‘I'd rather just fade away into the background’ – Captain Collier

LAOIS camogie captain Clodagh Tynan is preparing for one of the biggest days of her inter-county career as she prepares to lead Laois into the Premier Junior All-Ireland Camogie final at Croke Park on Sunday next.

The St Brigid’s clubwoman has established herself as a central figure in the squad, but even she admits the captaincy came as a surprise.

“I was a bit surprised, to be honest, because I think anyone who knows my personality knows that this isn't something that suits me. I like to fade into the background of things, but when you come in and look at the group of girls that they could have chosen from, it's obviously an honour to represent the girls.

“I just hope I do them justice when I do get caught doing these things, but no, definitely it is something that I look back on and think of it as a great achievement as well. Definitely shocked, I can't say I was overly excited about the role, but we'll get there,” she said.

Despite her quiet nature, Tynan has embraced the responsibility that comes with being an inter-county captain and has found her own way of making the role work.

“When the lads came to me, they said that they knew it wasn't my kind of thing. I wouldn't exactly be a loud voice in the dressing room. Aimee (Collier) does a lot of the talking and a lot of the girls do feel comfortable doing it. I'd rather just get on with things and fade away into the background.

“If the lads come to me for anything, I'll go back to the girls and I'll get their opinions on things rather than every voice going to management. It's easy for the girls to feed through me to get messages back to the lads.

“Myself and Aimee went to talk to a group of the under-14s, 15s and 16s here as well, one night, little things like that. It's great to get little jobs like that because I suppose you don't realise the impact that we're making and to this group of girls that have come here tonight, so I suppose it is something you just get on with,” Tynan added.

Having played inter-county camogie for several years already, Tynan knows how difficult it can be to keep panels together year after year. She admits the high turnover of players can be frustrating, but she’s quick to empathise with those who have to step away.

“It is and it's of no fault to any of the girls that do step in and step out, but like you can't blame girls, life does get in the way as well. You can't blame girls when they're young to go off and do their bit of travelling and even just the likes of school and work and college and whatever. Things do come up that you just can't commit because it is a big commitment.

“It is hard then every year you have to get used to a new bunch of girls and new positions and just get used to playing with each other. It's nothing that we've really struggled with. We've actually been very lucky with the young girls coming in. It's not like they're any better or any worse than the girls that leaving, so it's great to be able to replace girls like that.

“We're lucky we have a good group of girls coming on and the likes of Laura (Finlay) and Sarah (Creagh). They've stepped away and they've come back so it's great to get the experience back. Yeah, you might lose it for one year, but then you have younger girls gaining their experience. Then, when the girls come back, you put it all together so you're just building everyone's experience and the younger girls are getting game time, sure it's only brilliant,” she explained.

Last year’s All-Ireland final defeat to Tipperary was Tynan’s first time playing in Croke Park, and she says the experience of the venue itself, not just the match, will stand to the team this time around.

“Having been there last year, it was a new experience. Everyone says it's just another field, but it's everything off the field that’s more off-putting. When you go there and when you drive in, there's a stranger on your bus to bring you to the dressing room and there's someone in your dressing room telling timings. That doesn't happen every other day, so it's things like that. We have huge experience gained from last year and the younger girls take everything in their stride.

“They've had to seriously step up this year at times and they didn't let anything faze them whatsoever, so I'm not at all worried about the younger girls. We just hope now that we can get the crowd out like the crowd that came out to support us the day we won the league. It was unbelievable, so we hope we get another good crowd up to Croker on the 10th of August and they'll be our 16th player driving us on, so fingers crossed now it all goes well,” she said.

As captain, she might have to address the crowd from the steps of the Hogan Stand should Laois triumph, and she admits she may need a little help drafting the speech.

“I’ll be looking for Chat GPT. I have thought about it, but I haven't actually put pen to paper, so I may get going. You don't want to count your chickens before they hatch, but it's something you have to prepare for; you can't wing that one,” she laughed.

Looking ahead to the challenge posed by Armagh, Tynan says the team are happy to trust the management with the tactical planning and keep their own heads focused on staying grounded.

“The northern teams are always a force when they come out. They're always quick and have a fast-running game. As players, you like to focus on your own game for the week leading up to it. You don’t want to be doing anything out of the ordinary, go to work, distract yourself as much as you can, but keep your food and everything right. Come to training and we'll let the lads worry about Armagh and what way they want us to go out.

“We'll just focus on ourselves and make sure we're as fit as we can be and up for the game for whatever way they decide to play, so we'll put our faith in them to do their studying and we'll relax for the time being,” she ended.