FORMER Meath footballer Trevor Giles has suggested his county will reel in rivals Dublin at some stage, and that the All-Ireland holders could easily suffer a dip in fortunes like the Leinster rugby team has.
Giles had a three-year stint as selector alongside current Meath manager Mick O’Dowd though they were unable to overcome Dublin in that period and, if anything, lost ground on their neighbours and rivals. Giles, a two-time All-Ireland medallist in the 1990s, said he has no doubt that the situation will change at some stage and that Meath will be at least a match for the current All-Ireland champions in the future.
Dublin are currently chasing a four-in-a-row of Allianz league titles and, later in the season, a fourth All-Ireland title since 2011, while Meath’s immediate target is promotion back to Division Two: “No doubt, no doubt things will change,” said Giles.
“You look at the Leinster rugby team, a few years ago everybody was saying they were brilliant, their academies were brilliant and attendances were great. But once you lose a couple of players, the likes of Brian O’Driscoll, they are very hard to replace. I think things will change a bit.”
Giles was a selector during last year’s Championship campaign before stepping down. He insisted that it was simply due to the time constraints as a self-employed physio with three children. He said that, from his involvement with the Meath players, there is no sign of any inferiority complex.
“I think the players Mick and the selectors are picking, they’d only be picking them based on them having that right mindset,” said Giles.
“The likes of James McEntee, a cracking young player, he’d have that mentality. Donal Keogan would epitomise that big time too. I’d say the fellas Mick has in there would have that belief, absolutely, yeah.”
Meath opened this season’s Division Two account with a gutsy win over Armagh before going down to Fermanagh, scoring just six points in Enniskillen. Giles believes they will still be promoted, but reckons they need four wins out of their remaining five games.
“Mick O’Dowd will probably get them promoted with winning five games in Division Two, if you win the right five games,” said Giles.
“That’s not leaving him a whole lot of room for error with five games to go because they’ll have to win four of them.”
