Rumours of Royal flux an ace up Meath’s sleeve

Brendan O’Brien

For the past week, mutterings in the Royal county suggest something isn't clicking for Sean Boylan's men as they gear up for battle with the old enemy.

But Talty finds the idea of Meath struggling the week before the game unbelievable.

"Everyone says Meath like to hide in the long grass. We ' know the challenge Meath will bring, especially against Dublin. Form counts for nothing in a game like this," says the Galway man.

"I know what Meath lads are like, I teach with a few of them and they've been telling me things aren't great or they're missing this or that guy and I just have to say to them, 'lads, stop will ye? I've heard it all before'.

"There's no way Sean Boylan is going to bring a Meath team to Croke Park that's unprepared. It's just not going to happen."

What isn't debatable is the build-up to the latest episode in the saga between the Leinster neighbours has lacked the intensity of meetings in years gone by.

The difference is Dublin's approach. As Talty said, Meath prefer to wait in the long grass. Dublin are usually the more high-profile side in the week

before the game, as in 2002 when Tommy Lyons was whipping his county into something of a frenzy.

Paul Caffrey has taken the opposite route, talking down Dublin's chances, arguing they are no more than a top-12 team in the country, and most efforts to interview his players are met with polite but negative replies.

The 19-point destruction of Longford three weeks ago may have got the more impressionable of Dublin followers dreaming of September glory, but most of the rank and file are playing their cards closer to their chests until they can judge on firmer grounds.

"After the Longford game people were getting carried away with the win, not anyone in the camp though. We know we played reasonably well, but Longford were missing a lot of players and didn't perform on the day. They stopped playing altogether with 20 minutes to go," says Talty.

Despite Caffrey's Dublin have not shaken off the favourites' tag for this one. Meath may have only missed out on the Division Two title by the width of Mark Ward's fist but Dublin put in some impressive displays in the top flight Cork aside.

The win over Longford has blown out any of the cobwebs that might have gathered since and they field a first-choice XV, unlike Meath, who will be without Trevor Giles. However, Talty says: "Meath had a fantastic league, in fact I'd even say they had a better league than Dublin. It doesn't matter what games you're playing, Division One or Two. As long as you're winning, morale is increasing, and Meath won more than us. "N o one wants to be favourites, I suppose. It's an Irish thing really because all of us prefer to play that underdog role."

As 15-8 favourites for Leinster, that's a role Dublin won't play until they are done with the provincial competition. Tommy Lyons said recently that, while there is a Leinster in this team, he believes there isn't an All-Ireland.

Caffrey may disagree but will be privately delighted his old boss has dragged expectation levels down a few notches.

Talty says: "When you look at teams like Kerry and Armagh you would have to say they are head and shoulders above anyone else. The thing is, any team can lose one or two of their top players at any time and that can change things overnight.

"The other side of that is any team can get a run going and build up a good bit of momentum. The championship changes from week to week."