‘JUST LOOK AT what Meath did.’
They’re words that have been uttered time and time again since last September, when the Royals won their maiden All-Ireland senior title in their first year back in the top-flight.
The remarkable rise of Eamonn Murray’s side has been well documented at this stage; from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs, the pinnacle reached as they dethroned four-in-a-row champions Dublin in a complete Croke Park performance.
They’ve started the next chapter on a high, too, backing up their 2021 exploits by reaching this weekend’s Division 1 final in their first year back in the highest ranks of the league
The Meath story has offered hope and motivation to other counties, and has been referenced across the length and breadth of the country in recent months.
None more so than in Waterford, a county that has been there or thereabouts as a senior team and Division 1 outfit in recent years.
“Absolutely,” captain Karen McGrath nods. “When you look at any team that has just come up from intermediate, people mightn’t give them much of a chance. It could be their first year up in senior and you mightn’t be expecting them to go all the way but Meath really just threw all that out the window.
“They had nothing holding them back, they just focused on their game plan. You can see when they’re playing, they’re such a well-drilled team, they stick to their process. Just such admiration for what they achieved last year, and getting to the league final this year is huge.
“Whether you’re playing at [inter-county] senior level at the minute or if you’re a younger girl on your club team looking at them, it definitely inspires you and gives you hope that, ‘Look they came from intermediate, they won the senior All-Ireland the following year, they’re now in the Division 1 league final.’ The levels they’ve gone up in such a short space of time is huge.
“Definitely, I think every team will be looking at them and saying, ‘If Meath can get to that level so quick, why can’t everyone else?’ It’s an incentive for all teams, and I think it’s just after blowing the championship wide open.”
“You can see now as well that you have Donegal coming up there in the league final against Meath,” she adds. “Either Cork or Dublin have been in every league final over the last however many years, and they have a totally new pairing this year.
“You’re kind of seeing that come to the fore already: other teams are stepping up and really pushing on after seeing what Meath did. It’s brilliant for the game, it makes it a lot more competitive.”
McGrath and her Déise side found themselves pitted against the reigning All-Ireland champions in the group stages of the league.
They fell to a 1-10 to 1-2 defeat to Meath in round two, while other group-stage losses to Dublin (4-7 to 1-4) and Cork (1-14 to 0-14) consigned Pat Sullivan’s side to a relegation play-off against Westmeath.
Waterford secured their top-flight status with 10-points to spare, in a welcome boost for the county ahead of championship.
“I suppose we were drawn into a tough group — Dublin, Cork and Meath — you’re looking at all the champions over the last couple years there. But look, they’re the teams you want to play and the games you want to play in,” Ballymacarbry star McGrath reflects.
“Whilst our scoreboard, we felt, didn’t reflect our performances, we’ve learned something from every game and you can only get better by playing the top teams. Thankfully we got over the line against Westmeath and we’re playing in Division 1 next year.
“It’s been a massive learning curve so far in the league this year. We’ve had a lot of new players. they’ve gotten game time against three of the best teams in the country over the last few years, and just been great so we’ll take a lot from those and look forward to our first round of Munster club against Cork.”
The plan now is to establish themselves as a “really well-gelled unit” by the time championship comes, with no shortage of young, fresh talent — and change — in the set-up of late.
Sullivan returns to the helm once again, having taken the reins back from Kieran Curran and while McGrath’s clubmate Michelle Ryan and other big names have departed, plenty of new faces have arrived on the scene.
The countdown is on now to the white-heat of championship. No draw has been made for the All-Ireland series yet, but the Rebels are up first at provincial level on 8 May with a place in the final against Kerry or Tipperary up for grabs.
“We’re looking at putting in a big shift over the next few weeks,” McGrath nods. “The Munster club is so competitive. It’s just two straight semi-finals, so it really is a do-or-die game.
“Hopefully it goes well, we’re gonna give it our best shot — as is every other team — and hopefully something good will come out of it.”
She’ll be leading the team out as skipper, having excelled in the role over the past few years. It’s a huge honour, McGrath notes, but not something she thinks too much into.
Following the family tradition and in the footsteps of her older sister, Michelle, she smiles: “Look, it’s great. It’s great to be asked and it’s great to have that honour, but at the end of the day, I try not to even put too much mass on it.
“You’re still a player, you’re still in the dressing room, you’re not any different to any of the other girls that are there. I just take it as the only difference I have is going up for the toss and saying heads or tails to find out whoever goes with the wind!”
“Look, I can appreciate it is a great honour and I’m delighted to have been asked,” the UCD student, halfway through a PhD is in Agricultural Science, concludes.
“It is a special thing, especially for your parents going to games and things like that, but I just try and take it in my stride and not think too much about it.”
