crossover.
And yet to watch Jennifer Dunne glide around Croke Park on Sunday was to give her a strong chance of a smooth landing in Australia later this week.
“Obviously that opportunity came up, the group were really welcoming to that idea,” Dunne, who claimed a fourth All-Ireland medal on Sunday, explained of the genesis of her move.
“But I parked it then and this was my main focus and I’m just so glad that we as a collective got over the line and I can go over now with a smile on my face and maybe bring success over there.”
Dunne departs for Brisbane Lions tomorrow. They were the 2021 AFLW champions, the club of Tipperary’s Orla O’Dwyer. Their season begins in less than three weeks.
“I haven’t done a huge amount really,” Dunne admitted of her preparations for the switch. “This has been my primary focus. I wanted to give this everything and throw everything at it. I would be kicking myself if I hadn’t and we came up short, so that was my focus. And I’m delighted that I had that mindset going into it.
“Opportunities come up. It’s getting to play professional sport. It’s something that a lot of girls can’t say no to.”
Already, Dunne has been issued the number eight squad number for the coming season, the same shirt she wore for Dublin last Sunday. She has also been provisionally assigned the role of key defender.
Mick Bohan joked that if Dunne’s move worked out well, Dublin’s all-conquering ladies footballers might get their team holiday out of it.
“This is my fourth (All-Ireland) now but it’s probably one of the most special ones,” noted Dunne
“Considering the last two years we’ve had and such a change of people that have come into the group – management and players.
“A lot of us probably wouldn’t have backed ourselves in October or November to be here but we’re just so delighted, it’s amazing.”
The deal to bring Dunne to Brisbane was announced in March.
How long she had blipped on Brisbane’s radar is unknown. But it’s unlikely to be a coincidence that she was head-hunted in what was her best season for Dublin.
According to Bohan, this year Dunne had “put in a serious shift to develop herself into probably the most athletic midfielder in this country at this point in time. But you have to match it with football. Obviously the more your performances increase, the more attention you’re going to get, so you have to live with that also.”
It’s an increasingly well-worn path. There were 22 Irish players scattered across the rosters of AFL women’s teams last year. That figure is set to touch 30 for the forthcoming season.
Some of Dunne’s current and former team-mates have made the journey; Lauren Magee, Sinéad Goldrick and Niamh McEvoy and if they could do without the drain of talent, it is ultimately a compliment to their abilities and a reflection of their coaching.
“I still look back on my time in coaching,” stressed Bohan. “Brian O’Driscoll played underage Gaelic football in my club and I was lucky enough to have him at 10, 11, 12 and 13 and people always talk about the loss for Clontarf GAA Club.
“But I was so proud that that man went on to play for Ireland.
“So they are all stories in different people’s communities, we’re Gaels and we want people to play our games but if somebody chooses something else and that’s what makes them happy then you only get one crack at this life, I think we know that bit.”
Dunne isn’t the only Dublin player to flourish this year. They didn’t just peak at the right time of the season, they hit new highs in terms of their physical exertions.
Any attending AFLW scouts in Croke Park on Sunday might have had notions of trying to convince Magee to return to Australia with them, such was her constant movement.
“Sami Dowling came in this year with S&C, brought a new level to it,” Bohan explained.
“So we’ve seen that in all of the sessions, they just work their backsides off.
“That’s the most important trait in sport, regardless what you do,” added the Dublin manager.
“I have called on every favour that ever was done in my life to get to assemble this group of people to get us to be successful and the knowledge we have in this management team to help this group get better. I will never forget this.”
ZoBlitz
The Ghost Who Walks
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Between the Lions w/ Jen Dunne
Our newest Irish recruit Jen Dunne jumps on the mic this week and reveals who slid into her DMs back in 2021 to try and recruit her to the Brisbane Lions!
ZoBlitz
The Ghost Who Walks
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Debutants 2023: The future looks promising
Welcome to the club. This season the Brisbane Lions blooded a total of 7 new and exciting players.
