GER Manley knows Sunday’s Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior camogie final could be decided by the smallest of details. That’s why the Cork manager and his management team have planned the biggest day of the season down to the last minute.

Starting with the 4.15pm throw-in time at Croke Park, they have worked back, determined to make the most of the time they have.

Notes have already been compared to the build-up to last year’s decider, also against Galway, and tweaks made.‘We sat down already and asked, “Where can we get better? Where can we do better?” in terms of our preparation,’ Manley explains.

‘You have very little time to warm up on the day of the match. They’re probably on the field 45 minutes beforehand, but you only have seven or eight minutes of a warm-up between the parade and meeting the president.

‘There are lots of things you have to fine-tune. We have to look at how we work ourselves, what time we get into the dressing room, because the day goes so fast. It’s over before you know it.’

Manley knows there is very little separating reigning champions Galway and a Cork team determined to reclaim the O’Duffy Cup. That’s why the little details matter so much.

When Cork and Galway meet, it’s the finest of margins. In the 2024 final, Cork won 1-16 to 0-16. Last year, the Tribeswomen emerged one-point victors, 1-14 to 1-13.

That’s why Cork’s manner of victory in Tuam in June was so significant – the Rebels won 0-18 to 1-8 in the opening round of the All-Ireland group series.

It’s a result that sparked the Rebels into life after underwhelming league and Munster campaigns. That win in Tuam was a turning point.

‘It was the first time we beat them up in Galway in, I think, 10 or 11 years. That was a huge performance for us,’ Manley says.

‘I think we might be more battle-hardened this year. We’ve probably had closer matches, and the standard has increased – fitness-wise, strength-wise, hurling skill-wise.’

That performance away to Galway was just what the group needed. They’ve won every game since, the team building in strength and momentum, with younger players and returning experienced stalwarts joining forces.

‘I suppose we were in a bit of a lull coming out of the Munster championship. I’m not saying we didn’t care, but we probably put more preparation into the championship this year,’ Manley explains.

‘We said to the girls there would probably be a lot of pain between the league and when we hit the championship. I think the run got a bit better, and you could see it.

I don’t know if it was the long summer evenings, but you could see the atmosphere changing. The players were putting more in, and we were getting players back who had been injured. The experienced players were coming back.’

The success of the Cork U23 team winning the All-Ireland title is important too.

‘A lot of the younger players were maturing too, getting more experience. The U23s definitely helped us, where the girls were playing championship matches,’ Manley says.

‘They were training with us, the majority of the team, with the U23s, but they were getting that match experience which you can’t give them. There are very few games in camogie – you have the league, four or five games – but championship is different.

You need them to get experience of playing in high-pressure games, and they got that with the U23s in the semi-final and final.’