Regan relishing return to Croke Park

There have been times this year when it hasn't all been plain sailing for Meath's joint captain Jack Regan.

He endured a frustrating start to the season when a persistent groin injury ruled him of much of Meath's early NHL Div 2B campaign.

The Kiltale man's first full outing came in the round four win over Tyrone in mid-March, but by the time the league final rolled around on the 2nd April Regan was very much back in the fold and on the frees as he scored 11 points (nine frees) in the 0-20 to 0-14 victory over Donegal which secured promotion back to Div 2A for 2024.

Regan's return was crucial for manager Seoirse Bulfin and his form from open play since coming back has been nothing short of sensational in the Royals road to the Ring Cup final.

There were occasions, most notably against London and Derry, when Regan's regular unerring accuracy from dead balls looked to desert him, but he never panicked and through sheer hard work he recaptured his form with outstanding returns against Tyrone and Sligo.

"In my first year playing with Kiltale in 2012 we were playing Dunboyne in a quarter-final and I missed about seven or eight frees," recalled Regan when speaking to the Meath Chronicle.

"Johnny Donoghue, who is actually over us now, came up to me and said 'it doesn't matter how many you miss, you'll be taking the next one, just settle down and put it over the bar'.

"Just that little bit of reassurance was great, to be told you are okay, no one is coming in to take you off, that gives you a boost. So I've learned a lot from that and that isn't something I get too bogged down with now.

"Obviously it was worrying that I was missing them. I probably missed five or six in London and something similar up in Owenbeg, so it was worrying.

"After the game against London I felt I needed to get up to the pitch and get some extra practice in, but then I was sick that week going into the game in Owenbeg. I was in absolute ribbons at home on the couch all week, so I wasn't able to practice my frees at all.

"That obviously got into my head in Owenbeg. I knew I hadn't had any practice and that played on my mind and obviously the frees didn't go well in Owenbeg.

"After that game I was chatting to Seoirse and I told him not to worry about the frees that they would be alright going forward.

"We had two weeks to the next game against Tyrone and I spent 13 hours, outside of normal training, practicing frees. I was sick to my teeth going to the pitch, but I went and I got into Pairc Tailteann for a couple of extra practice sessions and I didn't miss any against Tyrone which was a nice little reward that proved practice will pay off.

"Missing the early part of the season, frustrating and all as it was, probably has stood to me being eased back into it, but the injury is still there slightly and it has been managed well by the team.

"Ciaran Keogh, the S&C coach, and the physios have been so good. Every Tuesday after most games is a fairly light session for myself. It sounds mental, but I'm just building for the next game from the Tuesday night, training hasn't been hectic for myself.

"In years gone by you wouldn't have got that opportunity with management who would have been pushing you to be training at every single session, with the injury I have I'm not able to do that."

After the disappointment of double relegation from NHL Div 2A and the Joe McDonagh Cup the Meath hurlers could have been forgiven if they had endured a slump year, a time to lick their wounds and then regroup with a slow and steady influx of new, young players.

However, Regan insists that wasn't the case. Bulfin went about introducing new blood straight away and that 'freshness' has been key to helping Meath achieve three out of four of their goals, so far.

"We were set four goals at the start of the year. Get to the NHL Div 2B final and win it and get to the Christy Ring Cup final and win it. We have achieved three of them and the fourth one is now dangling in front of us," said Regan.

"It is a matter of going on now and winning it and getting back up (to Joe McDonagh Cup). Obviously we will be back in Div 2A next year, so we want to get back up to McDonagh next year too.

"It wasn't too hard to refocus the minds after the disappointment of last year. There was an element of total freshness about the whole thing because there are so many new faces and young lads in.

"I know for a fact from when I was a young lad, these young lads have a far greater attitude than we did. They never miss a gym or a pitch session, it is unbelievable.

"Being able to focus the minds has a lot to do with those young lads being brought in, they added total freshness so it wasn't that difficult at all to pick the pieces back up and go again.

"You can't buy experience at all, that's for sure.

"JT (James Toher) coming back in was a big plus. It would have been very easy for Burkey (Mickey Burke) and lads like that to throw their hat at it because he wasn't getting game time a couple of months ago, but he stayed at it and now he has probably been our player of the Christy Ring so far.

"Having lads like Shane Brennan back there and playing well, they're steady minds back there and that has been key.

"There is unbelievable depth there now. You are looking over your shoulder every night now to make sure you are in the starting 15 every week. Then the minute the ball is thrown in you're looking over your shoulder to make sure you're not whipped.

"For the first time in years we have lads on the matchday 26 wondering are they going to be able to hold their place on the 26 sure is the competition for places.

"We have lads coming back from injury too, the likes of Sully (Mark O'Sullivan), James Murray, Kyle Donnelly, Shep (Stephen Morris), there is seriserious strength there now.

"In comparison to last year when we were getting a couple of spankings in the Joe Mc we just about had a panel of players. It's amazing what a bit of a winning streak can do for you, for the confidence to keep things going in the right direction."

So what about Derry? Will Meath take heart from the win over the Ulster side in Owenbeg earlier in the campaign?

"I wouldn't be reading anything into the game in Owenbeg whatsoever. When you go down to 14 men it can either go for you or work against you and it well and truly worked for us that day," recalled Regan.

"Coming off the loss to London we knew we had to win in Owenbeg. We had no choice. If we didn't win that game we were gone. We found something that day and pulled it out of the bag.

"Were we lucky to do so? I don't think so, but will it count for anything next Saturday? Absolutely not.

"Any team was capable of beating everyone in the group. I thought London were fantastic, they had players from Cork, Limerick and Clare, all exceptional hurlers. It has been as competitive a Christy Ring as I can ever remember."

With all the hard work done, Regan is looking forward to the occasion. As captain of the team he is urging Meath supporters to travel to Croke Park in their droves to support the team.

Regan believes that a noisy vocal support behind the team could be the key. It was crucial in helping the team over the line against Tyrone and he hopes the supporters travelling to Parnell Park for the footballers Tailteann Cup game earlier on Saturday afternoon will make the short trip over to Croke Park for the 5pm throw-in.

"We have done 100 and something sessions this year. I heard Colm O'Rourke remarking when he was commenting on Donal Og Cusack's statements that he knows how hard the hurlers work because he sees us in Dunganny every night. We train as hard as any other county team in the country.

"After putting in that amount of work and sessions we are going there to win that game at all costs and hopefully we can do that.

"Seeing the supporters coming into Pairc Tailteann for the second-half against Tyrone really lifted us. They were coming in to watch the footballers against Tipperary, but hearing them roar us on really helped us in the closing stages and hopefully they'll get behind us again in Croke Park.

"If the Meath supporters can at all make their way from Parnell Park to Croke Park next Saturday to get behind us we'd love as much support behind us as we can get," concluded the Kiltale man.