Episode 25: Inter-Stellar

But, I don't know, for me, I guess, as someone said to me before, the best way to learn is you're either sport is sport or your sport is men's and women's sport.

And to me, it's just sport is sport is sport, you know, and I'm probably...

I wouldn't say I've always been the ally to women's sports or anything like that.

I would have went through years where I wouldn't have watched a whole pile of different things.

Soccer, rugby, whatever it might be.

But I suppose when you get older and it's your own friends playing and it's all that as well.

I know it is corny and it can sound bad, but it is kind of what it takes sometimes.

It's like, oh jeez, I need to watch this.

And you're like, why don't I watch this? And I think that's how I came.

As you mentioned there, my thesis was tracking the evolution of women's sports coverage in Ireland over the last 15 years to give it its proper title.

And I think when you look back, then you do actually kind of realize, like, I've watched a lot of these things.

The only one I did miss at this point was the relay golds that time, which I think famously wasn't on rte because there was a urc match and i was at said urc match so that was probably the only one that i didn't see so it was it was a little bit of a okay i'm not not doing too badly here but you know when it comes to likes the integrals now i thoroughly enjoyed i had the press conference with once with mave o'gallery earlier on today and i've interviewed mave in the past and you really just do get a lot more personality don't you and that's what it boils down to as well because you You know, come the end of the men's rugby season, you're exhausted.

Come the start of the women's rugby season.

Yes, it's a lot shorter, but it's like, oh, I could literally ask them anything and I'll get a straight answer.

Maybe not a straight answer, but you know, you get an answer, a good one.

And I do think that's something that has kept me growing into it more and more as well, because the more these press conferences and one-to-ones that I do, and, you know, you'll know that I spoke to Cliona Maloney McDonald after the Scotland game, for example, it just feels more the way it should feel, the way sports should feel, you know, and I could go on about that for... two hours when it comes to rugby, but we won't because poor Keane only has a certain amount of time to edit this.

I really do think it boils down

to...

I really do think it just boils down to the connection.

And to me, sport is connection.

And as I said to someone the other day, I simply cannot watch any match as a neutral.

It's not in my DNA.

I think that's probably... a part of it as well.

You know, I've covered games where I was neutral and I let you decide whether I was or not.

Yeah, it's interesting that you talk about the personality within women's sport is something I've spoken about for years that, you know, a lot of male sports figures are within the sport for a long time.