‘To stay up was probably one of our first goals, but these girls had different ideas’

LAOIS camogie managers Pat Collier and Robert Jones will lead the county back to Croke Park for a third successive year as they bid to add an Intermediate All-Ireland title to the Premier Junior crown they won in 2025.

Speaking after Sunday morning’s training session in Borris-in-Ossory, Collier explained that preparations had been kept light because of the hard ground and revealed Laois are monitoring a number of injury concerns ahead of Sunday’s final.

“All good, a few injuries there that are starting to clear up. Hopefully they'll be cleared up in time. Just working on a light session this morning. The ground is very hard so we have to be careful. Those three girls, hopefully they'll be okay. We really won’t know until Friday. There's a couple of them on the fence now at the minute. We’ll give them every chance. We need everybody, a big task,” Collier said.

The management team has spent the past three weeks reviewing the semi-final victory over Kerry, with particular attention paid to Laois’s sluggish opening.

“We analysed the video and looked at a few places where we fell down, especially our start. We've worked hard over the last three weeks now on that. We need to get that in order in Croke Park or we’ll be in trouble,” Collier explained.

Having studied Antrim closely, Collier knows the challenge that awaits but insists Laois must focus just as much on their own performance.

“The pace of Antrim, the pace of their game. The pace of their puck outs. I know the referee the last game let them puck out every ball fast. We just knuckle down on the things we think. We have to concentrate on ourselves as well. We have two ways of playing so we have to decide which one we’ll start with,” he said.

Despite conceding early goals in both halves against Kerry, Collier was pleased with how his side responded and believes replicating that second half display would give Laois every chance against Antrim on Sunday.

“Our start was poor. I didn't mind the second half, I didn't really consider that a bad start. I thought it was a fantastic goal. When I looked at it again, I wouldn't blame them. I thought Laois were outstanding in the second half. Brilliant performance and if they bring that to the final, we have a chance,” he added.

Pat Collier believes Laois's growing experience of playing in Croke Park could prove invaluable on Sunday. Alongside the Camross contingent, several St Brigid's players also gained big-match experience during their club run in 2024.

“Antrim were in the All-Ireland final in 2021; they won the intermediate All-Ireland, so they went up senior. I think they have about seven of that panel there away. For us, it's the third year in a row in Croke Park; four or five Camross girls were there as well. Clodagh Tynan, Laura Finlay, Sarah Creagh, those girls were in an All-Ireland semi-final the year before with their club as well.

“So Robert and I, we're not worried about experience or anything; we have the experience. We just need to get our act together on the day and get our match-ups right, and we'll give this a hell of a go,” Collier said.

Sarah Creagh is chasing a third All-Ireland title, having first won one with Laois 11 years ago, and Collier reserved special praise for the experienced defender.

“It's brilliant. Sarah Creagh, she might have missed a year or two up and down with injury or whatever, but a great stalwart of our team. She was unlucky this year, a bad injury during the year, only starting to get back to herself. For the last game or two now, I think Sarah's starting to really come good again.

“She was fantastic in last year's All-Ireland final, unlucky not to get an All-Star, I thought. I was hoping she would. She's a great girl, but these are some bunch. People talk about managers, and I don't buy into any of that rubbish. I think anyone could train this team. You've got to have the stuff and you've got to have the talent, and we have that,” he added.

The Laois management also had to cope without this year's minor players, but Collier believes the younger members already in the squad have made a major contribution.

“We're blessed, but for Laois this year, we got a kick in the teeth in January because we weren't allowed our minors this year. We have eight or nine adult clubs. All these other counties, Antrim, have 22. We have two or three minors that would be well in the hunt on that team. The younger girls that you've asked from last year, they've been brilliant, like Catherine Kirby, Amy Lacey and Lucy Conroy. Lucy was only with us for a few months last year. These girls, of course, they've driven it on. We've huge experience. We just need a little bit of luck on the day,” Collier concluded.

Both managers feel the pressure rests firmly with Antrim. Their original objective this season was simply to establish themselves at Intermediate level, but the players have exceeded every expectation.

Pat added simply: “The pressure's on Antrim.” “I suppose at the start of the year, myself and Pat said, look, just to compete at this level and stay up was probably one of our first goals, but I said it before, these girls had different ideas. They knew themselves that they were well good enough, and they were the ones that drove it on. To see that from us looking in, it's massive,” Jones concluded.