Mourneabbey's Laura Fitzgerald desperate for more glory
There's a reason the All-Ireland club championships are often romanticised as the jewels in the GAA calendar.
Perhaps it’s a case of, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.
Or perhaps it’s because of stories like Knockmore taking the kingpins Carnacon out of the running after a 21-year winning streak in Mayo ladies football.
There's also the novel prospect of the All-Ireland Intermediate hurling title resting in either Kerry or Kildare, neither a traditional hurling stronghold.
And then of course there's the excitement of the looming All-Ireland senior ladies football final between Mourneabbey and Kilkerrin-Clonberne, a repeat of the 2019 decider.
The 2020 calendar was without an All-Ireland ladies football championship and for Laura Fitzgerald of Cork’s Mourneabbey, the desire to potentially clinch a third title in a row this weekend has been burning for a while.
"I think there's just a relentless amount of hunger," she said ahead of the 2021 currentaccount.ie All-Ireland Ladies football club decider.
"Every year we just want to better what we did the year previous. I think it's a testament to the underage teams and the work that goes in, not just with the senior team. There's younger girls coming in and pushing for places and that gives us senior players motivated to hold our own and keep our positions.
"When new players come onto the panel you want to give them the experience that we've had for the past couple of years winning counties and going on to win Munster and then competing in the All-Ireland stages.
"I don't know how we get it or where we get it, but there's just an unbelievable amount of hunger that's constantly there."
"Our main focus for every game is ourselves. We try to control what we can."
Fitzger