Trevor Giles

Age: 24

Position: Centre forward

Debut: 1994 Leinster first round v Laois.

Championship Appearances: 24 - Scored: 479

Honours: All-Ireland SFC 1996; Leinster SFC 2 (1996, and '99); NFL 1994; GAA Writers' and Players' Player of the Year 1996; All Stars 1996, '97.

Background: An under-age star on the 1992 and '93 minor teams, Giles graduated on to the senior panel in 1994, the same year he was awarded UCD's first Gaelic football scholarship. Son of former Meath dual player Eamonn, he plays club football in Skryne and was a major influence on UCD's Sigerson Cup victory in 1996 - the college's first in 11 years. Later that summer he proved himself footballer of the year as Meath lifted the All-Ireland after a replay with Mayo - an accolade which was confirmed later in the year when he picked up every major individual award on offer.

Strengths: He has every skill in the game, with vision and can kick off left and right. He's very calm on the big occasion and doesn't panic. At times he can seem too casual but the approach always seems to work out for him. He started slowly enough in the Leinster final, missing a couple of frees, but finished in tremendous style. Ollie Murphy's goal was made very easy by the pass which Trevor directed into him. He gets the best out of himself and always concentrates on the next ball. He roams with a sense of purpose and is always capable of spraying good ball around. It's hard to see Meath functioning without him in the team. He has tremendous willpower off the field and his attitude is exemplary - as was proved by his recovery from serious injury. His body language on the ball tells you how good his attitude is. He thinks positively all the time.

Weaknesses: He's not really a great ballwinner in man-to-man situations and he relies a lot on his positioning and reading of the game to get to ball first. For someone to be such an effective centre forward without being particularly good at contesting ball is a sort of a tribute in itself. As a place-kicker he misses the odd one and at times he can drift out of matches, but that's a slightly harsh generalisation.