‘You have to embrace the fact it’s not just another game’... Bulfin’s approach vindicated with final victory

When he walked into the media room to talk to reporters after Saturday's dramatic victory over Derry one of the first people Seoirse Bulfin met was player Sean Geraghty who had just completed his media interviews.

The two men shared an instinctive congratulatory hug. A heartfelt hug that symbolised just what winning the Christy Ring Cup meant to both manager and his players. They had embarked on a long, lengthy journey together, a rocky road at times, and reached their destination. Together.

Also in the media room was Seoirse Bulfin's wife Sharon and their three daughters. They, perhaps more than most, appreciated what was involved in Saturday's victory. The sacrifices made.

They would have been aware of the the time spent by the Limerick man in travelling from his home in the south west across country up to places like Dunganny and Trim for weekly training sessions and games, not to mention other far-flung places Meath visited on their way to a league and cup double.

Bulfin's family were, no doubt, in Carrick-on-Shannon when the NHL Div 2B title was won in early April and they were there again on Saturday as Meath built on a 0-17 to 0-7 interval advantage to chalk up their third Ring Cup title to match previous triumphs in 2016 and 2019 with players Jack Regan and Eamon Og O Donnchadha firing over some sensational scores. Not that it was a walk in the Park. It wasn't.

When Nicky Potterton scored a brilliant individual goal early in the second-half, his jet-heeled run taking past would be tacklers, Meath looked unstoppable. That scintillating score into the Hill 16 end, helped the Royals surge into a commanding 1-19 to 0-10 lead after 44 minutes, their place in the sun seemingly assured. A rout looked a real possibility. Then it all started to go a little awry as Derry came surging back, helped by a Cormac O'Doherty goal from a free. It took some real resilience to withstand the Ulster team's resurgence in the latter stages, Meath's cause helped by their opponent's tendency to spurn some good opportunities.

But what about that half-time lead? What does a manager say to his players when they are that much in front? "It's funny it's one of those things. It's an awkward place to be at times, you have to try, for starters, to keep your feet on the ground," Bulfin added.

"We knew we couldn't rest on our laurels we knew how good Derry were, we knew they would come back at us with everything in the second-half and we had to try and weather that storm. We were under no illusions at half-time as to the challenges ahead of us."

Bulfin was a coach when Clare managed by Davy Fitzgerald, won the MacCarthy Cup in 2013, so he knows plenty about the unique challenges faced by a team appearing in a big final in the Big House.

"I have been lucky enough to be involved with some teams up here and you pick up experience as to how to manage it best for the lads in the run in to the final," he said.

The Meath manager also hinted at the kind of issues a manager faces before a game like the Ring Cup final on the splendid sun-dappled surface of Croke Park. Do you treat it like just another game, play it down, or do you hype up the importance of it all? Bulfin it appears, went for something in between.

The approach certainly appears to have worked because from the throw in Meath were in the zone. They powered on to conjure up some highly inventive, invigorating hurling. The kind of quality hurling that helped them to build up that interval advantage that was, as events turned out, to be needed.

"Again at this level, it's slightly different. There's no point in trying to hide from the fact it's not just another game, it's an All-Ireland final, for some of those lads it might be the only chance they'll get to be involved at this level. You have to embrace all that is involved. You have to embrace the fact that it's not just another game. Yet, ultimately, when the ball is thrown in it becomes just another game. If you play the occasion you are going to be under pressure.

"Janey that first half blew me away, the hurling we played, the scores we got were phenomenal, that's something when you are working hard on the training pitch, developing a particular style, looking to mix up your play, to see it come to fruition in an All-Ireland final is phenomenal. At half-time you would prefer it was the full-time whistle because you knew what was coming in that second-half. "

Those words give a hint of the kind of satisfaction Bulfin gets when all the planning on the training ground works out on the day - but there was another aspect to his job that he clearly finds difficult.

In previous interviews, the Limerickman has referred to how one of the most unappealing aspects of management is telling players who might be strong candidates for a start that in fact they will be on the bench. He had to do it before Saturday's showdown telling previous regular Padraig O'Hanrahan he would not be in the first 15. The Ratoath player did come on and in typical fashion worked and worked to help his team across the line.

"It's exceptionally difficult thing to do, tell a player he is going to miss out. I said to Podge during the week he would not be starting and I said to him straight after the match you proved me wrong and he did. He had a super league, got injured and was back starting all the games in the championship, probably had gone a little off form, didn't have the best games in the last few outings.

"I said it to him during the week and today in the hotel that I was expecting him to come on and win the game and he did that. It was great to see him come out of our defence with that last ball, he earned a free, it was fantastic for Podge. It's a very difficult thing for a manager or coach to tell a player they are not in the 26, they are not in the 15 but that's the culture, the ethos within the group, it's very much a collective. It's not about one person, there's 38 lads involved."

Then it was time for Bulfin to finally have a chat with his patiently waiting family. Finally.