Big part of Laois's preparation has taken place off the pitch

LAOIS sharpshooter Aimee Collier is preparing for yet another massive day in her county colours as Laois return to Croke Park for a second All-Ireland final in 12 months. After coming agonisingly close last year, Collier says the pain of defeat has been a major motivating factor throughout the 2025 campaign.

Looking back on that narrow loss to Tipperary in last year’s Premier Junior decider, as well as two other one-point final defeats in 2024, Collier says the team knew something had to change.

“That's sport, like everyone has to lose at the end of the day and we were just unfortunate to lose out by that narrow margin. I’d nearly rather lose by a few points than just one point because you were nearly there and what could you have done to fix that?

“That's definitely a huge driving force behind us this year. I think that's driven us on the most, especially even losing in the other two finals by a point. We knew coming into this year that was our main focus, there's no more one point losses anymore like we have to drive on this year and we have to put things right and it's definitely showing on the field this year.

“We’re focusing on the third and fourth quarter to really drive on because we did go in up at half-time last year and in that third quarter, we took our foot off the gas. That's one thing we’ve tried to focus on this year, not to slip off,” she said.

A big part of Laois' preparation for 2025 has taken place off the pitch, as Collier detailed the team’s commitment to gym work and strength training earlier in the year. She believes it’s had a noticeable impact, especially for the younger members of the squad.

“The lads came in and we were just gyming at the start of the year, that's all we did at the start of the year, even for most of the league we just gymed. I think it's made a huge difference, especially for the younger girls coming into our panel.

“Whatever about us, we probably lost out on a bit of strength and conditioning over the years, but for the younger girls to start with that, it's great. It's definitely made a huge difference on the field. I do feel that bit stronger and better on the field anyway, so hopefully that'll be an extra percentage that'll drive us over the line,” she added.

With the final now just days away, Collier says the focus is on keeping things as simple and normal as possible. While excitement builds, she insists the team are trying to stay grounded and healthy.

“You just keep it as plain as you can. All the hard stuff is over now, so you're just trying to keep everyone injury-free. An injury could happen in training, so you're just trying to go hard, but go easy in training. Get the intensity up, but take it easy on ourselves as well.

“We don't want any injuries, but yeah just normal training session for the next two weeks and take it easy and take the stuff like this in our stride as well because obviously for the younger girls, they've never experienced that either, so just try and keep everyone in the game at the same time with all the background noise,” she ended.