“If it doesn’t suit us we won’t play” - McEntee wary of Covid

A lot has changed in the last 174 days - and even more has changed in the last two days because since this preview was written Meath's O'Byrne Cup game with Wicklow has since been postponed, but manager Andy McEntee still has some relevant views on the competition.

Since then the spirits of the Meath football fraternity have been boosted by All-Ireland success for the county minors and senior ladies and off the back of that renewed optimism 2022 looks bright.

Covid restrictions have come and gone and come again and the country is currently at the height of the pandemic, but yet still the future looks green and gold.

Andy McEntee last led his Meath players into battle on 18th July 2021 against Dublin in the Leinster SFC semi-final and while the first-half didn't go according to plan, there was enough green shoots in the second period to offer renewed hope.

In the intervening five-and a-half months the more some people tried to initiate change the more others want things to stay the same, so despite the best intentions to sharpen the inter-county scene and make it more appealing the O'Byrne Cup remains an unnecessary competition on the calendar.

Meath manager McEntee is also baffled as to why the GAA feel it is necessary to persist with the O'Byrne Cup, especially in these Covid times, which thankfully haven't hit the Royals too hard.

"I don't know what the objective is for anybody with the O'Byrne Cup," McEntee told the Meath Chronicle.

"For all the talk about change, and everybody is keen for change, here we are back to where we were. Everything is the same and we are squashing in an O'Byrne Cup.

"Our aim is to try to get game time into as many lads as possible. If it suits us to play it we will play it, if it doesn't suit us we won't play.

"We are squashing three games in before the start of the league, plus we are at the time of the year where the colleges are trying to prepare for Sigerson Cup, so that's an issue too.

"It doesn't make sense to bring 30 players to these games, so we will try to figure it out as best we can. We will have to wait and see who is available on any given day and we will pick our squad from that.

"The O'Byrne Cup isn't our target really. In all fairness we are trying to get ready for the start of the league. It has been challenging, but the lads have been very good in general.

"We haven't been too badly hit by Covid and the restrictions in recent weeks. The lads are doing all they can do to stay safe, the medical team have been great, Dualtach (MacColgain, Meath team doctor) has been very good with instructions for the lads.

"When we get together we all take our own antigen tests and post them to the doctor and if anyone has any symptoms they stay away.

Out of the 35 lads we have training we only had four who were unavailable last week due to close contacts, which isn't too bad.

"From talking to other county managers I gather it's proving difficult all over the country."

With cases reaching unprecedented high numbers, McEntee fears that the GAA season could be impacted, but he is also hopeful that the GAA will have a plan to deal with any potential outbreaks and disruptions.

"You'd like to think that the GAA have a contingency plan. You can see what is happening with professional soccer and rugby, they have been badly hit and haven't been able to continue," warned the Meath boss.

"We would be naïve to think that at some stage or another that this won't hit a county team somewhere along the line."

Those fears aside McEntee is looking forward to getting back on the sidelines.

Seamus Lavin is the only notable absentee from last year’s panel with the Dunboyne man gone to Canada for a year.

McEntee has added Longwood's Billy Hogan, Wolfe Tones' Saran O Fionnagain, Rathkenny's James O'Hare and Ratoath's Gavin McGowan to his panel, but the core of the group remains intact with plenty of experience ahead of what is sure to be a tough league.

"We will kick off in the league at a very high level, away to Galway and at home to Roscommon, the two teams that were relegated from Div 1 last year, so that's a tough start," admitted McEntee.

"The league is hugely important to us. We want to be playing against the best, we will approach it the same way as we always approach it, we want to win as many games as possible and see where that takes us.

"Of course we are looking forward to it, they are great games. We have always said that the league is the best competition because they are great games and we are looking forward to trying to push on again.

"You'd like to progress from the second-half performance we showed against Dublin and eliminate the first-half. We are always trying to improve," concluded the Meath manager who will face Wicklow in Bray Emmets next Saturday (2pm) before travelling to Stradbally to take on Laois on Wednesday 12th January (7.30pm) and then Wexford in Navan on Saturday 15th January. Meath will open their NFL Div 2 campaign away to Galway in Salthill on Sunday 30th January, 2pm.