Latest news with #RachelGraham
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Rachel Graham: Ireland's vulnerability to opposition counter-attacks is 'worrying'
The Republic of Ireland's vulnerability to being picked off on the break is an area that needs to be addressed as quickly as possible, according to former international Rachel Graham. The Girls in Green will round off their UEFA Women's Nations League group campaign against Slovenia this evening at Páirc Uí Chaoimh (live on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player) - the same side that thrashed Carla Ward's team 4-0 earlier in the pool phase - and with only a victory by four clear goals or more being enough to finish top and claim automatic promotion to League A. Ireland go into the game off the back of a 2-1 victory over Turkey but the overall performance on Friday left as many questions as answers with the Irish team starting slowly before needing a late rally to turn defeat into victory in Istanbul. Speaking on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast, Shelbourne midfielder Graham felt Ireland's display highlighted areas of concern against a Turkish side ranked well below the Girls in Green. "Obviously the most important thing was the win and that's what they got so that's the main takeaway from the game but I feel it's kind of the same narrative after every time we win a game where we've got the win but it hasn't been the most convincing or most comfortable win," she said. "And I get these so-called weaker teams have gotten better in the last few years. But we've also got better the last few years and we have players playing at a good level, so I don't think we can keep saying that as an excuse because we are improving too. "Look, I don't think it was all doom and gloom. I think there were some passages of play where we were good and moved the ball really well. But it's always just in passages, it's never for the full 90 minutes or duration of the game, where we let sloppiness creep in and we give the ball away cheaply or we make the wrong decision in the final third. "Even the goals that we got were two pieces of luck. It's an own goal for the first one and then if the centre-half doesn't slip, we don't get the second." But it's the defensive aspect that is more concerning from Graham's point of view with a propensity for Ireland to leak chances particularly when the ball is turned over in attacking areas. "We are conceding a lot of chances to these so-called weaker nations which is a bit worrying," she said. "I think the biggest takeaway, if we don't beat Slovenia by four goals and do go into that play-off, it's how vulnerable we look when we are attacking. "You could see we were trying to win the ball high up the pitch and when it doesn't work out, it's a long ball and we do get caught out with it. "Even our back-line it's not the quickest, so if a ball gets in behind and we're high up, it's a real struggle for us to get back and you saw that in the Turkey game. That's where their goal comes from and when we played Slovenia the last time that seemed to be a problem as well. "Overall it's a win (over Turkey), it's a good win to come back from 1-0 down but I don't know if it's papering over cracks, but there's definitely issues that we need to get right, if not for Slovenia, then for the play-off."
Reuters
5 days ago
- General
- Reuters
Trans women find safe space in London soccer club after UK ruling
Goal Diggers FC was founded in 2015 with the aim of making soccer more accessible to all women and non-binary people. But the UK's landmark ruling on what it means to be a woman has left the club in turmoil. Rachel Graham has more.
Reuters
5 days ago
- General
- Reuters
Migrant children who died meters from shore buried in Canary Islands
Funerals were held on Friday afternoon (May 30) for migrants, including children, who died when their boat capsized near La Restinga port on the island of El Hierro, Canary Islands. The capsizing occurred on Wednesday just meters from the shore, cutting short the hopes of those seeking a better life in Europe. Rachel Graham reports.
