Niamh Rockett says that rare record is driving her towards ultimate honours with Waterford
Fifteen years ago she was told that she’d have to have her knees broken and realigned along with the grim projection that she would be wheelchair bound by 30, but she’s passed that landmark and is striving to become, it is believed, the first player
Niamh Rockett has already defied forecasts that she’d be in a wheelchair by 30 - and she’s spurred by a record that would give her a unique place in camogie history.
The long-serving Waterford star has endured numerous knee problems since her teens and was diagnosed with arthritis at just 16 and while there have been setbacks along the way - she suffered a 14-month lay-off following an injury in a League game against Meath in 2014 - she’s still going.
Fifteen years ago she was told that she’d have to have her knees broken and realigned along with the grim projection that she would be wheelchair bound by 30, but she’s passed that landmark and is striving to become, it is believed, the first player to complete the set of junior, intermediate and senior All-Ireland medals.
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She says: “I still remember going into Santry and the doctor, the surgeon, telling me that, you know, there’s only about three people in the world that have the exact same problem as you have with your knee.
“I can’t even compare it to (anything) or tell you what you should do, that it’s this, this and this and that is how someone gets back (playing), because of the nature of the injury. I suppose it makes you appreciate the time you’re playing that bit more.
“I suppose having faced all that and done all the stuff to get back, it does make you appreciate it a lot more, and you really dedicate yourself, because you only have a certain timespan that you can play at an elite level, at a high level.
“It makes you appreciate even more doing the little things, the nutrition, the recovery, to make you perform that bit better.”
By now, she’s pretty adept at managing her problems.
“I haven’t missed a training session this year whereas in previous years I would have missed ones here and there because my knee might have swelled up but now I’m just better able to manage it.”
Last year, having won junior and intermediate titles in 2011 and ‘15 respectively, Rockett got a shot at the senior title as Waterford reached the final for the first time 1945, though it ended in tears as Cork romped to a 20-point win.
With Rockett the only survivor from the junior win 13 years ago, she’s looking to complete the set as they play Antrim tomorrow, looking to put themselves in a position to reach the knockout stages.
“My dream would be to get the junior, intermediate and senior All-Ireland. I don’t know if any camogie player has it. I don’t think I’d be seen ever if (I did it). I think I’d be gone for a month.
“I think you’d have to send out a search party in Waterford for me if I got the three of those because I think that would be just the pinnacle of my career. It wouldn’t be any All Stars or Player of the Match awards, it would be getting three All-Ireland medals in three different grades.
“Given what happened (wheelchair prediction) before that, it would be great. There’s such a small margin between all the teams at the moment that it’s so hard to get there.
“We should have really performed better last year in the All-Ireland final given it’s so hard to get into that position. But hopefully we’ll have a chance to redeem ourselves this year.”
Reflecting on the experience in last year’s final, Rockett said: “That was a really, really bad day at the office and I suppose you wouldn’t be as naive to set up the way we did. The goals really killed us.
“Going into an All-Ireland final, the crowd behind us, maybe steadying the ship for the first few minutes. Don’t concede. Steady yourself down.
“Meeting the president, doing the parade, all that, mentally, even though it mightn’t look like it’d affect players but I suppose the whole occasion with the families at it, it being on telly, etc obviously did have an effect on us and, to be fair as well, Cork were just a different animal on the day.
“They just really had that hunger on the day and right up to the last minute, beating us by 20 points, it was like it was their last ball, every single ball and when you’re in an All-Ireland final, they were after getting beaten in the last two. They weren’t going to get beaten in a third one.”
Niamh Rockett was speaking at the launch of the O’Neill’s Continental Youth Championships, the largest youth Gaelic Games tournament outside of Ireland, hosting teams from USGAA, Canadian GAA and New York GAA, and which take place in Boston next month.
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