A month after turning 30, and just two games from reaching 100 caps, Katie McCabe distils her dressing-room mantra down to this: "Leave the green shirt in a better way than you inherit it."
It's eight years on from Liberty Hall, when Ireland players took a stand for the women's game in this country by calling out the FAI's inadequate support structure.
Things have improved, but the battle never ends.
In August former boss Eileen Gleeson filed a case in the Circuit Court accusing the FAI of treating her and her team unfairly because of their gender, alleging that the women's team were not afforded the same travel, security, medical and performance support arrangements as the men. The FAI intends to mount "a strong legal defence" against any allegations of discrimination.
Earlier this week, current head coach Carla Ward admitted "outside noise" around the association had made it harder for her to focus on the football.
Now Republic of Ireland captain McCabe has spoken about the importance of striving for better standards - on and off the pitch.
"We don't shy away from speaking to the FAI if things need to be better."
"There are always conversations to be had (about) where we can improve," she said ahead of tonight's Nations League promotion/relegation play-off first leg against Belgium at Aviva Stadium.
"What are we doing well? What can we do better? And I think those conversations will be had again when they need to be with the FAI. We don't shy away from speaking to the FAI if things need to be better.
"I'll obviously have those conversations with Carla from a captain to head coach point of view as well. I don't think they're always necessarily a negative, although it might seem like that on the outside noise point. But, for us, we want to flip that and make sure people are talking about the football, making sure people know we have a game (tonight), making sure people are turning up to it.
"Ultimately, it's on us to make sure we're performing and wanting people to come see us play and get behind the team."
McCabe is still buzzing off Arsenal's Champions League triumph last May - "one of the best days of my career" - but admits last year's Euros play-off final defeat to Wales at Lansdowne Road left a painful wound.
Ireland are back in the stadium tonight for the first time since that gut-wrenching failure. It cost Gleeson her job, and triggered a wave of retirements: Diane Caldwell, Julie-Ann Russell, Niamh Fahey and Louise Quinn have all since departed.
"The Wales game last year knocked me to be honest with you, it really hurt," she said.
"For now, going through that process at the start of the year, getting back to where we are now, I've never been more hungry to achieve great things with this team. Of course, the World Cup's up next and I want to get there again. I still want to get to my first Euros as well.
"Hopefully, I'll be around for a few more years.
"It's one of the most important things to leave the green shirt in a better way than you inherit it and that's something I continue to do along with the senior members of the team."
Beating a strong Belgium side over two legs would see Ireland return to League A of the Nations League and boost their chances of qualifying for the 2027 World Cup in terms of seeding and having a guaranteed place in the play-offs.
It's a tall order, but an opportunity for the Girls in Green to prove they've recovered from that Welsh wipeout, and are equipped to return to a major tournament.
"By no means is this going to be an easy game, so we have to be going in… as much as we're at home first but we have to be going in with our feet on the ground and really understanding what these games are about," McCabe added.
"Looking back at the Wales double-header play-off last year, maybe we took a more cautious approach in that first leg, which didn't really benefit us.
"I don't know whether that was mentality, it was how we were feeling. There's lots of variables and of course the team is very different to what it was last year now.
"As Carla's mentioned, for us it's all about Friday night and making sure we turn up and give Belgium a good go."
Watch Republic of Ireland v Belgium in the UEFA Women's Nations League play-offs tis evening from 6.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to live radio commentary on an extended Game On with 2fm.
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