‘I think we are on the up’ - Kyle Donnelly

In a year that the Meath hurling team have been filled with youth and fresh talent, Kyle Donnelly brings experience and is now very much an integral leader in Johnny Greville’s Royal outfit.

Looking ahead to the upcoming NHL Div 2 campaign, the Kilmessan man is optimistic about this year’s setup. He had high praise for Johnny Greville and the overall management team including the new additions to the line-up for 2026

"I think we are on the up. For the last few years we haven't had much structure or game plans. We never really brought in much youth either, it was just the same lads the whole time," Donnelly told the Meath Chronicle.

"This year we have a good few of the u-20's coming in and we are being well coached. Barry (Hennessy) is the best coach I have ever worked with. Johnny is very well organised and he has two very good selectors in Tom (Shine) and 'Crash' (Sean Corrigan). We have a very good backroom team overall. Its early days but already it’s a big improvement on other years.

"I was in Australia when Meath were in the Joe McDonagh the year before last but I think a lot of lads didn't buy into it that year. A lot of lads fell out with Seoirse (Bulfin) and by the time 'Tippy' (Steven Clynch) took over it was probably too late. Johnny came in last year and was very well organised but I don't think we were as well coached as we have been this year."

Last year was largely seen as a disappointing one for the Meath hurlers. The 29-year-old shared some of the learnings that he and the squad took away from the 2025 campaign.

"I felt as if we were a bit late getting into the swing of things last year. We are already fitter than we were last year which is the main thing. We didn't really play well at all last year. Its hard to narrow down the learnings we took from last year because there are things that you take away from every game. Overall, last year we were kind of waiting on results and saying to ourselves, we'll win that one or we might pick up a result here or there. There is none of that this year. We are going out to win every game."

First up in the league for Meath is a clash with London in Trim on Saturday. London stunned the Royals in the opening game of the 2025 Christy Ring and Donnelly is keen to get revenge.

"We owe London one from last year. They caught us on the hop last year with the five goals early on. We were not expecting that. I felt maybe we thought we were going to win and then they just caught us early and we spent most of the game chasing," recalled Donnelly.

"We are going to have a good structure in place and we won't take anything for granted. As I said, we definitely owe them one. I know it didn't work this way last year but you always feel that you have a better chance when London are travelling to you. You don't know what team you will get though. I think it’s important that we try to get the match-ups right this year."

Looking ahead to some of the other fixtures in the league, the 29-year-old speculated that the first three games will be crucial to how Meath’s league campaign fares out.

"We are definitely going out to win all our league games. The Laois game will obviously be the toughest. Westmeath are on the way down the pecking order. The home games will be massive for us and if we can get a bit of a crowd and a bit of a buzz at Trim it will help.

"If we can get off to a good start against London, Westmeath is only down the road and then we have Derry at home. Hopefully, we can target those first three games, get ourselves off to a good start and see from there."

While the squad's immediate focus is very much on the league, Donnelly and the Royals are not losing sight of the overall target which is to win the Christy Ring Cup.

"If we can do well in the league and maybe even nick a promotion, that would be great. We were only a game off it last year when Kildare beat us that day and they went on to win the Joe McDonagh Cup. They only pulled away late on. "Definitely, though the main aim is to win the Christy Ring Cup. I was involved in 2023, but I was injured for most of the year so that was a bit disappointing. On a personal level and as a squad, we definitely want to win the Christy Ring Cup this year and get back up to where we should be."

When asked about previous years of fluctuation between the Joe McDonagh Cup and Christy Ring Cup, Donnelly admitted that it would be huge for Meath if a team could survive the Joe McDonagh Cup for the first year and not get relegated back to the third tier.

"It is hard to step up into the Joe McDonagh Cup from the Christy Ring Cup. The standard is so high. If you can get up to Joe McDonagh Cup and stay up there, it is absolutely massive. It gives you something to build on for the following year. When you go back down to the Christy Ring Cup, you're back chasing the same thing again so it would be a massive step for Meath hurling if we can get up there and stay there," concluded a hopeful and rejuvenated Donnelly.