Retirement may not have been as plain sailing as Hannah Tyrell had hoped, but the most difficult part of her recovery is over.
Ending on top as she won another All-Ireland title with Dublin last August, Tyrell’s GAA career came to an end with an ACL injury against Meath in last year’s final.
In her playing days, Tyrell played GAA, rugby, and soccer, so sitting still and relaxing is not something that she is used to.
Although rehab has had its ups and downs, Tyrell is looking forward to what the future holds.
“It is a slightly different path of retirement than I would have thought with a bit of rehab, but it is nice being on the other side.
“The rehab has been up and down, the lack of mobility can be very difficult on the knee. It can be quite hard mentally because you are not able to get anywhere and do much.
“For me, the hardest part of rehab was five or six months down the line, when I was slightly behind my projected timeline, it was getting to some nice weather and people were back out on the pitch.
“It is very hard to be on that other side when you have done so much rehab, but there is so much to go.”
At this stage last season, Tyrell was the hero for Dublin, as her last-minute free sent their semi-final against Galway to extra-time, with the girls in blue coming out on top in extra-time.
On Saturday, they will need to defeat Kerry without her heroics.
Recovering from injury alongside her former teammates, Tyrell has never been on her own during her recovery, and is going through all the emotions fans do.
“I am really enjoying it. I am doing all my rehab with the Dubs,” she said, adding that she brings her daughter to almost every training session and game.
“It is nice to be a fan on the other side, it can be quite tough not being able to influence the game as you may previously were.
“I missed the quarter-final I was away on holiday. I watched it on my laptop, it was pretty tough when things aren’t going your way, but I came out happy in the end.”
Saturday’s semi-final against Kerry will be the first time the sides will have met in the championship since the 2023 All-Ireland final, where Dublin were the winners.
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They have won the next two All-Irelands between them since then, in what should be a thrilling game with Galway or Armagh awaiting the winners.
Two teams that have no problems scoring, Tyrell is expecting an exciting clash.
“I think it will be a really open, free-flowing game with the calibre of players from both teams. The inside forwards from both teams can do some serious damage.
“I think some pretty tough defending on both ends, but pretty free-flowing open game, quite tense, quite tight, it will be a tough one to call.”
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