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 on the panel was made easier by Declan Quill and Darragh Long sticking by them.
How they got the most out of the players in training and their positive energy was key to success, particularly after overcoming defeat.
“It was a tough enough winter. We didn’t know if the management team were going to come back, or if we were going to come back ourselves.
“Thankfully we did, and we promised ourselves we would go one more and hopefully take that final step.
“If the management believes, it feeds into the group. If they come into training positive like they always did, and they had so much energy and passion, that always feeds into the group.
“We owe everything to them. We are so grateful for everything they have done for us. As people and as players, they treated us as people first and then as players and it went hand in hand really. “
Originally, the plan was for the management team to stay one more year to win an All-Ireland. Now that goal has been achieved, their future remains uncertain.
For Ní Mhuircheartaigh, she respects whatever decision they come to, and says they owe Kerry nothing.
“They owe us absolutely nothing. They have helped us fulfil our dream, and I am so happy to fulfil it with them. They have brought us on so much as people and as players.
“They are heroes in our eyes, and friends for life I think.”
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
