‘The job appealed to me because I knew the potential within the group’

New Meath camogie manager Stephen Shiel has high hopes for the season ahead.

Given that the new Meath Camogie manager Stephen Shiel hails from Carlow and has lived in Westmeath for the last 15 years, it was rather fitting that the Royals were drawn with those two counties in particular for the All-Ireland Intermediate camogie championship series.

The former Carlow senior hurler took on the role of Meath camogie manager in November following Anton O’Neill’s exit after a poor showing from the Royals in 2025. Meath have struggled to reach the heights of 2023 when they were beaten the All-Ireland final. Shiel is the fourth manager since then to take over at the helm.

“The job appealed to me because I knew the potential within the group. You can see there is a real hunger to push the standards and move this group on. It was the right environment for me to step into with players who want to work, want honesty and are open to improvement. It is a challenge worth taking on and it’s exciting,” said Shiel.

The former Sigo hurling manager is not putting a huge emphasis on success in this year's league which gets underway this weekend. Shiel is more focused on progressing the group as a whole and building something sustainable.

“Success for me in the league is progress. We need to be a better team in six months' time than we are now. If we are fitter, sharper and more connected as a unit, then come the championship we will be in good shape. For me, the league is about building something more sustainable. If we are able to improve game on game during the league we will be moving in the right direction. Obviously, you want to win leagues as well but it is not the be-all and end-all if we don’t.”

First up for the Royals in both the league and All-Ireland championship is their neighbours Westmeath. As a resident of the county, Shiel is not unfamiliar with the camogie landscape in the Lake County.

“I am living in Westmeath so I know the club scene a little bit and I know what they can bring. We know the players that we need to target and try to keep quiet and they know ours. I have seen a good chunk of the Westmeath girls playing over the last few years but it is hard to tell what they are going to be like on the day. We will take it as it comes and hopefully we will come out the right side of it.”

Preparation behind the scenes has been going well for Shiel and the Meath squad. The Carlow native said that the squad have delivered in everything that he has asked of them so far.

“We played Kilkenny u-23’s, Kildare, Roscommon and Dublin. It is great looking at girls in training and amongst themselves but when you put them into a competitive game, you can see what they have. All the players have responded well. They have a huge openness to learn and they want to improve. That is all any coach or manager can ask of his players,” said Shiel.

“We have our own targets and ambitions but it’s down to the girls. If they train well and the results will follow hopefully. We want to be at the business end of the competitions but the only thing that the girls can control right now is the amount of work that they put in. To be fair, everything that they have been asked to do so far they have delivered on and more.”

There are plenty of fresh faces amongst the squad this year but that has been the case in Meath panels for several years. Turnover of players is an issue that camogie county teams have to face and in that regard Meath are in the same boat as a lot of their opposition.

"If you look at Meath there has been a big turnover in players over the last three or four years. There might be only nine or 10 players that have been consistently there. However, there is a big turnover in nearly all the counties. It doesn’t really matter who you are facing, you still have to go out and perform. Players that you are coming up against are obviously good enough to get on the team and the starting 15. We are all in the same boat at the moment.”

There have been a handful of notable players over the last decade that have successfully represented Meath in both camogie and football at the same time. This year there are no dual inter-county players and Shiel thinks that the day of representing your county in both codes has passed.

“A lot of the girls would play football with their clubs but there are no inter-county dual players this year. It takes a huge commitment from the individual player. They can’t give a 100% to either team and they end up falling between stools. If someone is able to do both hats off to them but in this day and age it is very hard to manage.”

For those who are talented enough to represent their county in both football and hurling, the issue of having to choose one over the other is a tough one. Meath ladies footballers' success in recent years has influenced that decision for some but Shiel is intent on bringing camogie up to the level that the footballers have been operating at. He also said that the potential return of a certain Aoife Minogue from her travels may prove to be crucial.

“If girls want to choose football over camogie that is their choice but for me, I want to bring the camogie up to the level that the football has been at. I suppose people are rowing in behind the football and there is a bit of success and glam to it. There is no difference in the girls' training for camogie or football. They have put in the same amount of work and the same standards are there,” said Shiel.

“If someone like Aoife Minogue was to return home from Australia and choose camogie, you would hope that that would turn a few more heads to come back that way as well. It is about building and putting structures in place so that girls are not playing second fiddle to the football anymore and that they are equal.”

In his time with the Na Fianna hurlers, Shiel became friendly with Niall Burke. Burke has guided Na Fianna camogie to the last three successive senior club titles and he will join Shiel’s management team this year as a selector.

“When I was with the Na Fianna hurlers, I got to know Niall (Burke) around the club. I always had great conversations with him about GAA in general. It was a no-brainer given the success he has had with Na Fianna camogie," enthused Shiel.

"Niall knows every girl in the county. He knows their habits, their potential, their standards, whether they are left-handed or right-handed. He knows them all inside out and he is a great asset to have.”

Since the turn of the millennium, the club camogie scene in Meath has been dominated predominantly by Kilmessan while Na Fianna have become a recent powerhouse. Those two clubs have proven to be a long way ahead of their opposition within the county but from the Royals’ perspective, Shiel does not think that the lack of competition at club level has much bearing on the county team itself.

“Obviously, Na Fianna and Kilmessan have been very dominant on the club scene. It can work to your advantage or it can get stale if you are relying on one or two clubs to provide the spine of your team," said Shiel.

"There are seven players on the panel from both Kilmessan and Na Fianna and the rest are spread among several clubs. My job is to get the best 15 players available in the county on the field at the same time. It doesn’t really matter if there are 10 from one club or one, my job is to get our group to gel together.

"It’s not about what clubs the players represent as long as they're willing to put their best foot forward for Meath.”

The aim for Meath and Shiel in 2026 will be to is to progress as a squad and be competitive. That journey starts this weekend when the Royals travel to Mullingar for a clash with their neighbours in the opening round of the National Camogie League Div 2.