Queeney believes unrest will galvanise Meath

GAA: THE CONSIDERABLE unrest and apparent crisis that hounded Meath football last month is completely done with, according to forward Jamie Queeney, and if anything has strengthened their resolve as the championship approaches.

The astonishing chain of events that ultimately resulted in manager Seámus McEnaney surviving a county board vote to get rid of him – and be replaced by Seán Boylan – wasn’t “anything to do with the” players, says Queeney, and their only concern throughout the backroom shifting was what happened on the field.

“There were a lot of things going on that weren’t anything to do with us and we just wanted to get back on the pitch,” he says. “You are on the field and you have no worries. Work or family or things like that are at the back of your mind.

“People don’t seem to understand the work we all have to go through. We all have jobs and we all go training five or six nights a week since January and it is unfair, but that is the game we are in, and we have to put up with it. We are thick-skinned and we will all get on with it.”

With Meath’s championship opener against Wicklow looming on May 27th, there is the belief among the players that the crisis has actually brought the team closer together: “It’s not a hope,” he says, “we know that will bond us. We can even see it at training, we are sticking together.

“We know everything that went wrong, and things have been said about us. We hadn’t a good league and fair enough but as players we just need to hold up our hands and say we need to perform better. We had a few meetings and decided we would all knuckle down for the championship.”

Meath have been back with their clubs for the past two weeks, and only returned to county training this week – which also meant the return of a certain Joe Sheridan, who initially decided to spend the summer in America: “It’s good to have him back,” says Queeney. “We welcome any player into the panel, especially one of Joe’s calibre. He is a good character to have in the dressingroom.

“People have to leave for different reasons and no one held it against him. No one said ‘why are you leaving us now?’ One player isn’t going to win you a championship, or lose you a league. It’s just good to have him back.”

Queeney endured his own struggles during the league as he recovered from a broken cheekbone, and briefly wore a protector mask. “I broke it in two places, back in January. I worked hard to get back. It didn’t restrict me too much although I had a couple of weeks out. I started a bit in the gym but I had to go to England to get a mask made up so I could play, that helped me a lot. I have two plates put in as well, one above the eye and one below. It was a bad knock.”

“As for our league form, I think the Kildare defeat really knocked a lot out of us. We put so much into that game, played well and could have sneaked a victory. Lord, who knows if we had won that game where it would have taken us?

“Positivity and having good vibes in our camp is massive and a bit of confidence. I think the bit of confidence was just drained out of us and then losing to Galway the following week knocked it out of us. I don’t really know. It is a mystery as to how it happened but it is our job to get it back.”