Aoife Dillane has made Kerry's number seven jersey her own during this year's football championship, and she is now set for a starting role in the biggest game of the year.
An injury to Cáit Lynch opened the door for Dillane to get her chance.
After seeing zero action in Kerry's 2022 and 2023 finals, the 22-year-old Mary Immaculate College student is determined to make the most of her chance against Galway in the All-Ireland decider on Sunday.
"Coming to training this evening was a bit different because I’m saying to myself, 'okay, there are girls now eyeing up this jersey and I would like to keep it'," Dillane said.
"I’m under no illusion that it could be snapped right back off you with the competitiveness inside here. I’m coming to training with something to lose rather than being on the flip side of that where I was scrapping for it last year, or earlier on this year even."
It could have been so different for the Austin Stacks footballer, who only saw sporadic action in the league and a mere minute in the Munster final.
She knew she needed to sort things out, and a call to Kerry's joint-manager Darragh Long made all the difference.
Dillane said: "I had a big long chat with myself, and then I got in contact with Claire Thornton, our psychologist, who has been great, and then I eventually took the leap and got on to Darragh.
"I didn’t need him to tell me that I wasn’t training well. I wasn’t performing well or pushing as hard as I used to be.
"I don’t think I’ll ever forget (the chat). It was our first training session back after the National League final and I think something just clicked.
"He’s always been very honest with me, I suppose him being a Stacks man as well, and he was like: 'If you don’t pull your head out of your arse, you’re nowhere near this team this year.'"
Long’s stern advice proved effective and Dillane went to work on making an impression.
She did, and she is now in prime position to march behind the Artane Band next Sunday, confident that she can do a job against Galway.
"I’m more confident to take on the ball. I’ll carry the ball at the defence. Before I would have stopped up and tried to give it off to the next person but now, I’m happy to take it on," she said.
Dillane is expecting to come up against a lot of quick Galway runners, but she is hopeful of getting over the line.
She continued: "Galway are a running team. They’re going to want to run at us from deep, but I think that we came up against that with Armagh as well, and we did well to hold them out.
"There are a few bits that we’ll pick out that can be improved on. Areas that we can tighten up in the backs and stuff like that so that we’re not letting those runners in.
"Galway have great forwards - even on their bench I see Aoife O’Rourke who I’ve played a lot of college football against.
"She came on and score that goal against Dublin. I’d often mark her, she goes to UL and she’s a really skilful, fast forward, so to see her on the bench is interesting.
"Hopefully we can use our bit of experience and also unleash a little of the hurt from the last two years to get us over the line on Sunday."
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