‘It’s going to take time’ – Colm O’Rourke aims for three more years with Meath

Progress has been slow for O’Rourke, who led Meath to Tailteann Cup success last year, having finally gotten his chance to take the reins with his native county and they exited the All-Ireland SFC after today’s three-point loss to Monaghan.

Having finished with no points from three games in the group series, O’Rourke insists that time will be needed if they are to come anywhere close to soaring as they did in his own playing days.

O’Rourke initially signed up for three years at the helm – with a review after the second season – and he feels that good things are around the corner for an inexperienced squad that will only get “better and better and better”.

“Well, I think it’s going to take several years to build a team here, so I think it might take five years. So I think I’ll go to the county board and ask them to give me five years as a minimum thing,” O’Rourke said today.

“Because I think it’s going to take certainly two or three years. We will be better next year, we’ll be in contention for promotion from the second division (of the League) and then by the following year, we’ll be in contention with all the big teams so it’s a job of work.

“I’d be happy to stay with them, they’re a great group of fellas, they’re very committed and very dedicated. All they need is time and patience and kindness. I’m confident in them because they have a huge commitment.

“They all want to better themselves, their commitment to training and their dedication and discipline is just first class, as good as any other Meath team I’ve seen, so I think if we have patience with them they will significantly improve.”