Weir looking forward to Kerry test

When he looks for reasons why Meath should feel optimistic going into the Joe McDonagh Cup campaign, team manager Nick Weir points to his players and expresses his admiration at how they have displayed a real diligence and dedication in their preparations.

That admiration applies not only to how they have sought to hone their skills and sharpen their fitness.

It also relates to the discipline and application they have shown to ensure the Covid-19 regulations are closely followed.

However, there’s another reason, he feels, that gives his side a significant reason to be hopeful – and that’s his firm belief that in all the games they will be playing - against Kerry, Antrim, Carlow and Westmeath - his men will be taking the field as rank outsiders. No hopers.

That’s something, you feel, he’s perfectly happy about because it leaves open the distinct possibility of an ambush and gives his players the motivation to prove a point; that they are not the cannon fodder for the big guns.

There’s the matter of pride involved here and Weir is a proud man, especially when it comes to his hurling.

“We are going into this championship against four counties. Let’s be honest they won’t fear us, they won’t even rate us which is a great way to be,” he told the Meath Chronicle as he looked ahead to the campaign.

That, you suspect, will form the basis of Weir’s pre-match speech.

It certainly has all the material for a rousing call-to-arms with Weir fully aware that nothing motivates players more than to be told they haven’t a hope; that they are out of their depth.

“If I have the 26 lads I want on match day, if they are all available, they will be ready for action and we will see what happens. They will give whatever team we face a stiff test, that is a certainty,” he added with rousing conviction.

Implicit in the words also is a warning that it would be a mistake to look on his charges as easy pushovers who are merely happy to be playing in the country’s second-tier championship.

He says the words in such a way you suspect the old, pre-match, ‘let’s go out and show them’ speech is already stewing away in his mind ready to be served up when it can give the maximum amount of mental nutrition and energy.

First up for Weir’s men is a tricky trip to take on Kerry in Tralee on Sunday, 1pm. It’s an assignment that has held little joy for Meath teams in the past, a reality underlined by the fact that in last year’s NHL Div 2A campaign tie in Killarney the visiting Royals suffered a chastening 16-point (0-8 to 3-15) defeat.

The teams faced each other again earlier this year in a league clash, this time in Trim.

Different venue, but the same outcome – a Kerry victory although on that occasion only by five points, 0-13 to 0-8.

Meath also suffered league defeats against Offaly (0-26 to 1-21) and most worryingly away to Antrim (1-15 to 5-27) in their 2020 campaign.

Victories dug out with sweat and blood against Wicklow (2-24 to 3-18) and Mayo (1-17 to 0-18) ensured Meath retained their status in Div 2A, but now a further step up in class is required.

Weir feels he has learned a great deal about what is required of an inter-county manager since taking charge.

Included in the sharp learning curve are lessons about strategy and preparing players.

“You look at aspects such as the speed of the ball, building constructive play, how to deal with puck outs, for and against, where and how we are going to set up. All these things are vital at inter-county level. I learned a lot from that league campaign,” he added.

This weekend’s trip to Tralee will be unlike any other. Ensuring they adhere to Covid-19 restrictions the Meath team and backroom staff will travel down in their own vehicles. The original plan was to travel on two buses but the players voted to make their own way. They will make their way down south on the Saturday and stay overnight in a hotel, one person to each room.

The Meath manager knows that his best-laid plans can be undone in an instant once the game starts, but he will be hoping to avoid that. He has his share of injury problems to contend with as James Toher, Gavin McGowan and Damien Healy among those on a lengthy list.

Kerry, he knows, have plenty of talented players such as Shane Conway, Padraig Boyle, Jordan Conway and Michael Leane who can ransack opponents’ hopes as quickly as you can say ‘the Kingdom.’

When it comes to Meath, Padraig O’Hanrahan, Jack Regan, Eamonn O Donnchadha and Adam Gannon were vital figures for the league – and no doubt it will be the same in the McDonagh Cup campaign.

It could well come down to a shoot-out between O’Hanrahan and Conway who are Meath and Kerry’s respective top scorers.

O’Hanrahan maintained his outstanding league form for Meath with a superb showing for Ratoath in the SHC as he helped guide his side to the Jubilee Cup final where they will take on Trim, hopefully before the year is out.

Weir’s panel also includes a number of new faces with Trim’s Wexford import Mark Molloy capping his excellent year for the SHC finalists with a call up, while others like Kildalkey goalkeeper Mark McCormack are also now part of the set up. Weir feels his team will be given little chance against Kerry in Tralee next Sunday – or against anyone else for that matter.

In that belief, he hopes, the written-off Royals can find the spark they need to light up their campaign.