McGurn: league final is perfect way to prepare

TRAINER Mike McGurn says the Armagh players are so psyched up for next month’s Ulster SFC clash with Derry that they’ve hardly said a word about Sunday’s Allianz league Division 2 final.

The Orchard County face Down at Croke Park on the underbill to the top flight decider between Cork and Mayo.

But according to McGurn, the former IRFU strength and conditioning expert who worked with boxer Bernard Dunne, you’d hardly know there’s a game this weekend as the players are fully tuned into beating Derry on May 16.

“This is great preparation,” said McGurn.

“We were always going to be tapering training for Derry with four weeks to go so this comes at a perfect time.

“We haven’t actually talked about the Down match. You wouldn’t even think there’s a final going on.

“But it’s great to get a game like this because it’s worth 10, 20 training sessions to you.

“It’s great to come down to Croke Park on Sunday because we have a lot of young lads and it will be great for their development as players to experience it. It’ll be great ahead of the Derry game.”

The league final may not have piqued the players’ interest just yet but Fermanagh man McGurn is hugely enthusiastic about the prospect of being involved in a big game at Croke Park.

“It’s a dream come true to actually be involved in a Gaelic game at Croke Park,” he said.