“I’m very much on the fence…we’ll see when the time comes”

By Declan Rooney

Galway captain Tracey Leonard admits she would be torn between representing her home county or playing WAFL if a concrete offer came through in the future.

Leonard (27) will skipper Galway in Sunday’s Lidl National Football League final against Cork and she says she has had been previously been asked to make the move to the Southern Hemisphere, but the chance to lead the westerners in the future is a huge draw for her. Last season Irish footballers Cora Staunton, Sarah Rowe, Yvonne Bonner, Ailish Considine and Ailsing McCarthy all played Australian Rules Football and Mayo sisters Niamh and Grace Kelly are believed to be on their way next year. Last year Galway lost to eventual TG4 All-Ireland champions Dublin in the semi-final, and on Sunday they’ll hope to win their first Lidl Division 1 title when they face Cork, and for now all of her focus is on Ladies Football, Leonard says.

“I don’t know if I would go (to Australia), I’m very much on the fence. I’m a big home bird. On one hand you think it would be a great opportunity but on the other hand you don’t know. Time will tell I suppose,” said Leonard. “Yeah there has been talks and there is a camp going on at the end of May but I think my focus is elsewhere at the minute. We’ll see when the time comes. “I think it’s definitely a great break away for girls, time away from everything, whether it will be your career or student life. I’d say it’s a great chance to get to go out to a hot climate to play a different sport, I think that’s very good.”