With four years feeling like a famine, Thompson is desperate to taste glory again

After four titles in five years up to 2018, a mere Olympic Games cycle without silverware has the Rebels ravenous to reclaim their throne

That winning feeling: Cork's Ashling Thompson celebrates after the 2018 All-Ireland final win over Kilkenny at Croke Park - the last time that the Rebels secured the title. Picture: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane

When she calls it a 'drought' you check to see if Ashling Thompson is about to break into a smile but no, nothing. She truly means it.

It's only four years since Cork last won the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland camogie title, a mere Olympic Games cycle.

Yet for Thompson, four times a winner in the five seasons between 2014 and 2018, it feels like a famine.

"Yeah, it is, because it's something we're not used to," she said. "When you go, what's it been now, 2018 since we won a final, it's a drought in Cork camogie. It mightn't be for other counties but it's a drought for us.

"Do you know what though, you learn a lot from losing. I know you want to be winning but at the end of the day, you only learn from your losses I think so look, it's been a big help for us in ways, it's been a big motivator."

With seven All-Ireland senior medals in all - four with Cork and three with Milford - in the space of just five years between 2013 and 2018, her craving to return to the podium is perhaps a little more understandable.

It's partly why the combative midfielder moved heaven and earth to overturn a two-match ban which would have ruled her out of last month's semi-final win over Waterford and tomorrow's decider.

Then again, there may not have been any final had she not been introduced to such a positive effect against the Deise. That is putting the cart before the horse though in terms of explaining just how the 2015 All-Ireland winning captain managed to get clear of the ban.

At 6am on the morning of the Waterford game, she hit the road for Dublin and a 10.30am hearing at the Croke Park Hotel.

The hearing went her way and, just hours later, Thompson took her place on the bench across the road at Croke Park, too 'unsettled' to actually start, according to manager Matthew Twomey, but available to come on and turn the game back in Cork's favour with a lionhearted personal display following a poor start by the team.

"We had spoken about whether or not to start me for the game and I think we had kind of agreed that it would be better off to see how things went and if they needed me to bring me on," she said.

"That was the plan because I wasn't sure how much I would have in the tank. Look, if I was to come on I was going to give it hell for leather anyway, no matter what, but I think the worry was in terms of how much was left in the tank at that stage because it was a long three weeks."

It was the longest of days too, that Saturday, and the wonder is why the disciplinary process couldn't have been wrapped up much sooner, for better or for worse.

"Yeah, I mean we had three weeks to get it looked after," said Thompson. "To have two hearings was kind of disappointing in the timeframe that was there. But I don't know the ins and outs of it and whose job it is to get these hearings in place. It could be our fault, it could be anyone's fault."

Thompson acknowledges there was fault on her part too. Initially booked in Cork's final round group game against Tipperary, she was reportedly shown red in a separate incident at the end of the game for abusive language.

"It's funny because I've actually never been in that position myself before as a player. It was something that I don't ever want to see from myself in the future as a player."

Who knows what role Thompson will have this time. The two-time All-Star came on as a firefighter against Waterford, putting out flames all around a besieged Cork defence. At her best she is a ball of energy and creativity throughout the middle third and Cork will need that and more to take care of Kilkenny.

The Leinster champions are slight favourites, even if they've lost four of their last finals to Cork since 2009, including that 2018 decider.

"I've been around long enough to know what to expect from Kilkenny," said Thompson. "No matter what the obstacle in front of them, you'll always get the same, you'll always get the same level of effort, the same level of fight."

Both sides came from behind at half-time in their respective semi-finals.

"That's it, we're kind of the same," nodded the 32-year-old personal trainer. "We don't really do panic either which is great. I think the few younger girls that got on our panel a few years ago, they've been there long enough now to know what to do when the game gets hairy.

"That's the thing, whether Kilkenny go down or we go down, there's no-one really going to throw the towel in too early. I think it'll go to the 64th, 65th minutes, whatever it takes, and that's what you want to see.

"We came back from a five-point deficit against Waterford to win by five so that says a lot in terms of our character, in terms of our depth. But absolutely we have more in the tank and we're going to need to bring it in order to get over the line."