Doyle says Kildare need to be ruthless

In a maelstrom of newfangled techniques and preparatory fads, Johnny Doyle stills find himself going back to the ways he knows best.

“Ordinary run of the mill stuff,” is what he calls it. Before a game, there’s nothing he likes doing better than grabbing a bag of balls and heading down to his local field and “working up a bit of a sweat on my own”.

It’s served him well. Sunday will mark his 59th consecutive championship appearance for Kildare. He hasn’t missed a summer game since Mick O’Dwyer threw him a jersey against Louth in 2000.

Few even come close to that run in the current game. Marc Ó Sé reached 49 straight SFC games before missing Kerry’s win over Tipperary last month, while he’s still ahead of the best hurling has to offer in Kilkenny’s Henry Shefflin with 57.

Sure, Doyle’s had the odd bandage around his head but he’s ploughed on.

“I’m probably carrying a stone more than when I started. I’m normally between 12 and 12-and-a-half stone. When I started I was probably maybe 10-and-a-half or 11,” he said.

“It’s not a lot of weight for the joints to be carrying around so maybe that’s the reason I’ve been injury-free. There’s not much of a load to pull!”

Coming in on the back of that 1998 All-Ireland final appearance, he saw the attitude towards Kildare change from expectation to pity before rising again under Kieran McGeeney. There’s isn’t as much romance anymore, which isn’t such a bad thing.

“There would have been a sympathy thing,” admitted Doyle of Kildare’s fallow years. “They were very unlucky in ’98 and the whole razzmatazz that came with it.

“I suppose it’s a bit like Mayo even though they have boxed at a lot higher level over the last number of years than we have. If Mayo finish top of the pile this year a lot of people will say ‘fair play, we’re delighted to see them get there’.

“There are perceptions out there. I’m sure there are things that Kildare lads do that some people admire them and some people don’t. Whatever it is, it could be something simple and that’s part and parcel of it.

“From a football point of view, players in every county just want to go out and do the best for their county and try to win. The harder you train, it becomes a way of life and you get fixed on what you want to achieve in the year.”

This being Kildare’s third championship meeting with Meath in 12 months, he’s all too aware of the adage of familiarity breeding contempt. He won’t go as far as saying that is the feeling that exists between the counties but there is a rivalry.

“I remember as a young lad the fierce rivalry between Allenwood and our neighbouring club Ballyteague because we were playing each other regularly.

“Now Ballyteague are intermediate and we’re senior so there’s no rivalry and the lads are the best of friends. Whereas years ago you’d cross the street if you saw them. When you play against teams a lot you tend to build up a rivalry and then there would be some from the media side as well.”

Doyle has seen the fall-out in Meath following their relegation to Division 3. Kildare being one of the teams that helped put them there, they are the perfect team to take out their frustrations on.

“Obviously, after being relegated there will be the traditionalists, as they are in every county, having their grievances about who should be on the team and who should be managing.

“The only thing that will do is bond the players together. They are the ones who are working hard five or six nights a week. They’ll feel this is a great opportunity to kick-start their year and get into a Leinster final. That’s what we’ve got to deal with.”

But Doyle knows Kildare need to be more ruthless. He spoke about it before the Offaly game when they failed to score a goal and he’ll talk about it again because it is, at least for him as team captain, a concern.

“You look at Dublin, Cork and Kerry — when they have a team on the ropes they go for the kill and there’s nothing that sinks you like seeing the back of the net rattling.

“Teams are harder to beat at this time of year. If we’re to beat Meath we have to take those chances.”

nJohn Doyle is an ambassador of the Stephen Roche Leinster Loop, a cycle sportif over four distances and four routes encompassing four counties – Kildare, Laois, Carlow and Kilkenny – in aid of the National Breast Cancer Research Institution in University College Hospital, Galway and St Laurence’s Community Complex, Kildare.

The Loop takes place on Sunday, August 19. To register, visit www.leinsterloop.com. Participation in the Leinster Loop (130km) and the Barrow Challenge (90km) is €30 (+ €2 on-line booking fee). The Cill Dara Cruise is €25 (+ €2 on-line booking fee). Registration for the Roche Ramble (12km) is €20 per family (+ €1.50 on-line booking fee) or €10 per individual (+ €1 on-line booking fee).