Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh says Kerry management owe them nothing

After over 30 years of hurt, the Kerry ladies finally got their hands on an All-Ireland title when they defeated Galway on August 4th.

For Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh, it was a long wait filled with heartbreak and coming up just short in Croke Park, having been on the Kerry panel since 2009.

Arguably one of the best forwards the game has seen, Ní Mhuircheartaigh feared her time with Kerry could have ended without the trophy she deserves.

However, in 2019, the management duo of Declan Quill and Darragh Long joined, and the Corca Dhuibhne noticed a change in their approach.

"In 2019 we lost the quarter-final to Dublin, we stuck with them for maybe 40 minutes of that game, they just steam rolled past us for the last 20 minutes.

“Normally you'd be down in the dumps after losing a quarter-final or a semi-final, whatever it was at the time. That year there was something different.

“We knew we were going to come back, the majority of us, anyway because of the lads. We knew there was something special in them.”

In the years that followed, Kerry came closer, with final defeats to Meath and Dublin in 2022 and 2023.

Despite further disappointment, the relationship the management team had the players gave them confidence they could capture the Brendan Martim cup.

"The last few years are probably more difficult then ever, but knowing we had such a great management team and such a good group of players, in one way it was easier to come back.

"Last year it was really, really hard to take that Dublin defeat, we thought we did everything right, but they were just far superior to us on the day, but I think we learnt an awful lot about ourselves as well.

While players such as Louise contemplated their future with Kerry, the decision to stay