Brennan believes that the future is bright for Meath football

GAA goalkeepers trying their hand at kicking for a place on a NFL team roster seems to be all the rage right now with Down's Charlie Smyth signing for the New Orleans Saints and Monaghan's Rory Beggan and Wicklow's Mark Jackson also in line for an American Football contract.

However, Meath's Sean Brennan has no such aspirations right now. He has his sights firmly focused on holding off the challenge of two exceptional goalkeeping brothers Billy and Harry Hogan and becoming Meath's established number one.

"I'll try to nail down my spot in Meath first before any of that talk starts," the Dunderry man told the Meath Chronicle when asked if he was inclined to try his hand in the NFL.

"I'm solely focused on Meath football right now, it would be very hard to walk away from this group and the feeling that is there.

"I'll be firmly staying in Dunderry and hopefully playing for Meath for the next few years any way.

"It doesn't matter who has the number one shirt because you are constantly looking over your shoulder.

"The two lads, Billy and Harry are exceptional goalkeepers. They are sound lads to train along with as well.

"It is not easy going over to Dunganny four or five times a week with the three of us battling it out knowing that only one of us going to come away with the jersey.

"What does make it easier is that they are two lovely fellas to get along with.

"You'd be cursing them at times because they are so good, they are always pushing me and I'm constantly looking over my shoulder. Even though I did play the league games, I'd still be looking over my shoulder thinking that either one of them could jump in and do the same job, or even better than

"In general I'm sort of a glass half empty lad. I'd always be looking over my shoulder, it's probably a could way to be because you can't get too comfortable with goalkeepers as good as the two lads in competition with me.

"They keep me on my toes. I treat training ther exact same way as I did when I wasn't playing last year. There is always that bit of competition which is healthy as well."

Brennan credits goalkeeping coach Shane Supple for much of his improvement this year and he also believes that Trevor Giles' influence has also made him a better free-taker this year.

"Shane is brilliant. I worked with him with the under-20s and he really brought me on and now coming into the seniors he has done serious work. In the space of the last 12 months I have come on a lot," admitted Brennan.

"It is only when you start to see it yourself that you appreciate it. The little bits of detail he can give you is invaluable. Having a person like him that you can relate to is great. You can go to him about anything, kickouts, defensively, my own performance, and he understands where you are coming from.

"He is a great person to have there as an advisor as well, I can't speak highly enough of him.

"Last year I couldn't kick snow off a rope and I wasn't happy with my free-taking. I worked a lot on that during the off season and then having Trevor Giles come in this year has been a huge help.

"He hasn't really changed a whole lot technically, but he gave me the belief that I am good enough to kick the frees and told me after the Fermanagh game that whether I missed four or scored four that I would be on the frees for the league.

"That gave me the confidence that they (management) see something in me and they are not going to take me off frees after one or two misses.

"I am striking the ball a lot better. I changed one or two things with my run up and thankfully they are going over the bar this year."

Brennan is looking forward to making his Leinster SFC debut against Longford next Sunday and he is confident that this Meath team are going places.

"I definitely think the future looks bright for Meath football. There were a few frustrating games in this year's league where points were dropped that we shoulod have won, but when we come to training and you see the talent that is there it fills you with hope," said the Dunderry man.

"This would be a very hard team or panel to walk away from. You can really feel the vibe that there is something building there and we are just waiting for it all to click together.

"We have the defensive side of things going like a well oiled machine and we just need to get firing up front and once that relationship and bond grows even more I really do think that in the next few years we will have a great team and you never know what will happen.

"Annoying as it is for the supporters, they have to be patient. It is definitely annoying for ourselves as well because we know what we are capable of, but we know it is just about getting that consistency like the top teams do and once we get that I think we'll be a very good team," concluded Brennan.