Gallagher ready for another Royal appointment

RETIREMENT reversals are en vogue for Meath goalkeepers and David Gallagher is readying himself for a third coming.

After two previous spells between the posts for the Royal County, the 31-year-old is once again wearing the jersey vacated by the retired Brendan Murphy, who now acts as the team’s goalkeeping coach.

Former International Rules net-minder Gallagher doesn’t seem to be too perturbed by neighbours Dublin’s prominence on his return either.

“You look at games they won last year, there was a pocket of luck probably involved too, “he said. “Fair play to Dublin, they’ve been around the last three or four years and it’s probably taken them that long to come through but if you stick at it you just never know on the day.

“You wouldn’t be betting on anyone this year. It’s very hard to put back-to-back All-Irelands together too. Obviously, Dublin are in good shape and you just never know. You just keep the effort up and keep it going. We won’t be throwing in the towel just yet.”

Gallagher was actually called into the panel by Seamus McEnaney last year but admits he was “a bit disinterested“.

With two young children, the Dunboyne man has been busy but accepted the invitation to return this season.

“They told me that there was a place for me this year. I’m 32 in March and the years are slipping a little bit but I still feel fresh. I suppose the Aussie (International Rules) trip a few years ago kept me a little bit fresh in the goalkeeping sense but it’s been going really well. Just once the body keeps up to it now for the rest of the year.”

Gallagher smiles at how he and Murphy have managed to dovetail their careers in the Meath goal, Murphy also coming out of retirement in 2009. Both of them, Gallagher explains, have realised GAA commitments have to be juggled with more pressing concerns.

“Times have changed a lot between work and family and everything and Brenny had a new child last year and probably just like myself he was finding it hard.

“There’s an awful lot of commitment, first you have to go to home and speak there and you try and do your best. I’ve got one night off weights at the moment just to be at home with the family.

“Those things, work and everything else just at the moment, the GAA probably takes a back step for some of us. I’ve been lucky with work and kept going but it would be a different story if you weren’t working. It’d just be very, very difficult.”

Gallagher almost missed Sunday’s Bord na Mona O’Byrne Cup win over Louth with a back problem during the week before getting some physio which did the trick.

“The weights have been beginning to catch me a little bit but it’s just about tapering them back. There’s probably no need for them at all, really. It’s more for playing for the club as well and trying to keep myself in good shape.”