Bulfin to bring a new 'professionalism' to Meath camp

The Meath SHC club final has yet to be played but already Nick Weir's plans for a new season on the inter-county front are well underway.

The Meath manager has renowned and highly experienced hurling coach Saoirse Bulfin as part of his backroom team this year and the Limerickman spoke to the players last Saturday night.

Also involved this year is IRFU strength & conditioning coach Ed Slattery.

"We had a players meeting and a team management meeting on Saturday and everything went well. Saoirse and Ed are new very valuable additions to our backroom team and the players are clearly up for the challenge involved as well."

Weir has a programme clearly in mind as he goes about preparing his team for the NHL Div 2A campaign that also includes Kerry, Down, Kildare, Westmeath and Carlow. Weir knows to gain promotion from that group is going to be tough indeed.

"We'll probably do half-a-dozen training sessions before Christmas. It looked at first like the first round of the league was not going to be until the middle of February. Now it looks like it will be brought forward to the end of January.

"We're going to try and get half-a-dozens sessions prior to Christmas on the pitch and the boys will be working with the strength and conditioning coach in their own time so all is good.

"We have a good panel of players, we are bringing a few lads in from the u-20s as well, they're mad to come in as well, learn their trade."

The Raharney man, who was ratified in October for another two-year spell as Meath manager, says the players are looking forward to learning from Bulfin who has worked with the senior inter-county teams in Wexford, Waterford and Clare. He was a selector/coach with Clare when they won the MacCarthy Cup in 2013 under manager Davy Fitzgerald.

"The lads will buy into this because a lot of them will see this as an opportunity to work with someone who has coached at the highest level in the game and I think it will be brilliant for Meath hurling.

"Saoirse has been down a couple of times, I've met him in Dublin, we've been on the phone chatting a lot. He is really looking forward to the challenge. He will be doing a six-hour round trip (from Limerick) so it must mean something to him," added Weir.

Referring to what Bulfin will bring to the table Weir said it was a certain "level of professionalism" and attention to detail.

Time will tell what effect it will all have on the Meath's fortunes on the hurling fields of Ireland in 2022.