Kilkenny camogie captain Katie Power says his her side will be fuelled by disappointment as they aim to reach a semi-final for the first time since their last All-Ireland title in 2022.
The Cats, third in the roll of honour, contested six finals in the 2010s and won the O'Duffy Cup in 2020 and '22 but have made quarter-final exits in the last two seasons, to Dublin last year and champions Cork before that.
"The semi-finals were in Nowlan Park as well, so for Kilkenny not to be in it was very disappointing," Power told RTÉ Sport at the launch of the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Camogie Championship.
"So the aim this year is to try get out of the group and get back to a semi-final.
"But we're in a very difficult group and there are probably four teams, realistically, that can come out with the three [qualifying] spots.
"Dublin beat us in the quarter-final last year. Waterford were in an All-Ireland two years ago. Galway were in the league final and have been in the last couple of All-Irelands. Derry as well.
"So we're under no illusions at all about what faces us."
The Cats made a 26-point winning start against Derry last weekend as group rivals Galway beat Dublin by six.
"We're playing Waterford and Dublin the next two weekends, so obviously they're two crunch games for us," said Power.
.@MartyMOfficial heard from some of the contending counties ahead of the opening weekend of the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship #Camogie pic.twitter.com/iE183Zy1db
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) May 26, 2025
All-Ireland champions Cork are going for three in a row and began their campaign with a 38-point demolition of Limerick last weekend.
With such success comes great pressure says the Rebels' new skipper Meabh Cahalane, who is following in her father Niall's footsteps as he captained the Cork football team in 1985.
"There's a target on our back any day that we'll go out," Cahalane told RTÉ Sport.
Cork will face Tipperary on 31 May in their second group game, which Cahalane admits will be a "battle", but all eyes are on getting back to the big venue in Dublin.
"We've one win under our belt now and Tipp going into this weekend, it's going to be a huge battle.
"That's just what we're focused on for this weekend to get out of our group is our goal at the moment and ultimately to try and get back to Croke Park."
The quarter-finals will take place in Croke Park, on Sunday, 6 July but should they make it, there will be a few changes from the team that last togged out there in last year's final.
"There's been a bit of a turnover. There's been a couple of players introduced and a couple of players have left the panel. But I suppose that adds freshness to the panel."
Net-minder and last season's captain Molly Lynch is among the higher profile players to step away, but Cahalane insists the younger plays are stepping up.
"No one feels that they're guaranteed their place at the moment.
"There's been a couple of girls who've gone from the panel. Molly Lynch and Haley Ryan, they were great players for us.
"We're just delighted that there's another few girls that have been introduced to the panel... So they really putting their hands up."
Some of the younger players introduced include Ava Fitzgerald and Millie Condon, who have been on the fringes of the panel, but are now ready to make major contributions says Cahalane.
"Ava Fitzgerald, even Millie Condon, she was on the panel the last couple years... It's great for those girls to be getting games under their belt.
"Hopefully they'll be, you know, featuring for us in the season to come."
