‘Louth there to compete, not to make up the numbers’

Maybe not heady days for Louth football, but their route to an All-Ireland quarter-final underlines the progress that has been made in recent years, first under Mickey Harte, and now with Ger Brennan at the helm.

If Patrick Kavanagh were alive today and observed the aftermath of Louth’s win over Cork on Sunday, he may have taken pen to paper to capture what was happening in his native Inniskeen. The Wee County are joining the big guns across a weekend where more eyes will focus on what they will bring. A first-ever championship clash with Donegal, in the quarters, adds a little bit more to the narrative.

For their manager, just days after that emotionally-charged win over the Rebels, it’s about making sure his side are fully focused on the job in hand.

Speaking to the media ahead of Louth’s first-ever quarter-final appearance, Ger Brennan said: “I suppose starting off my career, we [Dublin] used to get the crap kicked out of us at the quarter-final stage by Tyrone or Kerry, or Cork when they were motoring well back then too.

“We thankfully managed to break through eventually during my own playing career. With that experience and familiarity, and the experience of the management team, there is a wealth of knowledge there of how to emotionally manage the group and how to ensure that they’ll be as fresh physically and mentally as possible with the seven-day turnaround when they take to the field at Croke Park at 1.15.

“The way you go about that really is you have to acknowledge the achievement of the group. I think they are…incredibly…I’d say they’re the most successful Louth team in 67 years, when you look at it in black and white. That’s obviously a huge achievement for this group and for a county like Louth.

“So that has to be acknowledged and you have to harness that energy and put it into your preparations then. Even though (I’m) not playing anymore, even just with the backroom team and chatting to guys yesterday, fellas are emotionally drained after the weekend and the two games on the bounce. It does take a bit of time to get over it.

“Then, as a player, physically, that load, that demand on the body, to be playing week after week and to eke out the results, they’re going to need a good few days to come back down and take to the field refreshed for the weekend.”

Much has been mentioned around the condensed championship format and notwithstanding the fact that Brennan has alluded to player recovery, he’s certainly not complaining about having to prepare his side for a third championship game on the spin.

“I have no issue with it; it’s what you get for finishing second and that is how it goes,” he added

“Poor Mayo, even last week, a point up going down the stretch and all of sudden instead of having a week off, they are knocked out of the championship.

“Cork, finished on four points, the same as Donegal did but on score difference Donegal finished strong against Clare and Donegal get the extra week off. Cork are now out, Tyrone are now out and there are the small margins.

“We are all obviously playing the same competition, and we just have to get on with it.

“Since I have gotten involved with Louth I have used the example of Monaghan. They have half the population of Louth but they are a success. Ten years in division one, getting to All-Ireland semi-finals and they were the only side to have won their All-Ireland quarter final last year having gone through a preliminary.

“So that’s something I will be mentioning to our players again; if Monaghan can do it, why can’t Louth?

In the win over Cork, Louth hit 1-09, a tally that will not be near good enough against a Donegal side that have chalked up some big tallies so far. Improving the shots-off tally is also foremost in Brennan’s thinking as he plots to take down Jim McGuinness’ side.

“I think we got 19 shots off against Cork at the weekend, so did Cork, we just came out plus one which is great. You’ve got to be getting mid 20s and close to 30 shots off, a lot of the Dublins and the Kerrys manage to do.

“They’re getting the shot to score ratio around 65% and Donegal are very good in their three games during the All-Ireland series, even going back to the Ulster final where it finished 0-20 apiece after extra-time.

“Cork got the three goals on them in round 2 but Donegal have been averaging 18 or 19 points in their last four championship matches to date so we know Donegal will be looking to hit something similar.

“If we can kind of get them down to the low teens, it would be a big achievement for the group from the view of getting a few more scores on the board in Croke Park and hopefully get out with the result.”

Louth are certainly benefitting from the influence of outside managers, with the Dubliner currently at the helm determined that the football Gospel continues to be spread, and speaking to assembled journalists five days out from their biggest game can only help that.

“Context is key and context for Louth means take the opportunities to promote GAA in the Wee County as much as possible,” he reiterated

“We didn’t get to do it before the Kerry game but there have been weekly chats with a few locals on the call and now we have 19 here today.

“That’s down to the work of the players and the county board and obviously getting the results attracts more attention so it’s incredibly important that we are promoting the work of Louth GAA.

“There’s also a huge importance to look at the individual talents that’s within the team. A lot of these players wouldn’t have been getting as much exposure.

“So for example, Sam Mulroy the team captain. A super player and a lot of the talk over the last few years was around Sam and maybe one or two other players but now as the group has progressed and continued to evolve, you guys are starting to see that there are a few other Sams in the team in terms of leadership, in terms of their talents and the skill sets that they have.

“Craig Lennon is a super talent, Donal McKenny corner-back, Colm McKeever is having a super season, Conor Grimes, Ciaran Keenan, there’s so many players and all these lads for me are in All-Star categories, if you ask me.

“I’m not one when I was playing – nor are Dublin players given the team success that they have managed to get – to be speaking about individual accolades but if you look at what it means to some of the smaller counties like Louth.

“Paddy Keenan was the last player to get an All-Star in 2010 and there hasn’t been an All-Star or even a nomination, I’m unsure, from a Louth player but I think you can start to see in the group and the fact that there’s 19 journalists here today interested in how Louth are doing, there’s an understanding and an appreciation nationally that we’re not just here to make up the numbers, we’re there to compete and represent the county with pride.

“Yes, it’s going to be a big challenge against Donegal at the weekend. They’ll have the extra week break, they have a good bit of momentum behind them, they have an experienced manager behind them.

“They’ve been doing quite well this season so we know we’re going to be up against it but the lads are going to go out fighting.”

Watch The Saturday Game with highlights of the All-Ireland Football Championship quarter-finals on Saturday from 10.35pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player

Watch the All-Ireland Football Championship quarter-finals, Donegal v Louth (1.15pm) and Kerry v Derry (3.15pm), on Sunday from 12.45pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1

Listen to the RTÉ GAA Podcast on the RTÉ Radio Player, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts