Four weeks it took Nicole Owens to build up the muscle around her cruciate.
35 sessions, four weeks of hell just to try and make it back for an All-Ireland semi-final and put an operation on ice.
Three minutes of game time was all she was afforded for that work but, by that stage, she had inspired her team mates.
She took the field with the Dublin ladies against Cork and they were all the better for it. They went and finished the job for her but, in the final, although Owens was done for the season, she was very much with them.
It was her conversations with the team in training and on All-Ireland final day that helped propel them to victory over Galway and, on Monday's episode of PlayXPlay, both Owens and Niamh McEvoy spoke about her impact on the squad.
Ciara Mageean and host Jenny Murphy are also in studio and you can
listen here or watch the show below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BINbQ50ANN4
