Tipperary star Cliona O'Dwyer enjoyed well-deserved success at the start of the year as her and fellow teammates kicked the 2023 league off with a thrilling victory over Westmeath. Vital injury points came from O'Dwyer and teammate Aisling Moloney, helping Tipp to triumph. Cliona has an impressive number of wins under her belt, with her club County final intermediate winners 2009, Intermediate Munster winners 2009 and Intermediate All-Ireland winners 2009 with her club Brian Borus. This week, we headed to Tipperary to go ClubSpotting with Cliona O'Dwyer.
1. Describe your first memory of your local GAA club?
Growing my local club didn’t have a girls underage team so I lucky enough to play with the Killenaule boys GAA team, my first memory is winning the football county south final under 12 with them, playing wing back and all of them treating me like one of their own.
2. Who were your sporting idols growing up?
Growing up I had lots of sporting idols that played sports at a high level, both my older sisters played inter-county football for Tipp and my uncle Niall Quinn representing Ireland in soccer, I really looked up to them and it gave me feel for what was needed to play sports at a hight level.
3. What has been the proudest moment of your playing career so far?
My proudest moment to date is winning a intermediate club all Ireland with Brian Borus and playing alongside my sister and having my father involved in the management.
4. Who is the toughest opponent you have faced?
The toughest opponent I have ever faced was Meath the last few years, their work rate on and off the ball and vision for passing the ball is really incredible.
5. Who is the best opponent you have faced?
The best player I have ever played with is Lucy Spillane, she is one of the best and stickiest defenders in the country and when you are breaking out of defence with a ball she is always off the shoulder for a pass.
6. What are your hopes and ambitions for the new season?
This year with Tipp, we have a very young team and are in a transition and growth phase and we really want to be competitive this year in the senior championship where we can compete with the top teams like Kerry and Dublin.
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