Dublin footballer Jennifer Dunne says she's unlikely to follow in the footsteps of some of her inter-county team-mates and play AFL in Australia in the short-term, particularly if it damages her prospects back home.
Dubs stars Sinead Goldrick, Lauren Magee and Niamh McEvoy made the long journey this winter to play with Melbourne FC, following in the footsteps of the likes of Sarah Rowe, Aisling McCarthy and RTÉ Columnist Ailish Considine.
The Girls in Blue have dominated the inter-county game of late and will be aiming for a five-in-a-row of All-Ireland titles later this year.
Midfielder Dunne is currently in third year of her primary school teacher training degree at St Pat's DCU, and just this week she went on placement in St Joseph's National School in Dun Laoghaire.
As the Cuala clubwoman points out, "it's only up the road" from her native Dalkey, and for now her mind is on Gaelic football and becoming a a teacher.
"At the moment I'm not thinking about it," she says after being named as one of 100 players to receive a Gaelic Players Association scholarship for third-level education.
"I'm still in college and I have another year or so (to go). I'd like to think that I'll try to find a job by then.
"It obviously is a good opportunity and I don't know if I would turn it down. Dublin - and Gaelic games - would be my main love so I wouldn't go over if it affected my season with Dublin.
"So I would have to think about it but at the moment I'm not and I'm enjoying GAA.
"I'm looking over at the girls and it's great to see them. There's so many Irish over there now - it's great for the sport that there are so many being exposed to that outlet.
"Who knows, but at the moment I'm focusing on college and Dublin."
Were a winter in Australia to eventually happen, it wouldn't be a surprise.
Dunne started out with Cuala aged five but, although she kept in with the club through out primary and secondary school, her teenage years were spent playing basketball and hockey at Loreto, Dalkey.
Rather than it being a negative thing, the two-time All-Ireland winner says it was to her advantage.
"I kept my club scene going the whole way up, but when I went to school I didn't have that outlet.
"I loved basketball in school and I think there are similarities between the two, so I enjoyed that. I still play camogie with Cuala as well, so last year I was able to play the full season. But Gaelic (football) would be my main love.
"Not having it in school, some people might think it might have a negative impact on you when you're in the loop. A lot of my friends went to Coláiste Íosagáin which is a school rooted in GAA.
"But I enjoyed having an outlet of no football at the same time in school. Then when I did play football it was with Cuala, and then when I went onto the minor team I had Dublin as well.
"So in a way maybe it worked for me that there wasn't an overload of GAA in my life."
Dunne's 2020 was successful, by any standard.
It started with a Dublin intermediate title after a nail-biting one-point win over Castleknock in August, before she played a central role in the Blues' All-Ireland run, which culminated in a victory over Cork just before Christmas.
She was rewarded with a place on the an All-Star team, alongside clubmate Martha Byrne.
As in most other sectors of life in Ireland however, Covid-19 has impacted the start of the new sporting season.
Dunne takes up the point: "I haven't been up to much really, just a few home workouts.
"I'm just doing a bit of running here and there myself. Everyone is just waiting. Hopefully in the next few weeks we will hear some clarity.
"It's back to square one, as we were this time last year. Everyone is kind of used to it so we're just going about it the way we did last time.
"It's nice to have a bit of downtime because we went right up to Christmas. I'm now eager to get back and I want to get back with the collective.
"Fingers crossed over the next few weeks there will be some sort of return to play."
