Jack Flynn, left, and Seán Coffey of Meath celebrate after the Tailteann Cup Final match between Down and Meath at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
By John Harrington
Meath footballer Jack Flynn hopes the Royals will be boosted next year by the return to the panel of Cian McBride, who was recently let go by AFL side Essendon.
Former underage star McBride joined Essendon as an international rookie in 2019, but has not been offered a contract for 2024.
Flynn, a good friend of McBride, is hopeful the St. Ultan’s club-man will rejoin the Meath panel having last played for the Royals back in 2020.
"He can't say 100 per cent either but I think the plan is that he is going to try and come back in the next few months,” said Flynn at the launch of Leinster GAA’s 2023 Beko Champion Club.
“I'm not sure what his plans are. He'll probably want a bit of a break, a bit of a holiday or something. He might stay out there for a few more months. But I'm sure the lads in Meath have all been on the phone to him already."
“Obviously having been away from the game, your ball skills and stuff would be down. But with the fitness levels of those lads and the physicality that they have over there, I'd say you wouldn't be long getting back into training and stuff. That's what he'd hope for anyway."
Cian McBride of Meath in action against Enda Downey of Derry during the 2018 Electric Ireland GAA Football All-Ireland Minor Championship Quarter-Final match between Meath and Derry at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh. Photo by Oliver McVeigh/Sportsfile.
If McBride does decide to reignite his inter-county career, he’d be joining a Meath panel full of positivity after their Tailteann Cup success this year. According to Flynn, the feel-good factor is back in Meath football.
“As soon as we got on that bit of winning streak, you felt the support rolling in behind you and everyone got in behind Meath football,” he says.
“It was good to get all the people and supporters and to give them something to cheer about. We had a good day after the final, we had a great homecoming in Navan and everything, there was a great turnout so it's great for the players, especially the lads who wouldn't have won a lot the last few years.
“A lot of younger guys are lucky enough that they're only starting off their inter-county careers but a lot of lads have put in serious years and they haven't got much to show for it. So it was good to get some sort of silverware.”
Meath manager Colm O’Rourke gave 12 players their championship debuts this year, and Flynn doesn’t believe that would have been possible had they not the chance to re-launch their season in the Tailteann Cup after Offaly knocked them out of the Leinster Championship.
“Yeah, I'd say so. There's probably a little more leeway, in terms of bringing guys in for a first start in the Tailteann Cup, compared to playing a top team, you mightn't be throwing out as many debuts then.
“But I think it will stand to us in the long run. There's a lot of young lads who were fresh out of an U-20 campaign and a few of us then...a huge portion of the team are still under 25 so to get an extra six championship games in was, you know, hopefully that will stand to us next year.”
Jack Flynn of Meath celebrates after scoring a second half point during the Tailteann Cup Final match between Down and Meath at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile.
Flynn also believes the Tailteann Cup gave Meath the opportunity to tweak their system of play, and address the flaws that were exposed in the League and Leinster championship.
"I suppose early on in the league it was probably a bit experimental and we were a bit naive. As it went on, we realised that no matter how much you're scoring, you can't be conceding silly amounts of scores. Even in the games we were winning early on in the league, we were still conceding big scores. Looking back on it now, we know going into next year's campaign that you can't be conceding that amount of scores if you're going to be competing with the top teams and winning those sorts of tough games."
Winning the Tailteann Cup this year means that Meath are guaranteed to be eligible to play in the Sam Maguire Cup next year, regardless of how their Division 2 Allianz Football League campaign goes.
Flynn is hopeful they can build on the progress they made in 2023 by giving a good account of themselves in both League and championship.
“It's going to be a very tough Division 2. You've got Armagh and Donegal coming down, Fermanagh coming up and then you've Kildare and Cork, there's going to be no easy game there.
“We're going to have to be on the ball right from the start of the league. It's six tough games. I suppose we'll be pushing for a top two spot in the Division 2 league, that'll be where we'll start and as you say we're guaranteed Sam Maguire football so we'll have a crack at that.
“We need to get back into the top 10 teams in Ireland. That's realistically where Meath football has to get back to.”
