Dublin's Jessica Tobin is relishing the opportunity to shine at senior level despite never previously representing the county at underage grades.
Since her introduction to inter-county football at the age of 26, Tobin has been making up for lost time, even allowing for an injury that wiped out last season, and has found her path to the starting team via the development squad.
"But in the last few years Dublin have set up in a way that they have a development team, so they had a few trainings there before Christmas at the end of the 2021 season and I was asked along to that and from there on to the panel."
Tobin isn’t the only player to find her way through the development panel as several current and former panel members also got their inter-county start in a similar manner - including her Cuala team-mate Sinead Wylde, who accompanied Tobin to the development sessions after previously focusing on camogie.
She described the move as a "jump in terms of volume of training and intensity of things", but she quickly found her feet as she became a regular in the starting 15, including the 2022 Leinster final in Croke Park.
However, Dublin failed to progress past the All-Ireland quarter-final stage as they fell short against Donegal.
An ACL tear derailed her 2023 season however she remained around the squad and rehabilitated her injury. She commends the commitment and work ethic of the squad and management team as Dublin beat title favourites Kerry to win the All-Ireland.
"The league was pretty rough, and I suppose there was a lot of learning was done there. Then come championship things started to fall into place for us," she said.
"There was obviously a huge turnover in players, and a lot of young players coming in. For some of them it was obviously their first time playing for Dublin as well but I think the older players took on a huge role in terms of coaching and bringing those players on.
"In the later stages of the All-Ireland series there was a sense of cohesion there and their level of conditioning as well hugely stood to them, so thankfully it came good in particular the last few matches and on All-Ireland final day, they were fantastic.
"We're hoping to continue on the same trend this season and give any new girls that have come in, that same experience."
Dublin play rivals Meath in a dead-rubber Leinster clash this weekend before facing the same opposition as part of a double-header Leinster final on 12 May.
The returns of six-time All-Star Sinead Goldrick and four-time All-Ireland winner Nicole Owens have bolstered the reigning All-Ireland champions and Tobin sees the Leinster Championship as a chance to integrate players into the panel.
"It’s great, it’s another opportunity for players to get minutes, and it’s a really competitive squad as well. We've seen a few girls come back who would have huge experience, and then there's obviously the young girls as well who are pushing for spots as well so, it's a great opportunity for everyone to put their hand up.
"Playing Meath this weekend and then the following weekend. It's not ideal, but they're a great side and it will be competitive, so we'll definitely get learnings out of both matches. That's what we're looking for at this stage as well before we head into the all-Ireland stages."
Tobin is excited at the opportunity to play in a double-header in front of Dublin supporters
She said: "The first time I played there was a league game versus Cork. There weren't huge crowds or anything like that, but even the stadium itself, like the sheer size of it, it's an experience.
"It can be quite intimidating so it's a great opportunity for players to have that first experience or for others to just soak it in and to relish that and the double header.
"I think it’s a special day for friends and family as well to get a spin out in Croke Park. Hopefully we'll get a few supporters coming to both, it's just a special day for everyone."
Dublin manager Mick Bohan has previously called for rule changes, which Tobin agrees would help raise the standard of the ladies game.
"The game has progressed, we're all a lot faster, more physical, much stronger and just bigger in size so, naturally more physicality is going to come with that," she said.
"I think there's times where you're pulling out of tackles for fear of having that contact and that's when you can actually injure someone so it would be great if there was some progress in that area.
"I think again, it would just drive the standards and make things more competitive."
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