Staying in the Hunt
November 30, 2004
John Hunt is realistic enough to appreciate that the Liam McCarthy Cup won't be paraded around the streets of Meath's towns at any stage in the very near future.
Realistic the Royal County hurling manager most certainly is, but he also cares deeply about Meath hurling and possesses a passionate desire to see things improve. His vision is of the senior team climbing up the ladder to at least a position of respectability where they can be competitive against the likes of Dublin, Offaly and Wexford.
That is surely a realistic goal for the county's players to work towards, but it will take plenty of dedicated work and discipline and a fair amount of patience as well.
Clare native Hunt was returned to serve another term as manager at a meeting of the Meath Hurling Committee in Trim in mid-October and, after a first term that brought an early trophy in the shape of the Kehoe Cup, but also some very well-publicised 'player problems', he will undoubtedly hope to move things on in 2005 and make serious strides in his quest to enhance Meath's standing in the small ball code.
Hunt certainly has good people around him, including former Limerick great Eamonn Cregan, a man who has also proven himself as a very astute coach and who brings a wealth of invaluable experience and expertise into the Meath set-up. Having the likes of Cregan on board can only be helpful, particularly with so many young players in the panel who are learning their trade, and Hunt is delighted with his presence.
Talking to Hunt it's very clear that he will do things his way and that he believes that his methods and his ideas can bring the desired improvement in Meath's current position. He looks to a very talented under-21 team which lost to Laois by only three points in the Leinster Special final this year, despite being understrength, and sees considerable hope for the years ahead, particularly as Laois went on to run Kilkenny close in the provincial championship proper.
Bringing the under-21 players in to train with the seniors looks like a very good idea as they can only learn from the more experienced hurlers around them and that will undoubtedly accelerate their progress at a more rapid rate.
Hunt is seriously enthusiastic as he looks ahead and with a fine crop of young players coming through at the moment it's entirely justified. They represent the future of Meath hurling and with the correct guidance they can make a telling contribution and a telling difference in the years ahead.
Cregan, Pat Stephens and John Coughlan will continue to be part of a very strong-looking management team alongside Hunt, while Conor Ferguson from Gaeil Colmcille, Mick Ryan from Kilmessan and John Brennan from Ratoath will be his selectors for the 2005 campaign.
The hope of every hurling supporter in the county has to be that the year will be more harmonious than 2004 and Hunt, quite rightly, prefers to look ahead, rather than dwell on the past.
"The reality is that every player was available," he said as he reflected on the campaign gone by and contemplated the future. "No player actually phoned me and said that he wasn't available, that he didn't want to play under my management.
"They are the facts. There were problems with players not training, but I made it very clear from the outset that 'if you train you play, if you don't train you don't play'. The statistics show that there was a lot of commitment, particularly from the younger players.
"Some of the more experienced players didn't acknowledge the new system the way I would have hoped. Hurling is like a 15-piece orchestra. If two or three people are not tuned in like the rest, you are playing off key. It's the same with hurling and then some blame the conductor."
Hunt's early days in the Meath manager's role brought success with that Kehoe Cup triumph which was achieved courtesy of a comfortable 1-15 to 0-11 final victory over Wicklow at Pairc Tailteann in early February.
However, the National League Div.2B campaign wasn't exactly successful and opened with a five-point loss to Wicklow as they returned to Pairc Tailteann to exact revenge for the Kehoe Cup reversal.
In the Leinster Championship, Laois recorded the anticipated victory at O'Moore Park, Portlaoise, winning by 1-13 to 0-8. Meath had Thomas Reilly sent off after 27 minutes and trailed by 0-4 to 1-9 at the interval, but Hunt must have taken hope from the second-half showing as Meath hurled the home county off the pitch, despite their numerical disadvantage, and held them to just four points. However, too much damage had been inflicted in the opening period and Meath were playing an unsuccessful game of catch-up.
The All-Ireland 'B' Championship brought a victory over Roscommon in Mullingar, but Meath bowed out at the quarter-final stage against Wicklow at Parnell Park when they gave away a very costly four goals and went under by 3-15 to 4-13 after extra-time.
"It has to be appreciated that we had injuries, which certainly didn't help, yet nobody hammered us," Hunt added. "We suffered no hidings; that has to be a positive. We also had no fewer than 11 newcomers for the Leinster Championship game against Laois and we had Thomas Reilly sent off which was a really big blow.
"If we had a full complement of players I believe we might well have won. It's not as negative as some people might think. We have to change the mindset. If we do that I believe we will progress.
"The structures are very good and I would be very happy with the County Committee and the hurling people. There was no problem getting Eamonn Cregan, Pat Stephens and John Coughlan in and they will remain with us. Anything we wanted in terms of resources we got it.
"No county has the likes of these people in their set-up. Why wouldn't you want them with you. Even the likes of Cork and Kilkenny don't have them. They are the very top people and we are very, very fortunate to have them in Meath."
The year 2004 is now history and Hunt is determined to move on and look ahead.
"Meath have to be more rigid and we need to be tougher," the manager added. "It's about finding players who have the backbone and the gut. The younger lads have that. The under-21 team are prepared to put it in.
"We have to accept that certain players are not interested in what I want, hurling played the way I believe it should be played - at a furious pace. We need seven or eight more players. I have to find people who will give me results. We are on the right track with the under-21s. The young lads are certainly there.
"It's all about progression, about bringing them on slowly. It has to be remembered that they are young. Of course, there are eight or 10 more mature lads who are very interested. They will be a huge help and represent the backbone of the team. They are interested in training.
"Preparation wise, we might well be better off in 2005. The campaign gone by was an induction year and you learn a lot about people. My management will have to improve too. I will have to be more hands on, more rigid."
It seems a long time ago now that Meath travelled to London and won the All-Ireland 'B' Senior Championship back in 1993. The hope then was that a long-overdue triumph in that particular competition would lead to much greater things and that the Royal County, which was so accustomed to football triumphs, would start to make serious strides up the hurling ladder.
Regretably, that didn't quite happen, though there were some very decent performances, but if enthusiasm, passion, commitment and a good organisational sense count for much, then John Hunt could well be the man to push Meath firmly in the right direction again.
But what, in his opinion, would represent progress over the next few years?
"If in two or three years time we can compete with the likes of Dublin, Offaly or Wexford, wouldn't that be great," he commented.
A huge amount of hard, dedicated work on behalf of a lot of people, particularly the players and the team management, lies ahead if Meath are to achieve such a standing. It will also require patience, because little can be achieved overnight, but with a good sprinkling of under-age talent coming through there has to be realistic hope that better times are around the corner.
Let's hope that turns out to be the case.
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