Kieran rebuilding without host of stars
KIERAN MCGEENEY admits Armagh have “a mountain to climb” to repeat last year’s All-ireland quarter-final appearance after losing six of last year’s squad.
Star forward Jamie Clarke is one of three Crossmaglen men to make themselves unavailable along with James Morgan and Oisin O’neill, while Stefan Campbell, Ciaran O’hanlon and the retired Ciaran Mckeever are also absent.
The losses are bound to affect their bid to reach the Super 8s – something the boss acknowledged after Wednesday night’s season-opening Dr Mckenna Cup win over Down in Newry.
“Fellas have got different priorities in their lives and you have to respect that,” he said.
“There’s definitely a change of culture with the players and we’re getting back to days where they’re proud of wearing the jersey, but we still have to look at where we are.
“We’re still in Division Three and we still want to do well in the Ulster Championship and push on and try and get to the last eight again, but we’ve a mountain to climb considering some of the talent that’s gone.”
One positive is the return of playmaker Miceal Mckenna who was in Australia last year, whom Mcgeeney described as “very dedicated” and he believes players coming through at U20 level are good enough to make an impact in the next few seasons.
But there is a sense of frustration that absentees are again dominating the agenda at the start of the fourth year of his fiveyear term. “The first year (2015) we were doing rightly and we hit two top teams – Donegal and Galway – on the trot and we didn’t get the Championship run we’d have liked.
“Then you lose the likes of Caolan Rafferty, Kevin Dyas, Jamie Clarke and even coming up to the Championship that year (2016) we lost Mark Shields and Ethan Rafferty.
“Last year we started getting more back again, we didn’t have too many injuries the whole year and you’re rebuilding.
“But you have to reflect a wee bit deeper and there’s a core group there that are probably more mature – the likes of Aidan (Forker), Rory (Grugan), Bug (Stephen Sheridan), Charlie (Vernon) and Brendy (Donaghy), they all seem to be pushing on and getting stronger.” Connacht FBD FL rnd 2 O’byrne Cup rnd 3 O’byrne Cup rnd 2 Mcgrath Cup rnd 2 Mckenna Cup rnd 2 Walsh Cup rnd 3 Walsh Cup rnd 2 Munster SHL rnd 2 Kehoe Cup rnd 2