McGeeney rises to the occasion as he plots Dubs' demise

GAELIC GAMES NEWS ROUND-UP: GAVIN CUMMISKEYon imitation as the sincerest flattery as Kildare follow the Dublin early-start template ahead of their Leinster semi-final clash

“The Spartans carried their shield in their left hand, and their spear in their right, to protect the man beside them. That was their sole focus in battle – to make sure the man beside them survived. They became the most invincible army in the world.

“It was through that philosophy that my football started to flourish and we tried to build it through the Armagh team. And eventually we did – your sole purpose was to make the man beside you look good. And when you follow that philosophy, to me, your team becomes almost invincible.”

– Kieran McGeeney, speaking at the Pope John Paul II awards in Kildare back in 2009.

THERE IS a budding rivalry that we should pay heed to. Pat Gilroy has been conducting Dublin media sessions at 8am to enable journalists get their feed of quotes and to ensure he and his players can get off to work afterwards.

Most hacks are night owls so it is no harm to drag us from our cots.

A few days ago an email landed in from Kildare liaison officer Morgan O’Callaghan. Sure enough, they too were conducting an 8am press conference, yesterday, at their perfectly-manicured Hawkfield training complex on the outskirts of Newbridge.

McGeeney and Gilroy have crossed paths on the Dublin football fields over the years, the former Armagh captain being once a long-time servant of Na Fianna in Glasnevin, just a few clicks up the road from Gilroy’s beloved St Vincent’s in Marino.

McGeeney is 39, Gilroy 41.

Both have introduced distinct styles of Gaelic football, philosophies if you like, whereby ravenous defence is coupled with rapidly-formed attacks in an effort to tear opponents asunder.

“They have a great system,” said McGeeney as the world was stirring yesterday morning. “Since Pat has come in they have made a lot of good changes to the set-up. They don’t deviate from it and it has gone well for them. They have gone from sort of also-rans to up there with the best.

“There probably isn’t that many weaknesses to their structure. They are just trying to break into that elite group at the top and they have been close enough the last few years and they are probably hoping that this is their year.”

So too are Kildare. That means come Sunday week, in the Leinster semi-final at Croke Park, something has to give.

That Kildare followed the Dublin model of morning gatherings is no coincidence. It seems like a statement of intent.

We could go so far as to infer mind games. But, for sure, we have ourselves a genuine rivalry.

This game won’t define either county’s year – that happens in August or maybe even September – but it will provide a barometer of how sustainable the new contenders really are.

McGeeney has evolved from a natural on-field leader to a shrewd operator off it these past three seasons.

Despite undoubted progress by Kildare since he took control as a rookie manager in 2009 – narrowly losing to Tyrone in an All-Ireland quarter-final before Down squeezed into last season’s All-Ireland final at their expense – criticism continues to flow down his channel. In the impressive defeat of Meath on June 5th they scored 16 points but also kicked 18 wides. Can they beat Dublin with a similar return?

“We will if they score less than us. I don’t mind that kind of thing as long as we keep hitting the shots.

“Ye seem to be a lot more worried about this than I am. If we hit 18 wides and beat Dublin by a point I will be the happiest man there.”

Never an admirer of media agendas, it is evident in the way he turns a perceived negative into a positive when answering a question about whether the Kildare defence has solidified since 2009 when they lost the Leinster final to Dublin.

“You would hope so but it’s like the way people mention the scoring thing but we have the second highest scoring forward line over the last two years in the championship, if you take our average per game.

“Each team provides a new challenge. Dublin probably have the most potent full-forward line in the country right now with the two Brogans and Diarmuid Connolly, who are all very natural footballers.

“They don’t even seem to have to try to get the scores. It seems like the rest of the Dublin team are willing to give up the game just to make those three look good and that is an unusual trait in a team.”

And yet McGeeney, long viewed as the most intense player in GAA life, appears to have been calmed, and certainly reinvigorated, by managerial life.

“I love it. It is as close as I get to playing again. You are constantly learning and if I am still in it in 40 years I will still be learning. Every game, every time you open your mouth you learn as well. You seem to say things that are wrong or that some people perceive to be wrong.

“Everything involved in management from the coaching, the one-to-ones with players is all about constant learning. Sometimes it can get to you but that is part and parcel of every job, I would say.”