Katie Quirke GPA Player of the month.. - 2024-07-24 17:26:00
Katie Quirke: 'We just knew after the league finished that we'd serious changes to make'
Quirke's individual form has been important, helping her to win June's PwC GPA Women's Player of the Month for football.
SERIOUS CHANGES: PwC GPA Player of the Month for June in ladies' football, Katie Quirke of Cork, with her award at PwC's offices in Dublin. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
The story of Dublin's All-Ireland ladies football title success in 2023 was of triumph after initial adversity. It is shaping up as something similar for Cork in 2024.
"I think looking on after the league, if we were told we'd be in this position we would have grabbed it with two hands," said Katie Quirke, referencing Cork's impressive run to the Championship's last four having previously been relegated from Division 1.
"Just to be where we are now, it's great. We have an exciting two weeks ahead of us and hopefully we'll be able to carry on for another two after that."
Last weekend's big win over Waterford has catapulted the beaten Munster finalists through to an All-Ireland semi-final against Galway in Tullamore on Saturday week (5.15pm). Armagh will play Kerry at the same ground immediately afterwards (7.30pm).
It's too early in the development of this Cork team to fancy their chances - many of the players have never won a semi-final - but they do have vital momentum on their side.
Quirke's individual form - she excelled against both Laois and Galway in the All-Ireland group stage - has been important too, helping her to win June's PwC GPA Women's Player of the Month for football.
"I think we just knew after the league finished that we'd serious changes to make," said Quirke. "And in fairness, we bought in well before Christmas and coming into the league. I think we're just coming around to it now, that the work we put in at that time of the year is starting to pay off."
Quirke had her own individual adversity to overcome early in the year, a troublesome knee injury.
"It's grand now, thank God," she reported.
Onwards and upwards then and it will help the Cork mindset going into their game against Galway that Cork won 1-12 to 1-10 when they met in the group.
But they will still be trying to smash through a glass ceiling of sorts as it was almost an entirely different Cork group that last won a semi-final, back in 2020.
"It's almost a completely different team," said Quirke, a sub four years ago. "The younger girls haven't got that experience of winning a semi-final at all. So it's all new for a lot of players."
