Mayo with everything for Cora

Gavin Cummiskey talks to a superstar with a phenomenal appetite for success

Welcome to the world of Cora Staunton. At 21 years she is already a veteran of seven championship campaigns. She's not your average player. In fact she is the most gifted of her generation.

The people of Mayo could have told you that years ago. Ever since she helped Ballinrobe Community School to the All-Ireland at the age of 13.

Tomorrow, she will walk out in Croke Park to face Dublin in the All-Ireland final. The same arena where all the top stars of the GAA ply their trade. Where she belongs.

Of course, Mayo aren't new to the All-Ireland final; they have competed in the last four deciders, winning three.

Cora has been involved in them all, except the one in 1999, when she was dealt a cruel blow in the run-up.

She was just 17 at the time, but the people of the west were already whispering about the impact she was about to have. However, a clash with Claire Egan in a training match the week beforehand left her with a broken collarbone. Mayo won - they had, and still have, a unique group of players at their disposal - but the rest of the country would have to wait another year to see the jewel in the crown.

"When I knew I was out it was difficult but I had to keep my head up for the girls. It was unfortunate, but winning made me feel a little better," she said.

In 2000 everything was put right. Staunton dominated the championship, winning an All Star, the Player of the Year award, the Young Sportsperson of the Year and her very own All-Ireland medal. Her arrival was complete.

It's been non-stop ever since. Laois beat them in the 2001 final with a last-minute free after Staunton, back defending, was adjudged to have stepped inside her own 20-metre line.

Again, the loss merely fuelled the flames of determination. Mayo came back last year to remind everyone who was in command, with the brilliant Staunton leading the charge.

This year has been the hardest for this bright young panel. In July tragedy struck - they lost their good friend Aisling McGing in a car crash as she travelled to the Connacht final. Her sisters, Sharon and Michelle, and cousin Caroline are all part of the panel.

Personally, Staunton also struggled with the wear and tear that are a result of relentless football. After guiding Carnacon to the All-Ireland club crown she barely had a chance to catch her breath before the national league was in full flow. In the semi-final of the league, against Laois, the inevitable happened: she stretched a cruciate ligament.

"I'll be in the gym two or three nights a week over the winter to get it right, in order to avoid an operation for a few years. It took a while to get back after April. I was out for a month. Then I came back, probably too soon, and was out again for two or three weeks. Players need a decent break from October to February. But with the club commitments and college football as well it will not be coming for me until at least November."

It's not as if she wants to stop - the passion runs too deep. Just when she should be looking for extra time off she took charge, with team-mate Yvonne Byrne, of the Mayo minor girls. You wonder is there any time for a life outside the game.

"You have a non-existent social life. But I'm back in college next week so . . ." - she has momentarily forgotten the club scene - "but then I have the Connacht final (club championship) on October 26th, so no, there isn't much of a social life. It doesn't bother me though. There will be plenty of time after I'm finished playing to do all that."

A young woman barely out of the underage grades now training the minor team is unusual. The same team getting to an All-Ireland final is astonishing.

But that is what Yvonne and Cora achieved. Cork beat them in the final by just four points, but the team has a future - eight are in the senior panel.

Then there is the pressure of being the only name in the ladies game that trips off the tongue. This has been heightened recently by her part in the lucozade ad on television alongside elites from several sports.

"I was lucky to be picked. To even be talked about in the same breath as Damien Duff, Eoin Kelly, Ronan O'Gara and Peter Stringer was strange. They were all very nice, down-to-earth lads.

"To tell you the truth I wouldn't be much into reading the papers. I take it in my stride. I would prefer other players getting recognised, we all share out the interviews of the team.

"Pressure? I don't really feel it. I just know I have to go out and perform."

She'll be 22 at the end of the year and has already had the type of career many elite professionals can only dream of.

She doesn't even get nervous on the big day. "Well it has been the same routine every year so nerves are not so much a factor anymore. By the time you get into Croke Park the nerves do arrive - just not really for me personally, but some younger players might be (nervous) and it is up to us older heads to help them along on the day."

Spoken like a true veteran.