Tailteann Cup Final Previews: ‘Your workrate has to be a priority’ - Stephen Bray

THe more things change, the more they remain the same. Meath star Stephen Bray says that while the game of Gaelic football might have changed radically over the past decade or so, in terms of tactics and preparations, the fundamental requirements for success remains the same.

Bray was one of those who showed up at the media briefing at the Bective Stud on Tuesday evening of last week as the countdown to Saturday's Tailteann Cup final picked up pace.

The Navan O'Mahonys clubman knows because he has been there, done that. He had a protracted playing career in the green and gold making his debut under Sean Boylan and continuing on until he stepped away from the inter-county scene when Mick O’Dowd was manager in 2015. Bray first arrived into the Meath senior set up as a teenager in 2000 although had to wait until 2005 to secure a regular place on the team. He also won an All-Ireland JFC with the Royals in 2003.

He remains the last Meath player to win an All-Star. That was back in 2007 when the award came his way after a series of outstanding displays as Meath marched to an All-Ireland semi-final where they lost out to Cork, 0-9 to 1-12.

There were some other big days playing for Bray such as the Leinster SFC semi-final of 2010 when Meath, then under the guidance of Eamonn O'Brien, trounced Dublin 5-9 to 0-13 with the O'Mahonys man, then one of the best forwards in the country, repeatedly ransacking the Dublin defence on his way to a personal tally of 2-1.

Bray played on for another five years with Meath but there was to be no more All-Ireland semi-finals as the Royals started to steadily slip down the rankings.

Even in the eight years since he stepped away from the inter-county front he has seen massive changes in the game and the way teams prepare for games. However some things, some essential factors, just never change. "Certainly these days there is an awful lot of focus on the analysis, the tactical set-ups, the use of GPSs, the stats, it's all probably new for me as well. All that has only come in really in the last five years or so.

"Like everything in life these days there is an awful lot of information available, it's trying to use that information that is important and off-load it to the players in the best possible way so that they can perform in the best possible way on the pitch.

"Those thing are all very important but the nuts and bolts of the game hasn't changed a massive amount, the need for competitiveness, that willingness to work, that need or willingness to win hasn't changed since Colm (O'Rourke) was playing! I'm a big believer in that you have to have those things first and foremost."

Bray also mentioned something else that is demanded. An "aggressiveness" to withstand the rigours of opponents only too willing and able to knock you off course.

As quietly spoken and friendly a man as you are likely to meet Bray clearly possess a highly competitive streak. How else could he have withstood the rigours of inter-county football for as long as he did - or win an All-Star?

"You have to be aggressive, your workrate first and foremost has to be a priority," he repeated as if emphasising the point. “If you are not doing that, if the opposition are better then you at all that, then you are not going to win matches. That's was a big learning for me.

"During the league and after that Leinster SFC defeat to Offaly we looked at the stats, although we didn't need to look at the stats, you just knew, but contact-wise we weren't at the races in the first-half. That's the big learning for us as a group, you need to be very competitive, very aggressive. Work hard and a lot will follow after that."

He says he was honoured to be asked to fill in as a Meath selector. He has a say in all aspects of the team's preparations from the type of S&C the players engage in to generating team spirit, something he says is vital for any group.

He recalled his time under previous managers such as Sean Boylan (now, of course, also a selector) and how a strong bond was formed within the team. Bray has sought to learn from all that.

"The thing that sticks out for me was the personable approach and how important that is, getting to know lads and build up relationships with lads and lads building relationships within the group - that's the big thing with any group to count on them as your friends.

“Ultimately you are trying to build a team spirit, a competitive team spirit." Certainly that sense of unity in the trenches, will be required on Saturday if the colours of the Mourne County are to be lowered.