O Bric aiming to build more success

It’s no secret that Cathal O Bric is a huge figure in terms of the future of Meath GAA at the moment. It is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility that Meath could win an All-Ireland SFC title in the coming years and if that was to happen, a huge portion of the squad will have passed through the hands of the current u-20 manager.

Over the last two years, O Bric has guided Meath to successive Leinster u-20 finals, something that has not been done since the early 90’s, and he is hoping for more success with this year’s crop.

“We are here to win a Leinster title and hopefully an All-Ireland title. That is our aim and I do think success breeds success. We have been in two Leinster finals in a row which hasn’t been done since 1990 and 1991. Out of that batch came the nucleus of the '96 and '99 All-Ireland winning teams,” said O Bric.

"It is about building that consistency of competing at the top table and the apprehension of meeting the likes of Dublin and Kildare is gone now. There is no one that we should be afraid of in the province. After that, the standard goes up but we are starting to dine at the top table again. It’s not 'we might be there' or 'we could be there', it is that we should be there.”

There has been several changes to O Bric’s backroom team this year. O Bric was initially apprehensive about losing lads that have been involved with him through his journey of managing underage Meath teams but those concerns have been eased since by the new coaches that have come in.

“We have a big change to our coaching team this year. Four of the coaches from last year stepped away. Marcus Brennan has gone to Naomh Martin in Louth. Eoin Joyce, Davy Callaghan and Mickey McFadden all stepped down. Some of those lads have been with me since I started managing the u-14 team and they felt that now was the natural time to step away,” said O Bric.

“I was a bit apprehensive about that much change but the lads who have come in are excellent. Shane Barrett has come in from Na Fianna and he is an excellent coach. Trevor Bannon from Ballinabrackey is a really good lad as well. Vinny Mooney hails from Shannonbridge in Offaly but he was involved with Kilmacud Crokes under Robbie Brennan. He brings something a little bit different and is a very good on-field coach. Niall Flynn has stayed on as goalkeeping coach.”

The core of the starting team this year will be made up of lads who have experience from last year's Leinster campaign. O Bric says that the journey to the Leinster final in 2025 will be a huge benefit to the players who are still eligible this year.

“There are 10 lads there with experience from the whole Leinster campaign from last year. In fairness to Louth in that final last year, they came at us with a lot of pace and on the evening, we were not able to cope with it. The experience of beating Dublin in the first round was massive and it was a really landmark performance.

"It was the same against Kildare, we put in a real performance of character on a night where conditions were far from ideal for football. The lads who were involved throughout that campaign made huge strides and we will be building our team around a lot of them this year.”

Last year’s Meath minors had quite a successful run to the All-Ireland MFC tier two final and some of those players will certainly have a role to play in this year's u-20 side. There are also several lads involved who are getting their first taste of competing in a Meath jersey and they have made quite the impression on O Bric.

“We have six lads in from last year's minor squad and they are making a big impression. These lads are not just in to make up numbers. They are tearing it up in training. I would predict that maybe two lads would start from last year's minors. There are also 10 lads who were not involved in any underage academy squad. Three or four of them are in with a good chance of starting as well. They have really responded well since they have come in with us.”

One of, if not the most important part of O Bric’s role as manager of the u-20’s is to develop players for future Meath senior squads. O Bric explained these lads realise that being part of the Meath u-20’s provides them with the pathway to hopefully one day represent their county at senior level.

“Our number one job is to develop lads for the senior team and we have been quite successful at that over the last couple of years. Robbie checks in with us regularly enough and they have an eye on a fair few lads with the hope of bringing them in on the development squad at least,” said O Bric.

“It is an exciting time for Meath football and our lads get a lot from watching the senior team go well and the lads know that the path for them to play senior football for Meath is there for them if they want it enough. The level of coaching and strength and conditioning that they are getting with us is getting them ready for the next step.”

Meath will begin their Leinster u-20 FC campaign on Wednesday 25th March away to Carlow. Laois and Longford are also in Meath’s group which on paper looks rather favourable for O Bric and his squad of young Royals.

2026 Meath u-20 squad: Blackhall Gaels -Liam Jennings; Clann na nGael -Cormac Smith, Ben Corkery; Donaghmore/Ashbourne -Evan Kelly; Dunsany -Stephen Cahill; Gaeil Colmcille -John Gormley, Andrew Gormley, Shane Callaghan; Kilbride - Luke Faherty; Kilmainham - Michael Hoey; Na Fianna - Sam Jordan; Navan O’Mahonys - Sean Betson; Oldcastle - Paul Hennessy, Pat Crawley, Thomas Sheridan; Rathkenny - Ciaran O’Hare, Finn Moore; Ratoath - Adam Ducie, Paddy White; Seneschalstown - Cian Commons, Colin Scanlon, Charlie Finnegan; Skryne -Billy Smyth; St Colmcille’s - Cormac O’Donoghue, Kyle O’Brien, Eoghan McBrearty; St Michael’s - Conall O’Sullivan, Gearoid O’Malley; St Peter’s - John Harkin, Sean Delaney, Eoin McCrudden, Charlie Gallagher; St Ultan’s - Cillian Yore; St Vincent’s - Michael McIvor; Walterstown - Conor McEntee; management team: manager - Cathal O Bric; coaches - Shane Barrett, Niall Flynn, Trevor Bannon, Vinny Mooney; physios - Conor Doran, Jack Lanigan; performance coaches - Dan Glynn; nutritionist - David Tobin; S & C coaches - Daithi McCabe, Martin Cahill, Francis Marry, Andrew Kenny; performance analysis - Shane O’Brien; kitman - Darren Moran; Head of football - Paul Garrigan.