It has already been a whirlwind experience for Ailish Considine in her blossoming career in the Women’s AFL, but you have to go to a whole other level to describe how the last few weeks have panned out for the Kilmihil woman.
With the outbreak of Covid-19 bringing an abrupt and premature end to the 2020 season for Considine and the rest of her Adelaide Crows teammates, it meant that she was left with a decision to make as to what her next step would be. That was until the rapidly evolving nature of the global pandemic suddenly kicked into top gear and left her in a frantic scramble to make it home before border closures would effectively leave her stranded.
That journey home is one that she will not forget for some time to come, with a combination of the evolving Covid-19 crisis and Murphy’s Law combining to ensure it was a memorable one for all the wrong reasons.
“Even though it had hit in Australia and there were restrictions in place, it is just on a whole other level here with the restrictions and the 2km limit for exercise. I had to quarantine for 14 days after landing due to international travel, so it was a big shock to the system. There was also some adjusting to coming from a busy place like Adelaide to moving back to West Clare where all you can see out the window are the green fields. It has just been a crazy month at this stage since it all kicked off” she reflected.
As the virus spread across the globe the severity of its impact began to quickly become apparent. Considine feels Australian authorities used the experience of other countries to get their measures in place.
“I think they had the benefit of it hitting Australia later than it had elsewhere so they were able to see the damage it had done, and what other places were doing to try and slow it down. They were able to tackle it pretty early and they seemed to have it under control it places like Western and Southern Australia. It was a bit more prevalent in the likes of Sydney and Melbourne but they have much greater populations. The distances between states and the fact that the population is relatively spread out in the context of the size of the country has been something of an advantage. There were some restrictions in place but it was a little more lenient” she said.
All that would change almost overnight, with border closures suddenly leaving travel plans for those looking to leave the country in serious jeopardy. Ailish outlined the level of chaos that ensured as she searched for that flight home.
“It proved to be quite a hard journey to get here. Eventually the borders out there were shut and that made things harder for me to get out, even though it was classed as essential travel. My original flight was via Abu Dhabi and on that day, the flight was cancelled because they shut their borders so that was flight number one gone. I remember getting a call on the Monday before my next flight, which was due to leave the following Saturday. I had gone on a road trip because I knew it would be my last week there. It was in one of the most remote places of Southern Australia and I had no phone reception. When we eventually found a pocket of coverage, I had about 20 missed calls from people at the club telling me that the flight had been cancelled because the borders had been shut. My only other option at that point was a flight on business class for $10,000 because that was all that was left. By the time I had got back to them, they told me that was gone too so at that stage, there was not a single flight out of Australia” she recalled.
With options now seemingly running out, Adelaide Crows football manager Phil Harper is credited by Ailish for continuing to search for flights with another eventually being sourced. It should have been the final thread of the tale, but Murphy’s Law was about to strike once more.
“The plan was to fly to from Adelaide to Sydney, Sydney to Jakarta, Jakarta to Amsterdam and finally on to Dublin. It was a worrying trip because all these places close to the stopovers were beginning to close their borders so that was a concern. When I checked my bags in at Adelaide, the news broke that six Quantas bag handlers had been diagnosed with Covid-19, so all flights that night were cancelled which meant that I could not make my connecting flight in Sydney so that was another one gone” she said.
A flight eventually materialised which would see her go through a six hour stop-over in Melbourne before a nine hour wait in Doha for the connecting flight home to Dublin. There was company on the plane home too, as she met up with fellow Irish exports Cora Staunton and Yvonne Bonner who were also heading for home.
The story was not finished though, as her isolation began the moment she hit home soil.
“It was just such a rollercoaster of emotions. My sister Eimear and brother Keith drove two cars to Dublin to collect me and threw me the keys to drive home and said off you go. There were no hugs or anything like that, just a quick welcome home. There was a three hour drive home then and I had absolutely no idea what day it was because they all just rolled into each other with the chaos. I had told Eimear to have a can of Monster in the car for me because I knew I could not stop anywhere on the way down and I had to try to stay awake. I think when I got home, my mother had a good night’s sleep for the first time in a while because she was majorly stressed about it too” she laughed.
Since her return to Kilmihil, Ailish has been in self-isolation with that period set to end this Thursday. That experience is something that she feels has been a strange one, including coffee dates with her sister through the window, and solitary runs around her 2km radius.
“It has been a big adjustment to come home but not be really able to enjoy the things that I love about home which are your family and friends. Not being able to fully embrace my family has probably been the hardest part of it really, and you can’t go to see your friends either so it has been really strange but at the same time it is a relief to have reached home. I haven’t seen my family since September because I didn’t come home for Christmas. It was hard not to give them a hug when I saw them because your family and friends are the big draw when you have been away from home. It is a bit surreal but I know there is no fear of me. The person I have to worry about is my mother. Without giving away her real age, because she would kill me, she is not as young as she used to be. It is not me I am looking out for by being isolated, it is the likes of her” she noted.
On the sporting front, it was a disappointing campaign for the Crows as they set out in defence of their title which Considine was a part of winning during her maiden season 12 months ago. Injuries to key players, including captain Chelsea Randall who spent some time in West Clare last year, meant that a consistent challenge was never really mounted. The outbreak of Covid-19 brought an end to the campaign without any conclusion to the season; something which Ailish feels is a shame.
“It was crazy really and it is unfortunate that there is no winner this year. This is really exceptional circumstances though and it can’t be played at any other time. No one knows how long this crisis will go on so there is no point in trying to set a date for getting in back underway. I think a lot teams will just have to cut their losses for this year because I don’t think anything will get played. It really has been a much different year and only recently I was looking back on the memories from 12 months ago with the Grand Final and all that went with it. I felt I was a little bit more ready for what was coming this year but I still have a lot more to learn in terms of the game. I did notice that I was a bit more used to kicking the ball and the flight of it but with so many of our big experienced players out through injury, it did almost feel like the first year all over again” she stated.
A third season in Australia is something that Ailish is aiming towards, while a potential campaign here at home with the Clare and Kilmihil ladies is not ruled either in or out for the moment. With so much uncertainty surrounding all aspects of life and sport, she says it is simply a waiting game to see how things play out over the coming months.
“The contract negotiations are due to start in May but with no income at the moment they can’t really go offering anything yet. The hope is to go back for next season if it goes ahead on schedule” she concluded.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.