All-Ireland camogie final: Galway player-by-player guide
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The 2019 and 2021 All-Star goalkeeper missed last year’s campaign as she was travelling. Didn’t immediately resume her No.1 role upon rejoining the camp. Had to show patience before dislodging Fiona Ryan come championship. Cork are averaging almost three goals a game. Healy will be busy.
One of the form players on the Galway club scene of recent years, but those exploits have been at midfield. And it was at midfield she operated during her debut inter-county season in 2022. Moved to half-back last year and moved further back this campaign. Matches up for pace with Amy O’Connor. But given Higgins is the more experienced corner-back, Orlaith Cahalane will likely be her brief.
Has seamlessly taken over the No.3 shirt from seven-time All-Star full-back Sarah Dervan. The commanding figure of the Galway rearguard. Hers was a necessary return to fitness and form after the injury that cut short her League final involvement.
Brings so much aggression to the table. Hers is the uncompromising, in-your-face approach Galway will need to table as a collective. The Amy O’Connor job always belonged to Shauna Healy. Galway’s 2023 captain is not part of the 2024 set-up and so Higgins will attempt to curtail the forward who has hit five goals this summer.
On the go in maroon since 2011. Sat out last two years to give birth. Having featured off the bench in the 2019 and 21 final wins, she could easily have stepped away. No more than fellow returning mammy, Niamh Kilkenny, her longevity and commitment is to be commended. Needs an improved showing on semi-final.
Sat in the pocket against Waterford and such is the threat posed by Cork’s inside line, the temptation might be to have her reprise that sweeper role. Was stationed out around midfield against Tipp but did not exert notable influence.
Along with Rabbitte and McPeake, Hickey is a graduate of the 2022 All-Ireland intermediate winning side. Was Galway minor captain the same year. Being the spare defender against Tipp didn’t suit her. Attempting to limit the influence and point-scoring of Saoirse McCarthy will be among the most important of Sunday’s jobs.
Some uncertainty surrounded her involvement earlier this year. Being handed the Beth Carton brief in the quarter-final shows the esteem management hold her in. For strength, physicality, and hurling ability, Hanniffy appears best placed of Galway's middle-third contingent to line up against Ashling Thompson.
Massively doubtful that Galway would be involved in the decider were it not for her return a few months after starting a family. Against Tipp, the 35-year-old, from left half-forward, struck two points and assisted 1-1. Does management return her to midfield or try and get her to put Hannah Looney on the back rather than front foot?
A playmaker. A troublemaker for the opposition defence. At the core of both is Donohue’s ceaseless energy. Started semi-final at corner-forward. To keep the 2021 player of the year in there is a risk. If the Cork half-back line continues their dominant summer, she could end up starved and redundant. Put her on Laura Hayes’ toes?
So proficient in breaking a line and popping a pass to a colleague coming off the shoulder, but the same as Galway’s championship on the whole, McPeake does this only in fits and bursts. Cannot afford to drift tomorrow. Would be a surprise if she lined up at centre-forward beside Cork totem Laura Treacy.
A minor two years ago, the daughter of Joe Rabbitte is among the two youngest in the Galway line-up. Doesn’t lack for strength. Operated at midfield against Tipp, as she did against Cork in the group phase when Galway were comfortably bested around the middle. Must prioritise disruption and frustrating her opposite number.
Has evolved her role and what she offers. The team’s dead-ball specialist has become one of the team’s leaders. Has become so strong at securing primary possession. If Galway go with a two-woman inside line, the niece of Galway legend Therese Maher will be part of an overloaded half-forward line.
The transfer that transformed Galway’s championship ambitions. The Down native made her debut in maroon when coming off the bench in the League final. Hit three points in the final quarter that afternoon. Has added 3-14 in the championship. Won three converted frees in the semi-final, emphasising the threat she brings.
The big-day performer in the Galway attack. Provided the goal in the 2013 final win, provided two goals in the 2019 final win, then assisted for the winning goal in the 2021 final win, right after assuming free-taking duties and sending over a difficult effort from the Hogan Stand sideline. Galway must keep finding her.
Orlaith McGrath and Niamh Niland are very strong attacking options to be able to roll off the bench. Niland has hit 1-11 in the championship, while McGrath, a starter for the 2021 final win, was central to Galway’s levelling score at the end of the semi-final. Ally Hesnan is their middle-third replacement, but Galway are notably shy of cover at the back. That could prove costly.
There was chatter earlier this year that maybe Cathal Murray had stayed a year too long in the role. Having come on board midway through the 2018 campaign, Murray brought the county to three All-Ireland finals on the spin, winning two of those. Would anyone else bar him have been able to coax back Ann Marie Starr and one of the game’s all-time greats, Niamh Kilkenny, for 2024? Doubtful.