By Niall Gartland

THE Tyrone ladies are hoping to continue on their upwards trajectory after an immensely rewarding 2025 season culminated in an All-Ireland Intermediate final triumph against Laois at Croke Park on the third of August.

Errigal Ciaran clubman Darren McCann is back for a second season in charge, and their campaign begins in earnest with a Division Two clash away to Monaghan early on Sunday afternoon.

That game has been pencilled in for 2pm at the Blackhill Emerald’s club, and despite the lack of a pre-season competition in the ladies game, the Tyrone manager is confident that his players have put in the hard yards behind the scenes and are now ready for competitive action.

“It was great to get the girls back out training again – with club football, camogie and weddings and different things, we gave the girls an extended break before getting the whole squad back together in the last couple of weeks.

“We had a night to celebrate last year’s success a week or two ago, and now that’s it parked and we’re looking at the future and hoping to continue an upwards trajectory with the Tyrone ladies.

“The girls are hungry and want to play at the top level and stay there. To be fair they’ve come back in great shape, they’ve worked hard in pre-season before coming back in as a squad, so we’re happy with where everybody is at heading into the league.”

A package of 12 rules changes will be trialled during the ladies’ leagues, six of which mirror the GAA Football Review Committee’s rule enhancements in the men’s game.

Those six adopted changes are the kick-out mark, the two-point scoring arc, the requirement to keep three players in the opposition half at all times, the solo and go, and frees being brought forward for tactical fouling or dissent from the sideline. Short restarts within the 40-metre arc will still be allowed, however. The six other rule changes look specifically at current LGFA rules, including those related to the tackle – a player will now be allowed to use her body to fairly contest possession of the ball, provided the challenge does not involve excessive force.

The Tyrone boss believes it will be a positive addition to the game, while recognising that it might take some time for players and officials to completely come to terms with the raft of changes.

“The ladies game was already exciting, but you could see over the last couple of years, it was starting to follow a similar trend to the men’s games in terms of blanket defences.

“We’ve played a few challenge games under the new rules, and the game is a lot faster and more open. It’s more player-to-player than before.

“Like the men’s game, it’ll take a while to get used to, and you could find that the opening games of the league are relatively high scoring. The girls are looking forward to them, particularly the changes to the tackle.”

One of the stars of last year’s All-Ireland winning run, Aoife Horisk, has signed for AFLW club Melbourne Football Club. McCann is happy to report that the ace forward will be available over the next few months.

“Aoife will be about for the league and hopefully the Ulster Championship. Joining the AFLW is an amazing achievement for her. I’d Aoife playing on my minor team when was 14, I know the work she’s put in. She’s a quality player and she’s chomping at the bit to get going in the league as she loves playing football.”

The Red Hands will field in both the Ulster and All-Ireland Senior Championships later in the season, but for now their task is making it out of Division Two. McCann believes that it’s a potential minefield given the calibre at opposition.

“We start off with Monaghan, a big Ulster derby so that’ll be interesting. The last time Tyrone met Monaghan was in the Ulster Championship a couple of years ago, and Monaghan won that one so it’s a big challenge.

“You’ve the likes of Cavan who have serious youth – they won Ulster and Division Three at a canter last year. Mayo have come down and have a raft of players back, and Tipperary have a new manager in David Power, who led their men’s team to the Munster title in 2020. It’s going to be a formidable task to get out of Division Two but it’s a challenge the girls are going to embrace.”