It’s funny, the things that pop into your mind when looking for solace. Actually, that’s not the term. It’s more reassurance. Hope. I’m sure, like me, there were plenty of people a tad surprised at Robbie Brennan’s nomination of Eoghan Frayne and Ciaran Caulfield as captain and vice captain respectively for his first campaign working with the Meath senior footballers.
Not out of the slightest doubt about either man. Just that taking on the roles could be a bit of a load for two young lads in the formative stages of their senior inter county careers to take on. There’s a flip side to that, though, in that there’s no instruction manual on how to handle the issue of captaincy.
As in, of course there are people who stand out like lighthouses in terms of being leadership material. Bryan Robson, Paul O’Connell, Mick Lyons, Tony Adams, Donal Keogan or Declan Hannon, to name but a few. And then there are the ones either nobody saw coming or the masses thought were daft choices. Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Graham Geraghty, Declan O’Sullivan of Kerry.
You could, of course, draw a line of form from Cantona to Keane to Geragthy and see why, owing to the scurrilous bad press drummed up about them by certain sections of the media, people automatically assumed appointing the individuals in question to leadership roles would end in unmitigated disaster.
Oh those of little faith. Eric and Roy were the best in the world in their respective positions when at their personal peak while I have no problem going on record saying that Graham’s best ever season in a Meath jersey was that at the end of which he ended up lifting Sam Maguire. And if you really want to talk about leadership, he produced his best display of the season on the day that mattered most. Kicking three points with the seldom seen left peg as well putting the decisive goal on a plate for Ollie Murphy.
Now, as footballers, Ciaran is more in the Geraghty mould than Eoghan. Equally at home in defence or attack, as well able to stop scores as kick them and with just enough of the divil in him to fit in seamlessly at the highest level. On the other hand, Eoghan strikes me as a cross between Trevor Giles and Brian Stafford.
Lofty praise, yes, but I genuinely think he is and will continue to be that good for hopefully many seasons to come. The ‘Staff’ comparison is probably self explanatory.
Like the great man from Kilmainhamwood, Frayne has the deceptive, languid style and brilliance from dead ball scenarios. As Meath teams have always been blessed with.
From Tony Brennan to Ollie O’Brien, Mickey Fay, Eamon Barry, Staff, Trevor, Joe Sheridan, Cian Ward, Donal. Lenihan, Mickey Newman and, yes, Sean Brennan. Our newly appointed captain brings so much more to the table than that.
Long term readers of this space will know that I have two theories on how the centre forward position can be played in GAA. The player on the ’40’ can either stand and ‘trade’ it – as Colm O’Rourke did with Keith Barr in 1991 – or play it in a floating role, in other words, dropping deeper out the field, being the link between defence and attack while also chipping in with scores. A la Mr Giles.
For this observer, the young Summerhill clubman ticks all the above boxes. Expect him to lead by example.