ZoBlitz
The Ghost Who Walks
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From the Ground: Jen Dunne
It's a fairytale ending for our newest Irish import as Jen Dunne finishes her first AFLW season with a GF winners medal
ZoBlitz
The Ghost Who Walks
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One of a Kind: Dunne a Winner Worldwide
Jennifer Dunne travelled to Australia in August 2023, fresh off an All-Ireland premiership with her beloved club Dublin and about to try her hand at AFLW with the Brisbane Lions.
Little did she know she’d return home five months later with not just AFLW experience to show, but a premiership medal.
Thrust into the cauldron of the AFLW only a mere five weeks after arriving in Australia, Dunne would debut in Round 3 against the Sydney Swans.
From there the Irish import only grew in confidence playing a key role in every match for the remainder of the year, not bad for someone who only picked up a Sherrin in July 2023.
“At Christmas last year I was talking to Nat (Grider) and its mad to think a year later we are winning the pinnacle, it’s surreal to think,” Dunne said.
“To think of the player I was during my debut, to what I was in finals is like chalk and cheese.
“I’ve been lucky enough to win four premierships at home and now I’ve won this.”
It was a whirlwind four months for the budding defender.
Immediately after celebrating a competition win with her Dublin teammates, Dunne would find herself on a plane travelling halfway across the world, unsure what the future would hold.
“When you’ve won it makes it harder to leave, because you’ve worked towards something and its fun.
“We won on the Sunday and I was on the plane two days later.
“It was a 24-hour flight and I had time to think and thought why am I coming to Australia.”
Despite the natural feeling of anxiousness that comes with uprooting your life to move halfway across the world and play a game you’ve never played before, this wasn’t a flash in the pan decision.
It was Lions AFLW senior coach Craig Starcevich who spotted Dunne’s talent in the Irish summer of 2022 and began planting the seed of a trip down under.
“Everyone sells you a story, every club was very open but having conversations with Craig over the years, I was really excited for this opportunity.
“To have some of the girls come over to Ireland along with Craig, who met my mum and dad, it gave me an idea of what I was getting into.
“It is a big trip and a big decision to make so it can be daunting but knowing I was going to be surrounded by people who were going to look after me as definitely a selling point.”
Starcevich is an awe of what Dunne has been able to achieve in the space of one season.
“Jennifer is the only person on the planet to win and All-Ireland championship and an AFLW premiership in the same season,” Starcevich said.
“She is the third person to do the double, but the only person to do it in one year.”
Dunne joins Tadhg Kennelly and Sinead Goldrick as one of three players to achieve the awe-inspiring feat.
However, as Starcevich shrewdly observed, Dunne went one better to become the only person on the planet to win both in the same year.
ZoBlitz
The Ghost Who Walks
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Dunne: I'm competitive and wanted to work on my craft
Jen Dunne is back bigger and stronger this year and she puts it down to a desire to be better. Watch her chat with the media during the Finals Bye Week.
ZoBlitz
The Ghost Who Walks
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Dunne reaches 25 games
Irish recruit, Jennifer Dunne will play her 25th AFLW game when the Brisbane Lions run out on Saturday night in the 2024 NAB AFLW Grand Final.
Recruited from Dublin in 2023, Dunne made her AFLW debut in Round 3 last season against Sydney and has played every game available since.
Dunne made history last year becoming the first Irish player to win a Gaelic and AFLW premiership in the same calendar year.
“It has been a whirlwind since coming over to Australia but I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity and to play 25 games is amazing,” Dunne said.
“The Club has been great since I came over from Ireland and being able to be around this group who have helped me develop as a footballer is something I’m very grateful for.
“To be able to have the opportunity to play in another grand final this year with this group is something I definitely don’t take for granted and I’m very excited for Saturday night.”
Dunne has been one of the biggest improvers in season 2024, often taking the oppositions tallest forward.
Gaining a reputation as a ‘tough to play’ on defender, Dunne played one of her best games in a Lions guernsey against Hawthorn, in this season’s Qualifying Final, helping keep the Hawks to just one major after half-time.
ZoBlitz
The Ghost Who Walks
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Rising Star Award 2024 | Jennifer Dunne
Jennifer Dunne was awarded the Rising Star Award after a strong second season playing every game and often getting the role on key forwards.
