Blood is thicker than water and any Cork player planning on messing with a Farrell sister on Sunday would want to consider the consequences.
Shelly, Meighan and captain Anna have been central to Ann Downey's side's drive for a second successive All-Ireland title and the Thomastown trio are not to be trifled with.
A trainee accountant with Cullinane O’Neill Duncan in Kilkenny city, Shelley was sitting exams until a fortnight ago. Unencumbered by such considerations is the ideal build-up to a September date in Croker.
Thanks to Thomastown’s county championship success, older sister Anna captains the side. Meighan is also an important member of the team while they were joined by another sibling Ciara during the club campaign.
Ciara won an All-Ireland Minor medal in 2012 – Shelly and Meighan have previously captained All-Ireland-winning squads at that level - while brother Jonjo is a county hurler who has experienced the ultimate glory too. So Camogie or hurling is always a hot topic at home, particularly as the girls still live on the farm.
It is part of folklore now how they have been delayed for training in the past due to their father’s insistence that loose cattle be corralled before they depart. Meg has more of an interest than the rest of the girls though and being around home all summer, was put to good use.
"Myself and Anna are just there to stand in gaps" laughs Shelly. They have been playing together so long it’s second nature. In an interview prior to the commencement of the Championship, Anna said that "If you see somebody pulling on one of your sisters it's like a red flag in front of a bull, you absolutely lose it altogether."
Shelly chuckles when reminded of the quote. "It’s great to have each other on the field… We’re so used to playing with each other at the club, if I’m getting a ball in the corner you’d know they’d be running off the shoulder. It’s great to have but we’d always have each other’s backs. We can say what we want to each other but if anyone else said it there’d be war!"
She admits that the chance to give Anna the honour of leading them up the Hogan Stand steps is an added motivation. "That would drive you on even more. We’d be so happy. She gives so much time to it, the dedication she has. She has tough hours at work so she has to do a lot to even get to training. Myself and Meg are so proud of her being captain. I think she drives the team on so much, she’s a great leader. You’d have motivation from everyone, it wouldn’t just be because she is captain but that would drive you on as well."
Farrell’s low centre of gravity and speed are the stuff of nightmares for corner-backs. She admits that her first thought is to head for goal when in her normal station. She produces on the big days too, as evidenced in last year’s All-Ireland. Making the net bulge is her primary mission but she is clever about it too.
"It’s unbelievable! Especially last year, it was great. But it’s our jobs. You have to be able to do that if you’re in the full-forward line but it’s the workrate of the girls that get the ball into you is the main thing. You just have to finish it really but the girls do the hard work and they don’t get praised as much as they should for it.
"You have to know exactly where the goal is but you have to change it up a bit or your opponent knows what you’re doing. You can’t make it predictable so you have to look around. In our team, the work rate is unbelievable so there’s always someone running off your shoulder. There’s always someone there."
That acknowledgement of the suppliers is evidence of a solid team ethic. So too is the satisfaction of seeing the likes of Danielle Morrissey, cousin Jenny Reddy and Jenny Clifford having a greater impact in the Semi-Final against Dublin, when she herself struggled to escape the shackles of the girls in blue.
"I think it would be the downfall of a team if there were egos. You have to sacrifice your game sometimes for the sake of the team. I think we’re brilliant at that. It’s great for Danielle, her first year in and she’s flying at the minute. She has everyone encouraging her.
"We had to change it up a lot against Dublin. We had to use our heads more. It was frustrating to play inside but you’ll have that and you just have to let the other players get into it a lot more."
She expects Cork to examine them even more. "Both teams are gonna be so hard working and Cork are gonna have such a drive from last year but we’re just focussing on ourselves, hoping that we all perform on the day. Girls that we have to come on are pushing each other so hard. That’s the main thing.
"We have to look at Cork but it’s the enjoyment we’re having at training, we just focus on ourselves mainly. We’ll have to see what happens on the day and we’ll have to be able to adapt... The first five minutes will be different to the last five minutes so we have to be able to use our heads out on the field. The management have put down so much great training for us so it’s up to us on the day to do it."
"Girls had to step up to the plate," says Shelly Farrell, who has been a major contributor as goal scorer and creator during the summer, just as she was last year.
"They were kind of thrown into the deep end for the League and there was no difference between the League and Championship. That’s the great thing about our panel; we’re pushing each other on. There’s the same intensity from everyone and that’s what’s driving it on so much."
She recalls her own early days in the panel, coming out of Under-16. "You’d need a few years to settle in yourself. It’s great to have the leaders come up to you when you come into your first training session, people like Jacqui Frisby and she’s still there now. She always comes up to the new girls and introduces herself. She’s great. All the girls are. You have to be. You’d be so nervous going into your first training and it’s great to have everyone being so positive. It was brilliant."
Now she is one of the leaders. "It’s tough when you’re 25 to be one of the older ones!" she grins. It is clear that being involved in three losing finals since 2009 is a factor in this squad’s continuing quest for success.
"It took us so long to win a Senior All-Ireland. Everyone was saying we’d be there or thereabouts for years because of all the underage success but it’s a big step-up and completely different."
Kilkenny are now chasing a fourth consecutive national title. They still want more. "At the start of the year we sit down and set our goals. I think our management team help us achieve that, the strength and conditioning we do with Liam Egan and all the hurling coaches we have in – Paddy Mullally, Conor Phelan, Mark Cooney – and then sure Ann Downey. Sure she’s brilliant. She motivates you so much. I think everyone just gives it their all at training."
It is that simple? "No-one wants to let the management team down. I think as a team we’re all so close and the win last year brought us together more and now we don’t want to let each other down."
