BOYLAN TALKS SPORT: Split season dominated by housekeeping

Joe Biden withdrew from the US Presidential Election on June 27th. By then, the All Ireland SHC was down to its final four. Jump on a month, and, by July 27th, the boys from the Co Armagh had 24 hours to wait before being reunited with Sam Maguire after a 22 year separation.

Seven weeks have evaporated since Aidan Forker climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand, and, in that time, the internal wrangle in my head with regard to the split season has raged like an inferno.

Doubtless, Meath’s travails rendering them also-rans by the time the real business end of the season was igniting certainly stockpiled negative ruminations about the ‘new normal’. Not to mention Croke Park lying idle at a time when the masses should be heaving on Jones’s Road.

However, in the interest of fairness, it will be said that the combination of Dunboyne teams going well, getting to more matches than has been the case in more than a decade and - as was commented upon here extensively previously - being able to tune into games where attendance wasn’t possible via Clubber TV and/or TG4.

That being said, one of the curiosities of the new GAA world is that, what is supposed to be down time from an inter county perspective, has become the slot in the schedule for what one might call housekeeping.

Or, as it might be termed in another sporting code, the managerial merry go round. On that front, Meath’s unflattering position of having neither of the two most important team management positions filled was halved at the back end of last week with the appointment of Johnny Greville as senior hurling manager on a three year term.

Acquisition of the Raharney native can be considered something of a coup for the Royal County stickmen. With him having guided his home club to three county titles and also spent time in charge of the Lake County camogie team.

That said, he won’t lack for knowledge of the Meath hurling scene either having done a stint in charge of Kildalkey. If securing the services of Greville is worthy of brownie points, the recruitment of Sean Corrigan (Kildalkey) and Tom Shine (Kilskyre/Moylagh) as selectors is a nod to the ambition and foresight currently reverberating through Meath hurling.

There’s a sense of forward planning about the choice of selectors. Not only because of the obvious Kildalkey connection between Johnny and Sean, but also due to the fact that the former of the two named selectors will also double up as U-20 manager - even though he had originally indicated his desire to vacate the role - while Tom Shine should also be very au fait with the younger talent in the county with his own twin sons Daire and Tom who have just come through the underage ranks.

Furthermore, unlike with Colm O’Rourke’s shunned proposals regarding a succession plan relating to the senior footballers, there seems to be no problems with such ideas for the hurlers as ‘Crash’ and ‘Bubbles’ would seem ideally placed to work as a dynamic duo in management of the county senior team at some point in the future.

Whatever about further down the line, though, the new regime will have as good a pool of players with which to work as any think tank will have had for the better part of two decades. Feelings only further endorsed by what I feel is a noticeable improvement in the standard on show at club level in recent times.

It’s only natural that there will be a wave of optimism, positivity and curiosity when a new setup takes over, and the only disappointing thing for the new management and players is that it will be a while before they collectively see action as a team. On the other hand, whoever ends up getting the senior football job will need every second of preparation time they can get to get their house in order.

Our readers are probably as sick of me writing about that whole scenario as am I of doing so, but, while repetition is one of the greatest foibles of this profession, if a story retains relevance, then naturally it will be commented upon. That is certainly the case in this instance. Though it would appear highly unlikely it will be sorted by the time you are reading this, there is at least an indication that white smoke may shortly emanate somewhere between Dunganny and Pairc Tailteann. If the whispers coming from tally folks are to be believed, the eventual outcome will be one that I’d be very much much in favour of. Having said that, what many mightn’t realise is the very emotional conundrum it may predicate for personal reasons.

You’ve heard the old dictum about never being a prophet among your own people? Well, a lot of the time, that can be used in a motivational way, as in, “I’ll prove you wrong or bust a gut trying”, but sometimes the feeling of being on the outside looking in is a right belt in the solar plexus.

And you ask yourself, what’s a fella to do, because they know how it means to you. All you can do is channel the personal hurt in as positive a way as is possible because in an overall sense, some things going well can be valuable in a way that may not be calculable. Here’s hoping.