McGeeney hoping rivals learn from ‘mistakes’
Referee Syl Doyle sent off seven players when the Leinster rivals clashed in the pre-season competition back in January – five of them after a single mass brawl that broke out towards the end of the first-half.
Fines of €14,000 and suspensions totalling 28 weeks were dished out by the provincial council in the wake of that game which, like this Saturday’s encounter, was played in O’Moore Park in Portlaoise.
“I suppose those things stay in everybody’s head,” said the former Armagh captain yesterday. “I would hope that it would have no bearing. Well, there will be a bit of an edge to it but you would have that in every Armagh-Tyrone game or every Meath-Dublin game. This is a game between neighbouring counties but hopefully we won’t have the same mistakes that we saw the last day.”
Both sides have experienced unpredictable fortunes after the first five rounds. Kildare lie on six points while their weekend hosts have two less but McGeeney seems to know the reasons behind his side’s inconsistencies.
“We haven’t been playing with a full deck at all. Last year, I was playing with a full deck from the start of the year.
“At one stage this year I had 15 of my panel injured. Even last Sunday we were missing three from the previous Sunday through injuries. Plus, we have taken a different attitude to training. It mightn’t pay off this year or it may do so but these are all factors.
“We are only one point worse off than where we were this time last year so there hasn’t been a big difference. People might say we are playing a better brand of football and that might be true. You hope that we would be able to get some sort of consistency but it is very difficult throughout the league. Most teams have been up and down, maybe with the exception of Cork.”
While Laois are looking over their shoulder at the prospect of relegation, such are the tight margins in Division Two right now that only points difference separates Kildare from a place in the two promotion spots.
Elevation to the top flight eluded them last year after defeat to Armagh and a draw with Meath in rounds six and seven which eventually saw them lose out by a point to both Monaghan and Cork. McGeeney would like to make amends for that but his focus is already shifting towards the championship, even if Laois will take up the majority of his time between now and the weekend.
“It would be nice to get it but, at this stage, when you are in March, you are starting to look towards the championship. It will be a tough game against Laois who have improved in the last few weeks.
“They had a tough game there against Meath when they scored 1-9 but they scored 24 points the week before that against Westmeath. They are starting to play and get a bit of pattern in their play.
“Plus, it is a derby. Then we have Meath away in another derby and you are trying to tidy things up and get as close to your championship team as possible in your last two games.”
Referees have also been occupying McGeeney’s thoughts of late. Earlier this week, he bemoaned the growing trend of players being coached to dive and win frees but his main beef appears to be the tackle in general “I think there is a severe lack of consistency, but I hate talking about this because I seem to be the only person who pontificates about referees,” he said.
“A lot of the rule changes and different directions year in year out is going to have its toll – looking for smaller things, like the fist pass and things like that, where obviously the big thing that hits everybody is the tackle.
“There’s no clear definition of it. One week if you’re strong it’s an advantage, the next week it’s a disadvantage. It varies on the referee and the type of game that’s being played.”
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