All-Ireland Camogie glory for Laois and Clodagh Tynan’s Hogan Stand speech: coming soon?

After coming so close to glory in 2024, the Laois Camogie team are back on the biggest stage once again, this time determined to go one step further.

As Laois prepare to face Armagh in the 2025 Premier Junior All-Ireland Final at Croke Park on Sunday, August 10, Laois captain Clodagh Tynan is quietly preparing for one of the biggest moments of her inter-county career.

The St Brigid’s defender is widely recognised for her consistency and leadership on the field, but even she admits that being handed the captaincy this year came as something of a shock.

“I was a bit surprised, to be honest, because I think anyone who knows my personality knows that this isn't something that suits me. I like to fade into the background of things, but when you come in and look at the group of girls that they could have chosen from, it's obviously an honour to represent the girls. I just hope I do them justice when I do get caught doing these things, but no, definitely it is something that I look back on and think of it as a great achievement as well. Definitely shocked, I can't say I was overly excited about the role, but we'll get there,” she said.

While Tynan might not be the loudest voice in the room, she’s found a way to lead that suits her personality and complements the strengths of others in the squad.

“When the lads kind of came to me, they said that they knew it wasn't my kind of thing. I wouldn't exactly be a loud voice in the dressing room. Aimee (Collier) does a lot of the talking and a lot of the girls do feel comfortable doing it. I'd rather just get on with things and fade away into the background. If the lads come to me for anything, I'll go back to the girls and I'll get their opinions on things rather than every voice going to management. It's easy for the girls to feed through me to get messages back to the lads.

“Myself and Aimee went to talk to a group of the under-14s,15s and 16s here as well, one night, little things like that. It's great to get little jobs like that because I suppose you don't realise the impact that we're making and to this group of girls that have come here tonight, so I suppose it is something you just get on with,” Tynan added.

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Having spent several years involved in the inter-county set-up, Tynan knows how challenging it is to keep a panel together. Player turnover is a reality of the modern game, and while she finds it frustrating, she also understands the reasons.

“It is and it's of no fault to any of the girls that do step in and step out, but like you can't blame girls, life does get in the way as well. You can't blame girls when they're young to go off and do their bit of travelling and even just the likes of school and work and college and whatever. Things do come up that you just can't commit because it is a big commitment. It is hard then every year you have to get used to a new bunch of girls and new positions and just get used to playing with each other. It's nothing that we've really struggled with.

“We've actually been very lucky with the young girls coming in. It's not like they're any better or any worse than the girls that leaving, so it's great to be able to replace girls like that. We're lucky we have a good group of girls coming on and the likes of Laura (Finlay) and (Sarah) Creagh. They've stepped away and they've come back so it's great to get the experience back. Yeah, you might lose it for one year, but then you have younger girls gaining their experience. Then, when the girls come back, you put it all together so you're just building everyone's experience and the younger girls are getting game time, sure it's only brilliant,” she explained.

Last year's final in Croke Park marked a first playing experience at HQ for Tynan, and she says the unique surroundings of Jones’ Road have prepared the team better this time around.

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“Having been there last year, it was a new experience. Everyone says it's just another field, but it's everything off the field that’s more off-putting. When you go there and when you drive in, there's a stranger on your bus to bring you to the dressing room and there's someone in your dressing room telling timings. That doesn't happen every other day, so it's things like that.

“We have huge experience gained from last year and the younger girls take everything in their stride. They've had to seriously step up this year at times and they didn't let anything faze them whatsoever, so I'm not at all worried about the younger girls. We just hope now that we can get the crowd out like the crowd that came out to support us the day we won the league. It was unbelievable, so we hope we get another good crowd up to Croker on the 10th of August and they'll be our 16th player driving us on, so fingers crossed now it all goes well,” she said.

As captain, Tynan may have to deliver a speech on the steps of the Hogan Stand, a moment she’s already thought about, if only in passing.

“I’ll be looking for Chat GPT. I have thought about it, but I haven't actually put pen to paper, so I may get going. You don't want to count your chickens before they hatch, but it's something you have to prepare for; you can't wing that one,” she laughed.

Before that dream can become a reality, Laois will have to overcome a talented Armagh outfit, no easy task. Tynan is confident the players are in the right headspace and that the tactical side of things is in safe hands.

“The northern teams are always a force when they come out. They're always quick and have a fast-running game. As players, you like to focus on your own game for the week leading up to it. You don’t want to be doing anything out of the ordinary, go to work, distract yourself as much as you can, but keep your food and everything right. Come to training and we'll let the lads worry about Armagh and what way they want us to go out. We'll just focus on ourselves and make sure we're as fit as we can be and up for the game for whatever way they decide to play, so we'll put our faith in them to do their studying and we'll relax for the time being,” she ended.

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