Laois’s Justin McNulty won’t be budged on principles – even by old team-mate

These are testing times for the old guard of Armagh football. Paul Grimley, the man who helped mastermind their sole All-Ireland success all of 11 years ago, couldn’t quite turn back the clock against Cavan on Sunday, the tameness of their Ulster championship exit more surprising than the result itself.

Now, two members of that All-Ireland-winning defence find themselves plotting the downfall of the other, when Laois host Louth in Sunday’s first round of the Leinster football championship: along the sideline will stand Justin McNulty, now in his third season as Laois manager, and also Aidan O’Rourke, in his first season as Louth manager – when for many years McNulty stood somewhere behind O’Rourke in that celebrated Armagh defence.

Not only that, but whoever does emerge victorious may yet find themselves plotting the downfall of a third member of that Armagh defence, in the form of Kildare manager Kieran McGeeney.

“Freak of nature,” said McNulty. “There is no explanation. If you were to say to us, 10 years ago, that’s what we’d be doing, where we’d be, all of us would have said, ‘you’re having us on, you’re pulling my leg.’ It is extraordinary.”

McNulty doesn't hesitate in throwing out the compliments – a mild form, perhaps, of reverse psychology. "Sure, Aidan and I have been at war many times together, in the trenches since we were at school, playing together since we were 14 years old. We know each other inside out.

'Meticulous planner'
"Aidan is a meticulous planner, tactically astute, a fantastic motivator and his attention to detail is phenomenal."

McNulty is not just speaking in flattering terms: Louth drew with Laois in their Division Two game of the Allianz Football League, a little unlucky to let a five-point lead slip in the last 10 minutes.

Portlaoise will certainly hold no fear for Louth, but McNulty also stresses the importance of getting the mental approach right. “It certainly hasn’t been steady progress,” he said of his three seasons to date. “There have been stormy waters along the way, plain sailing for periods too. I would always stick by my values, always stick by my principles, and I won’t be moved on that.”

What McNulty is hinting at there is last summer’s first-round defeat to Longford, 1-10 to 0-12. But McNulty stood by his principles, and was rewarded with qualifier wins over Carlow, Monaghan, Leitrim and Meath.

“Guys were uneasy with the huge disappointment of being beaten by Longford, but they stayed tight. They kept their troubles in house. We always decided guys were going to go forward. When that happens then things can be put back on the road.”