Along with her team-mate Rena Buckley, Briege Corkery is the most successful woman in the history of Gaelic games, winning her 10th football and sixth camogie senior All-Ireland medals with Cork last year.

On Sunday she begins yet another National League Football campaign with her county. Mayo will be the opponents in Mallow, but for the first time in over a decade it won’t be Eamonn Ryan at the helm, the manager having moved on to take up a role as a selector with Cork men’s footballers. Ephie Fitzgerald was appointed as his successor on Monday.

You’re just back from your honeymoon, so presumably all your thoughts haven’t been focused on the league?

Ha, no. I hadn’t gone back until this week. Wednesday was my first night training, so I’m not prepared for the weekend at all. I wouldn’t ever do that much over the winter anyway, but things were a bit hectic this time around so I did less. It’ll take a bit of time to get fully fit, we’ll just see how things work out. The weekend will be a good test.

After how busy you’ve been over the years with the football and camogie, did you have a think about things over the winter? Did you ever consider cutting back?

Well, I was always going to come back. I really enjoyed the last couple of years – I know there was huge pressure on us at times, but it was how the girls reacted. That’s what made it so enjoyable.

With work and everything I’m going to ease myself back into it. I don’t think I’ll go the full hog, I don’t think I’ll go training every night. At the start of last year I was wrecked tired really all the way through the league, so it wasn’t much good for me. So I’ll just ease myself back ’til March anyway, and take it from there.

And you’ll keep up both camogie and football?

I’ll start off with the two and see how things go. There was never a question of picking one. I’ll see how the year pans out and hope there are no fixture clashes.

Was Ryan’s departure a bolt from the blue or were you aware it might happen?

It was a bit of a shock for all of us really, but he had said to me that he’d love a chance to work with the boys for a year, so he got what he wanted and that’s great for him. We’re delighted for him, delighted that he’s happy with his decision, and we only wish him well.

We’re going to miss him an awful lot, but we couldn’t ask him for any more than he’s given us. There aren’t many managers who stay in a job as long as he did, and the success he brought us was fantastic.

So, it’s going to be strange for you all not having him in charge?

It will, it’s going to be a huge change. There’ll be new ideas now, a different approach, different training with Ephie, and it’s something we’ll have to get used to. When you saw the cones set out, you knew what was coming with Eamonn.

But life goes on, we have to move on, it’s time to look forward now. It’s a new challenge for Ephie and for us. I wouldn’t know Ephie at all; but saying that, I didn’t know Eamonn when I started out with him – and that worked out alright.

I’m really looking forward to working with him.

With a new manager, and possibly some retirements, what are the prospects of you retaining your league title?

It’s hard to know. There are a couple of girls making up their minds yet, and a lot of youth coming through – but a lot of them have been there a long time as well, maybe they just haven’t got game time, but they know what’s expected of them.

I think they’ll manage fine. There’s still a great core there for Ephie to work with, so we’ll see how things go.

On the personal front, you were chosen as one of four Ladies Gaelic Football Association ‘ambassadors’ to work with new sponsors Lidl in promoting the game – what will you be up to?

I’m not sure yet exactly what my role will be. I’ve done a couple of photo shoots, that kind of thing, to get it started, so I’m looking forward to helping out whatever way I can.

It’s a huge thing for ladies’ football, it’s an absolute credit to Helen O’Rourke [LFGA chief executive] and her team, they’re so good at promoting the game and this is such a major boost. It got people talking about the game, which was great. It’s such a big boost.

So, another big year ahead?

Hopefully. With the football especially, people always asked us how we stayed hungry. Well, I think it’s a great challenge for us now to have someone new, there’s something for us to prove without Eamonn.

He was always brilliant at motivating us, so we’re just going to have to try and find a different way of doing it. But we’re good at motivating each other too, and football is so competitive now that’s really all the motivation you need.