Conor Meyler: 'Something I would have written on my wrist before games is sweat and courage'

When Declan Bogue met Tyrone's Conoy Meyler on Monday night and turned on the dictaphone, Bogue had the good sense to shut up and listen. What followed is a fascinating insight into an All-Ireland champion

BROTHERS: Ronan McNamee, left, and Meyler celebrate at the final whistle at Croke Park on Saturday. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

ALL-IRELAND final night.

The Tyrone buses are ticking over. Team helpers scurry about with trolleys and kitbags and the last of the wholemeal wraps are being handed out as the euphoria of the winning dressing room is funnelled onto a coach before they make their way to a meal in the Armagh City Hotel.

Conor Meyler agrees to his first public utterings ever since lockdown. And in the meantime, he has gone from an unheralded talent that the general public couldn’t quite place, to a player who is certain to feature in the shortlist for Player of the Year.

And we can tell the story if you’d like. But this is a man who doesn’t need his quotes set into context, so we will just let him riff on;

“I think the biggest thing for me this year was playing without fear. (It’s) Probably a personal thing. Sometimes I do so much preparation physically and mentally that I nearly do too much.

“This year I have learned to relax a bit and play with a wee bit more freedom and courage.

“Something I would have wrote on my wrist before games is ‘sweat’ and ‘courage.’ That’s all you have. Just go out and work as hard as you can.” Sweat and courage?

“Just two words that meant something to me. I did a bit of work with a fella earlier in the year (about) just being authentic and learning to be vulnerable.

“Just a lot of work on myself and I sort of realised like… You have to be fearless.

“I realise that you have to be fearless when you go out and play. I’ve really enjoyed this season. Obviously, yes, there is silverware but I’ve really enjoyed it because I’ve learned to relax a wee bit going into games and kind of accepting fate – putting it in God’s hands nearly and [thinking] whatever happens, happens.

WHAT A MAN: Meyler celebrates with Tyrone selector Joe McMahon after their victory over  Mayo

“You’re up against some of the best players in the country and I'm just backing myself and having more emphasis in me trying to get on the ball as well which is really difficult to do, when you’re trying to limit a man – a man who is used to 30 or 40 possessions, the likes of Paudie Clifford, Paddy Durcan, Ryan McHugh, Ryan McAnespie. They’re used to 30-plus possessions [per game] and you know it’s going to go a long way to winning a game and for me that’s always what it’s been about.

“I’ve spent hours and hours watching video work of opposition and putting notes into the team and putting in different podcasts and posts for the mental side for the boys but for me I sometimes have to step back and say: ‘Trust yourself here’ and try not to think.

“I think that’s been huge for me, not thinking as much. Finding the zone where you’re not thinking as much, you face a man up one v one, and all year I’ve been backing myself, I’ve been side-stepping men and going at ease because I have a wee bit more faith in myself and accepting whatever happens, happens.

“Even that authenticity of understanding yourself, accepting yourself, I am who I am and this is how I play. I’m detailed, I’m diligent, I’m intense sometimes, but I think a lot of high performers are. I always just feel I’ll leave no stone unturned so I have no regrets when it comes to the aftermath of the game.” 

You see what we mean.

SEPTEMBER KINGS: Conor Meyler of Tyrone

How was it at the final whistle?

“See that moment after it… Funny, I was thinking this during the week. I remember being at the All-Ireland finals in ‘05 and ‘08 with my Da (former Tyrone player, Seanie, an Ulster title winner in 1989) in the Cusack and I vividly remember where I was. I ran onto to the pitch with him and this elation, I didn’t really know what was going on but I remember thinking this is powerful how this feels and seeing how happy it made my Da.

“And that’s what I wanted to achieve someday, I wanted to get there. I have had so many setbacks on my football journey that it would have been easy to throw the towel in and you wonder sometimes are you ever going to get there.

“I’m not arrogant but I do more work on the physical side, training-wise, just constantly training trying to get a wee bit better but you wonder is it all worth it? Days like that, it is. That five seconds or 10 seconds after the whistle, I just dreamt of it for years, standing in the middle of Croke Park on a dry day looking around seeing the red and white and seeing my friends coming over and hugging you.

“That’s a dream that I can now cherish. For me, it’s kind of like I’ve given that opportunity to some young boys and girls today to know how that feels and hopefully they have dreams of doing the same one day. To me, that’s powerful.

“It’s not about me – I know that’s a cliché. It’s a bigger thing. It’s my family, it’s my friends, it’s the whole county of Tyrone, that I’ve played a wee part in giving them something.” 

Maybe you could, y’know, relax a little now for a week or few days or so?

“I don’t know. I’ll probably go back training in a couple of days. If I can shift this dead leg. I’ll try to take it all in a bit more. Even the build-up I was smiling a bit more. I was chatting to Petey Harte about it – I’d be really close to him – and I was just saying in the way in [to Croke Park] that it doesn’t get much better than this, so I’d try and enjoy it and smile.

“There’s a poem ‘The Man in the Glass’ and being able to look at yourself in the glass after and say: Have I been myself and have I done myself proud as such? I can look in the mirror and say, you can be proud of yourself here and that’s a nice feeling.” 

And with that, he’s gone. 

The new breed of Gaelic footballer. Clever and compelling. Off to start his PhD and his professional dream of being the lecturer that inspires people.