Different role for injured Keane as Galway aim to 'go one step further'

The St Thomas star suffered a bad injury early in the championship. 

Galway’s Aine Keane ahead of the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Finals. Pic: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

The championship was two minutes old. The championship was over.

Áine Keane’s 2025 summer postcard are those two lines long. Brief and brutal. Infuriating. Excruciating. And just downright rotten luck.

23-year-old Keane established herself at centre-back during a somewhat breakthrough 2024 season. Once maroon was swapped for the red and blue of St Thomas’, she drove her club to a senior county final appearance against eventual All-Ireland champions Sarsfields.

Turning the page to 2025, her graph stayed travelling in the right direction. It was her free in second-half injury-time at the end of February’s Ashbourne Cup final that edged University of Limerick two clear of UCC and into the winners' enclosure.

Keane was not alone selected at centre-back on the third-level team of the year, she was selected as the third-level player of the year. Her influence in maroon was primed for expansion this summer.

And then in one innocuous opening-round tackle, she was removed from the equation. Galway’s hand further weakened by her removal, Keane joining fellow cruciate victim Niamh McPeake, Niamh Hanniffy (travelling), and Niamh Kilkenny on the unavailable list. All four started the 2024 All-Ireland final.

“I jumped to catch a ball, landed straight leg, and a Dublin opponent kind of came through me with her knee, and I just hyper-extended back. I did catch the ball and I did take another step, but I didn't go too far after that,” Keane smiles, recalling the beginning and end of her championship.

“In that moment, I didn't realise my season was over. I felt pain in my knee, but it was more in the back of my knee from the hyper-extension and a dead quad from the impact of her, but I genuinely didn't think I had that much damage done.

“I was 12 days waiting for a scan, and from the moment I did it up to the moment I got the scan, I didn't think I had my ACL ruptured. Just so unfortunate.” 

More unfortunate because of her backdrop and brimming confidence coming into championship.  “Last year was an unbelievable year for me experience-wise, more so than anything else. Playing centre-back, it was the biggest role I had ever been given with Galway. It was something I relished and I enjoyed learning the role.

“Winning Ashbourne with UL then this year, you never think this injury is just down the line for me. It was a year that was kind of coming together for me in one sense, but that’s the harsh reality of sport – one minute it can be up and then it can be down just as quick.” 

Stepping forward and stepping back up in the absence of Keane, McPeake, Hanniffy, and six-time All-Star Kilkenny are newcomers Caoimhe Kelly and Mairead Dillon and the returning defensive pair of Shauna Healy and Emma Helebert.

As for those who were present on the Croke Park sod 12 months ago, there is the knowledge upstairs that they can live with the runaway Cork train.

“We hope we can go out the next day and put in that same performance, and go one step further, but we know how well we are going to have to perform if we even want to think about beating Cork.

“We had a decent semi-final performance, but we also have a lot of learnings from that semi-final. We would not be one bit happy with how we finished out that first half.” Were Keane immersed in the playing bubble this week, her awareness of attendance talk would be non-existent. But given Sunday’s 60 minutes is not consuming her, she’s able to take a step back and weigh in on the bigger picture.

“You have had two sold-out men's All-Irelands. 48,000 at the ladies football final is an incredible amount of people, a number we have never seen in camogie. We had 27,000 last year. If we could break the 30,000 mark this year, it would be incredible for everyone involved. It is something we are striving towards. At the minute, we are at the bottom of the pile when it comes to attendance. We hope to change that. Hopefully Sunday will be the start.

“We train so hard for so many days of the week that if you got a crowd here on Sunday to back us it probably would show to us that our game is being more respected and we are being more respected as players for the effort we are putting in.”