Otago Daily Times
16-05-2025
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
'Stressful, burnt out' Christchurch health workers meet to share their struggles and horror stories
By Rachel Graham of RNZ Spinal patients having to wait for specialist care, psychiatrists struggling to keep up with the workload and student nurses eyeing up Australia before they are even fully trained - these were just some of the stories shared at a meeting about the health system in Christchurch. The meeting was organised by the Nurses Organisation, as a chance for people to come together and talk about the pressures they are facing. After 18 years working as a district nurse, union delegate Maree Vincent said she has never seen conditions so bad. "Stressful, burnt out nurses, huge patient loads, pay inequities, no pay parity, and funding not being dropped down to the primary health to keep going." She said one of the joys of her role was getting to know her patients, but that was harder when workers were increasingly short on time. Trainee nurse and the national student representative for ARA polytech, Dawn Blyth said student nurses were also feeling the stressed, with many struggling with the high cost of living while doing unpaid clinical placements and no certainty of a job at the end of their training. "Even last year in our first year, a lot of students in our cohort were talking then - I'm going to go to Australia, because the pay is better and there are more jobs over there," said Blyth. Carin Conaghan is a psychiatrist at Christchurch's Hillmorton Hospital and a delegate with the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. She said her sector, too, was under more pressure than ever. "Our staff are having increased workloads," Conaghan said, "in terms of the number of people they are managing. The people that we are seeing are coming in more unwell. And that is impacting on staff's well being." She said more psychiatrists were leaving the public sector each year than joining it. Conaghan said in the past, people accepted that the pay in New Zealand was less than in countries such as Australia or the UK, but the working conditions were the draw card. But that was no longer the case. She said psychiatrists were getting paid up to 60% less in New Zealand than in Australia. Andrew Hall, national programme manager of the New Zealand Spinal Trust, said the problems within the health sector for people with spinal injuries could feel overwhelming. "Waitlist to get into the spinal service, two spinal unit(s) in New Zealand both of which have long waitlists," Hall said. "New acutes are waiting in the acute hospitals to come across to the units because of a lack of space. And some innovative things having to be done to manage people in private hospitals, for people who would normally be in care in the spinal units." Health administrator and PSA delegate Nancy McShane said she and others fought for 13 years to get pay equity for administration and clerical workers, which was settled in 2022. In 2023 McShane received a Queen's Service Medal for Services to Women and Equal Pay for that work. She said the recent changes to the pay equity system will have a terrible impact on the health system. "I think about the care workers in particular. This really angers me. They had a claim before us. They opened the door to all the other pay equity claims, and now they have had the rug pulled out from under their feet," McShane said. She said rest home care was already in crisis, and the changes to the Equal Pay Amendment Act will only make the situation worse.
RTÉ News
13-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Football boots issues 'definitely something I've struggled with' - Rachel Graham on a persistent problem impacting female players
The ongoing fallout from the issue around the wearing of skorts in camogie has resonated far beyond that particular sporting code. Indeed, Republic of Ireland women's football manager Carla Ward had her say on the matter on Monday when she said that "it's absolutely mental to be even having these conversations in 2025" and that it appeared symptomatic of "an old mentality towards women". While the skort issue does not impact soccer directly, other issues around sportswear do continue to affect female footballers disproportionately and one of those is in the area of footwear. Two years ago, European Clubs Association found that more than 80% of female players surveyed endured regular discomfort due to the football boots they were wearing and that is in light of most boots traditionally being designed with male players in mind. Speaking on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast this week, Shelbourne midfielder and former Republic of Ireland international Rachel Graham highlighted how she and many of her peers have always struggled with that very issue. "Definitely growing up, it was never a thing where you would see women's boots and (I) probably just never really thought of it," said the 35-year-old, who provided the pinpoint assist for Shels' winner in their Women's Premier Division victory over Galway United on Saturday. Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. "But I always kind of struggled to find boots that are narrow enough for my feet. And because a lot of the boots are made for men's feet, (they) just have naturally wider feet than us. "And there have been times I've had boots and you're trying to play and you're running and your feet are kind of moving around when in the boot and it's just so uncomfortable." However, the issue goes beyond comfort and into the potential impact not-fit-for-purpose boots can have in terms of causing serious injuries to female players, Graham added. "It's not even the comfort of it, it's (for example if) someone comes in and pushes you into the side or like we see all these ACL injuries, if your foot is not stable in your boot, you might twist your knee the wrong way," she said. "So I know they do have boots in the women's sections on websites, but I don't know if they're definitely specifically designed for women. "I don't know if it's just they're kind of different colours and stuff like that, but it's definitely an area that I know my team-mates struggle with as well. "Often players have to buy insoles to kind of get their feet to be more snug within a boot. "But it's definitely something I've struggled with and I know they've kind of said that recently where it's possibly down to the reasons we see all these ACL injuries a lot. "For a long time they just said it was our hips and the weight that goes to our knees. But I think there kind of maybe has to be a bit more to it than that. "And even if that is the case, can we help it somehow and I think if you can get a boot that fits perfectly and it's made for a smaller, narrower women's foot, it'd be a lot more comfortable to play in and you might see a reduction in these ACL injuries. "We only spoke to Jess Ziu two weeks ago, who's coming back from her second ACL injury and she's one of our most high potential players and we're without her now for nearly two years. So it's a killer."
