Managing your country may be new territory for Ger Manley, but the Cork native is no stranger to taking the reins at the top level, having guided his county to an All-Ireland title in 2024. Nor indeed is it his first time involved in an international rules contest against Scotland.

The Midleton club man pulled on the Irish jersey for the hybrid sport as a player, and is now preparing to lead a Camogie selection as manager this weekend. National Camogie and hurling teams will face their Scottish shinty counterparts in a double-header in Inverness on Saturday.

"It's great to be asked to manage a team. Representing your country," Manley says. "It's not every day you get to manage your country.

"It's a new experience for the players and myself. I'm just delighted to be involved.

"The profile of Camogie is going up, and it's great now that we're going with the lads for a double-header.

"The standard in Camogie has gone to new heights in the last three or four years. Ourselves, Galway, Tipperary, Kilkenny, Waterford and all the counties are raising standards, so it's great for Camogie.

"It's getting more marketable. The girls are getting more elite, as athletes and sportspeople. It's good to get a bit of exposure. The lads get a lot of exposure, it's nice to see the girls getting it."

Preparations have been ongoing, with trials and training sessions for both the men's and women's panels taking place in Abbotstown over the last four weekends.

The hybrid game doesn't necessarily come as second nature to players, however.

"It's different. The skills are different. I suppose we'll see what the game brings - I've been watching it on YouTube, the Scottish game. It's a bit strange for the girls, not catching the ball," Manley notes, ahead of the double-header which will be broadcast live on the BBC Alba YouTube channel.

"I played it back in the 1990s, we played them up in Scotland. It's different. Handling the ball is a big thing now in Camogie, possession-wise. A couple of weeks of training there and they're definitely getting used to it. It's going to be a bit different, until it happens."

Nine counties and all four provinces are represented on the panel, and Manley has been impressed by the spread of talent: "We've a good representation from all the tiers of Camogie. It's good to see some of the top players playing with the girls that you wouldn't hear of too much.

"As I always say, the Camogie skills are the same everywhere. It's just the speed. It's good for girls from Division 1 to play with girls from Division 2 and 3, and then vice versa."

After this weekend, focus will turn back to the intercounty scene for Manley, who has recently signed up for another year as Cork manager.

2026 brings with it a chance to set the record straight, after the Lee-siders fell to Galway in August's epic All-Ireland final.

"You're disappointed after it," he reflects on the 1-14 to 1-13 defeat. "The final, the more I look back on it and reflect on it, we played so well in the second half to come back into the game with 14 players, so huge respect for our own players, and huge respect for Galway. Galway won it in the end, they're an exceptionally good team, they have great players. We've had a great rivalry with them the last couple of years.

"No team is entitled to win any final or any championship match. We're getting back together, probably a bit of a new management team. There are a few changes. It's just to get the right people involved. We've been very lucky with the fellas I have worked with and girls I have worked with in the last couple of years.

"We'll have the majority of the panel [back again]. We'll have a few new players on the panel, after the club championship.

"We're looking forward to it. Our aim every year is to win the All-Ireland, the same for every team that competes...There are lots of teams coming through, I think Waterford will be very strong next year. Kilkenny have huge potential. Tipperary have potential.

"You need a bit of luck as well, you need a crop of players and I've been very lucky and privileged to be involved with a crop of players in Cork. This is my fifth year now, and I'm just privileged to be involved with them."

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