CIARÁN McKEEVER is arguably the last player you’d expect to be collating stats on the sideline at Croke Park.
You’d expect the Armagh captain to be kicking every ball, shouting for every decision and ordering his troops to empty the tank.
While Armagh enjoyed a long-overdue renaissance in the summer of 2014, McKeever cut a dejected figure on the sidelines when the sun was highest in the sky.
The Cullyhanna man played every Championship game until the Qualifiers win over Roscommon but plantar fasciitis - an injury to the sole of the foot - ruled him out of the Croke Park encounters with Meath and Donegal.
“Strangely enough, I was calm and collected [on the sideline],” said McKeever.
“I knew I had to be focused in order to relay them [the stats] at half-time and give the feedback.
“Myself and Caolan Rafferty were sitting beside each other. We couldn’t get too excited. If we missed anything, Geezer would kill us,” he laughed.
As Armagh prepare to take on the reigning Ulster champions Donegal at the Athletic Grounds on Sunday, McKeever hopes his injury frustrations are a thing of the past.
“Last year, I felt I had a new lease of life. I felt fresh, in good shape and I thought I had overcome my injuries.
“I done my knee after the first National League match and ended up missing the whole National League. I got myself back in good shape again for the Championship and felt good throughout it.
“Then I remember we played an in-house match in Brewster Park the Saturday before we were heading to Croke Park to play Meath.
“I remember driving home from Enniskillen to a family wedding and I was saying to myself ‘I really feel in a good place going into this match’.
“I went to training on the Tuesday night and I tore my plantar fasciitis. It was hard to stomach.
“I knew the Meath game was out. I was still hoping to play the Donegal game. I remember going to the physio and asking the him ‘can I get this injected?’.
“He was having none of that but said ‘if we get over Donegal we’ll have to you ready for the All-Ireland semi-final’.
“It just wasn’t to be but hopefully that’s the injuries over a while.”
As McKeever sits down at a table in the Canal Court Hotel, he makes a joke about the timing of Armagh’s 7am press conference. He stretches and yawns.
It’s clear that the early starts no longer agree with Orchard county skipper. Or perhaps he’d rather just be in his bed.
A couple of seasons ago, McKeever would have been on his way to a building site at this time of the morning but now that he’s permanently based in Dublin and playing his football with St Oliver Plunkett’s, he seems pleased to announce that his days as a plasterer are “long gone”.
“I didn’t get too excited at work… I was there having the craic more or less,” he said.
“But the way things have turned [with the economy], I’m looking down different avenues at the moment, so I’m happy. I’m fresh again.”
McKeever didn’t deliberately hang up the overalls and steel toe-cap boots to enhance his performances but the 13-year inter-county veteran admits the switch may have reset the hourglass on his inter-county career.
“If you want to play at this level, you have to look after yourself better,” he said.
“If you are turning 32, you can’t be getting up at 6am to go to a building site and then rushing to training and maybe not getting to foam roll or stretch before training.
“You’ve got to look around and try and prepare yourself as best you can to compete at this level.”
He even suggests that inter-county players on building sites could soon become a thing of the past.
“It’s probably getting there,” he said.
“I wouldn’t say the day is past but in the next couple of years, there will be more boys in offices.
“There will be very few boys on building sites that are fit to give the commitment especially with the lack of work around these areas and maybe boys having to travel to England and Dublin to work.”
