By Paul Keane

A few hours after Vikki Wall and Meath won a TG4 All-Ireland ladies football title for the ages, the team bus rolled into the Knightsbrook Hotel outside Trim.

Covid protocols meant they were only heading there for a meal with their families, instead of a homecoming party, but a couple of thousand supporters still turned up to welcome the players home, lining the route in.

"It was absolutely outrageous," smiled Wall, the PwC GPA Player of the Month for ladies football in September. "We were driving through a few of the villages coming back and there were bonfires and everyone was out on the side of the roads, outside their houses with flags.

"Even the morning of the game when we left Knightsbrook, there were so many young kids there. We were sitting on the bus for about 30 minutes waiting. They waited to wave us off. The support was just unbelievable.

"Arriving back to Knightsbrook then afterwards was just outrageous. We were getting off the bus and there were so many people there.

"With Covid, we just had our parents and the team at a banquet for the evening. Just getting off the bus and being able to see some of the girls from my club who were there, familiar faces, it was just unbelievable. It's definitely something that we'll remember for a long time."

Who knows, maybe the victory celebrations will become familiar for Meath and Wall who are very much part of the game's elite now.

Wall was intermediate Player of the Year in 2020 so the individual awards are racking up but she insists that with this Meath team, it really is all about the collective.

"Getting this award is nice but what we all wanted was the All-Ireland," said the Dunboyne star. "You have the likes of Aoibhín Cleary who on the day I think was my Man of the Match by a mile. She was just unbelievable. She just drove out of defence all day long.

"Then you have Niamh O'Sullivan - that shot at the end was from such a tight angle. You have Mary Kate (Lynch) and she's only come into the team over the last few years. She put her hand up, got a starting position, and was just unbelievable for the team.

"Then you look at the likes of Megan Thynne, Niamh Gallogly and Shelly Melia who have been coming on and helping us in the last 10 to 15 minutes.

"It's not the nicest of roles, to be coming and knowing you have to make an impact - it's a high pressure situation. They've just taken it in their stride.

"I could even mention the players who didn't get on the pitch this year, the likes of Sarah Powderly, who tore her cruciate, never got the operation, is working away in the background, and is back training this year.

"There are just so many people that didn't get to show how good they are because of how strong the competition is. It definitely was a team this year. We had 37 girls, and every one of them could have been on the pitch."

Wall pleased supporters by confirming she will definitely be on the pitch in 2022, despite likely interest from the AFLW game in Australia.

"It's something I wouldn't rule out in the future but at the moment I'm happy, I'm going back to do my Masters in DCU, starting this week," said Wall regarding a potential AFLW switch. "I'll be here for this year and committing to Meath this year and really hoping to do well again next year."

Asked about any dealings with AFLW clubs or representatives, Wall nodded.

"Ah yeah, I've had a few conversations over the last year or so but it's still up in the air," she said.

It's anticipated that around a dozen Irish players will compete in the 14-team 2021/2022 AFLW season. By 2023, it's expected that all 18 AFL clubs will have a women's team, increasing the likelihood of top LGFA players like Wall being signed up.

Dublin had three players - Sinead Goldrick, Lauren Magee and Niamh McEvoy - who played in Australia last season though Goldrick suffered a serious hamstring while on AFLW duty which limited her involvement with Dublin during the Championship.

Meath didn't have any players in Australia and Wall agreed that it may have helped them.

"Yeah, I think you can look at it in that way," she said. "I think for us as well, people might have had the thought of going travelling or doing J1s this year but obviously that wasn't a possibility.

"So for us, county has really been our club this year. Last weekend was the first match I've played with my club since last October.

"I think that definitely helped us that we got to fully commit to county. We weren't going to and from the club. I'd definitely be in favour of a split season.

"I think it really helps you to be able to focus on one thing at a time. I know it probably didn't help Dunboyne, my own club, the fact that we had five on the Meath team, they probably didn't have us for the league so that probably didn't help them but, on the other side of it, it really did help the county this year with the fact that we got to fully commit to it."