Family man McCormack thrilled to bring Meath back to the top and he tells Fergal Lynch how small adjustments and some new players have reignited fire in Royals

MANAGERS VIEW

Following in the footsteps of giants can be a daunting task and one many tend to shy away from, but when the opportunity to manage the Meath Ladies presented itself Kildare man Shane McCormack jumped at the chance.

Having being involved with Armagh for three years winning two Ulster SFC titles and a League crown McCormack knew what it took to be a winner and he also saw potential in Meath.

When he threw his hat in the ring to be Meath manager there was a sense that the Royals might be in for a significant period of transition as many of the side that had done five hard years on the road to reach three intermediate finals, win two senior All-Irelands and claim back-to-back-to-back league titles to go from Div 3 to win Div 1 had departed and others were exhausted by the journey.

After Eamonn Murray departed as manager, Davy Nelson took on the mantle, but he lasted less than a year with Jenny Rispin completing the 2023 before the hunt became for a permanent replacement.

McCormack was the chosen one and now his belief that with a just a small bit of tweaking here and there and an infusion of young exciting players Meath could be back at the top has been justified.

“As a management, it's definitely no surprise to us that we are back in an All-Ireland final. Maybe it's a surprise to everybody outside of the circle at the start of the year, but not us,” said the former Kildare goalkeeper.

“When I saw the advertisements (looking for a Meath manager), I don't think the newly married wife was happy that I went for it, but when you see a team like Meath searching for a manager, it was a huge attraction.

“Even though we knew that the majority of the All-Ireland team of '21 and '22 weren't there, it was a challenge. It was tough at the start, I'll be honest with you.

“Seeing the huge support behind the team in Parnell Park against Dublin early on, it was a huge attraction there because even though Meath hadn't been going well for the previous year or two, the fans believed in them and the girls believed in themselves. It made the job and the task worthwhile.

“You have to remember these girls have always been underdogs. With the Intermediate finals, winning the two seniors, they've been on the go for a long time.

“Every team has a blip and unfortunately after the success there was a blip there for a year or two. It was just about rebuilding and getting a strong management team in as well.

“We unearthed some fantastic players. I think there have been 15 or 16 girls that we've brought in over the last two years and that's huge.

“I didn't have to convince the older, more experienced girls to stay on because it's their county and they're proud Meath footballers. There's a huge tradition there.

“The remainder of the All-Ireland group, they were very close-knit. They're super friends on and off the pitch. So it didn't need much convincing.

“It was tough with the new girls coming in. They're trying to get the cohesion within the group, but slowly and surely they've gelled together.

“One of the biggest words that has been used is togetherness. These girls, the cohesion within them, it's fantastic.”

Throughout our chat with the manager he constantly heaps praise on the players, their work rate, their honesty, their reliability, their togetherness and one word stood out more than any other - belief.

“The first thing I will say about this group is their belief. That's belief in the management that they have for these girls, and vice-versa with the girls in the management.

“I brought in a couple of new coaches this year. I just felt we needed a little bit of freshening up. John O'Connor has come in as a goalkeeping coach and has been brilliant.

“Darren Clarke, former Louth footballer, has come in as a forwards coach. Lee Hunt on stats analysis is definitely, in my opinion, the best in the country. “Then Wayne Freeman. When people ask me about different people coming in, Wayne is probably the best coach that I've had as part of the management team.

“He's driven, leaves no stone unturned. I met Wayne a couple of times before he came in. He's on the same page as me and the lads as well.

“It's working brilliantly. That's a huge, huge thing there as well.” After such a brilliant year, there is, of course, one more hurdle left to negotiate and that's the small matter of a highly rated Dublin side in next Sunday's All-Ireland final.

“The gap has been closing between ourselves and Dublin in recent games, but I'm still fairly disappointed over the Leinster final,” recalled McCormack. “I was one that got away. I was gutted for the management, gutted for the girls, gutted for everyone, but I think that's a huge drive now to go on and play Dublin.

“There's a few stones that need to be unearthed there again. We're looking forward to it, and these girls know Dublin inside and out.” The Allenwood man was part of the Kildare senior football panel as a goalkeeper under Kieran McGeeney. He was first choice 'keeper in 2010 when the Lilies made it to the All-Ireland SFC semi-final, losing out to a controversial Benny Coulter goal that should have been ruled a square ball. A cool, calm and composed figure as a player McCormack reckons he used to be a Davy Fitzgerald type of character as a manager on the sideline, but he believes he has mellowed.

“I probably had the reputation of being a Davy Fitz on the sideline at the start of the year, but I think I've calmed down a small bit.

“It's been so enjoyable this year as a manager, because there's never been one game, and especially the last couple of months, that in the back of our heads we thought we're in trouble here. We've never been in trouble. The composure shown by the girls, it's fantastic.

“Even the Kerry game, when we went behind with that goal, there was no panic. There was no panic stations from any management, any players.That's very rewarding to know that.”

Off the field it has been a difficult couple of years for McCormack. He lost his father a couple of years ago who was a huge supporter of his and who picked him up at the airport when he was a student in Glasgow to bring him to Kildare training.

He also lost a couple of other relatives this year and his own wife had a spell in ICU following illness, but is thankfully recovered. Now everything appears rosy in the garden for McCormack. He has his Kildare new born daughter, Lily, wearing the green and gold of Meath and he has guided the Royals back to a third senior All-Ireland final in five years.

“Football is my life, and family as well. The last couple of weeks have been brilliant, at the end of the day, it's football. That's all it is. It's a huge part of my life, but there's no personal side of things here. “We're here to do our job. It's a family group. The togetherness there of the whole group is brilliant. “Football does give you the opportunity and distraction from those other issues. I'd say my life now is 50-50, football and family, but that's what you want,” concluded the Meath manager.