New Dad Jones hoping to make amends against Louth

PART TWO - Meath captain wants to wipe away the memory of the loss to Dublin with victory in Inniskeen

In part two of his chat with the Meath Chronicle ahead of Saturday's All-Ireland SFC opener against Louth Meath captain Ronan Jones reflected on the disappointing performance against Dublin in the Leinster SFC and the expectations for Meath from the games against Louth, Kerry and Monaghan.

"The expectations were pretty clear to stay in the game (against Dublin), wwe wanted to be as competitive as we could. Tactically, we were pretty well set up, but we just made too many mistakes individually," said the captain.

"Personally, I'm holding my hand up as the worst culprit there. Maybe that was because we were trying to force things because it was Dublin, because it was a game that you really wanted to win. Maybe we deviated a little bit from the game plan we had, they were the biggest disappointments.

"That could be down to experience, but I would be one of the more experienced lads. Maybe it was just a bit of a naivety on my part that I should have been the one leading from the front.

"I'll hold my hand up, if I start doing that, what can I expect from the 21, 22-year-olds who are coming through?

"It was personally disappointing. We hoped to be within touching distance of them coming down the straight. A lot of the mistakes we made were unforced errors. It wasn't like we were trying to go out there and play and that we were far worse than them.

"We just made too many errors and you can't do that against the best teams. They're a couple of years ahead of us in terms of development and we just didn't help ourselves.

"Looking forward, we want to right that wrong. We want to make sure that we're not giving teams easy chances. We want to make sure that we're in the game and we're playing to our best ability."

With a strong under-20 team ready to progress through to senior level in the coming years and a few of those players already involved with O'Rourke's team, Jones believes the future for Meath football is very bright and that the big breakthrough might not be that far away.

"There's definitely youth in that dressing room, but there's nobody there who's a silly footballer or doesn't fancy this. There's a lot of brains in that dressing room, a lot of heart in that dressing room too," enthused the captain.

"The lads are very much looking forward to it (the All-Ireland series). A lot of the lads in there have had more success than some of the older lads have had at underage as well.

"They're dying to get out there and give it a crack. They've done it at underage, they don't see why they can't do it at a senior level too.

"There's still a couple of old fogies knocking around as well who are just dying to get out there and play some more football again.

"Theres a lot of teams there that I haven't played against, I haven't played against Kerry, I can't wait to get out and see what we're made of, test ourselves against the best."

Playing against Kerry is the game Jones is looking forward to the most and while he is solely focused on the challenge of Louth in Inniskeen tomorrow he is also chomping at the bit for a shot at Kerry in front of a packed Pairc Tailteann.

"It'll be a massive one (the game against Kerry). I'm sure the stands, the terraces and the banks will be packed as well for that," said Jones.

"A lot of people want to see Kerry play, but a lot of people want to see Meath play good football as well and that's what we're hoping to do.

"Like I said, we've been working hard the last few weeks. No game's going to be perfect, I can guarantee you we'll make mistakes against Louth, we'll make mistakes against Kerry and we'll make mistakes against Monaghan, but ultimately we want to make sure that we're getting better every day and cutting down some of the unforced errors and silly mistakes that we really can't and shouldn't be making at this level."

Jones has recently become a father for the first time and is the only Dad on the youthful panel.

The joys of a small baby in the house brings its own challenges, but the Dunboyne man wouldn't change his life for the world right now.

"I'm not going to say it's difficult. I love every minute of it. I wouldn't change it for the world. I love being here (at training) and I love being at home with them," said Jones.

"There's nothing more humbling than after a tough defeat or tough training session or when things aren't going your way with injuries than going back and seeing your young lad crying at you at 4am.

"It's been great. I haven't worked up until today. I've been off for the last 12 weeks. I've been lucky enough to have a job with good paternity leave. I've been able to spend time with family and maybe spend a little bit of time trying to get my body right.

"There is obviously a few physical elements that come with being a Dad, the stress and the late nights and early mornings. It's absolutely fantastic. It gives you a new perspective as well on everything," concluded Jones who will certainly sleep well if Meath pick up a win in Inniskeen on Saturday evening.