‘There are no egos in this team’ – Emmet McDonnell

Westmeath assistant manager Emmet McDonnell knows what it's like to face Dublin in a Leinster final, having been part of Tom Cribbin's management team in 2016.

That was Westmeath's second successive Leinster decider after losing to the same opponents in 2015.

Reflecting on the 2016 final, McDonnell said: "I suppose firstly getting there a second time was brilliant. It's like we knew that we were achieving something which was great, but you just wished it wasn't that Dublin team that was looking back at you, because then you could really start dreaming and believing that you could do something special.

“But it was still really memorable, really enjoyable to be part of great learning experiences, no more than what these lads are going to get next weekend. You learn from these big days and they help shape you as a footballer. Deep down, you knew how special that Dublin team was," continued McDonnell, pointing to a half-forward line of Paul Flynn, Ciarán Kilkenny and Diarmuid Connolly among the stars of the team.

"You weren't in awe, but you were just like, ‘oh my God, this is relentless’. As a competitor, you're always going in thinking you've a chance, but deep, deep down you probably went ‘oh, these are going to be hard to turn over’," said Emmet.

"We went in a half-time in '16 and we were really happy. Jimmy Dolan had marked Ciarán Kilkenny and we said, 'let's just continue to do what we're doing'. But maybe that was a mistake. They moved Kilkenny from left half-forward to left half-back and we didn't adapt,” said McDonnell, adding that Dublin’s strength in depth meant they were able to bring on players like Paddy Andrews.

In those 2015 and 2016 finals, Westmeath's approach was mainly about containment, trying to keep Dublin's score down to stay in the game. McDonnell agrees that the new rules do not allow for such an approach now.

"Yeah, it's a very different game,” said the Kinnegad man. “In 2017, Dublin gave us a right hammering but that was the players going into year three deciding that we want to have a go at Dublin. We (the management team) were hesitant but we went with the players and we got a hammering, but we actually regrouped well and we should have beaten Armagh a couple of weeks later.”

While those were “great days” to be involved in, Emmet is now savouring the current journey. "The beauty at the moment is that there's a whole new group of players that are coming through, and they're giving us bigger days and greater days.”

Referring to the huge level of support Westmeath brought to Tullamore for the semi-final versus Kildare, Emmet said: “You could hear them and you could feel them, and it gave everyone energy. The lads were galvanised by that and, you know, that's invaluable.

“When we were driving in the last day, we could see maroon and white everywhere. We'd be encouraging even more of the Westmeath crowd to get behind us because we'll absolutely need every Westmeath supporter in Dublin the next day.

“In the Meath game, if we gave them more oxygen, their crowd was ready to ignite and you could feel it. But to be fair to the boys, they just kept them at bay because if they were able to strike that match and even get level, they could have taken off with the crowd behind them. We just kept them at arm's length which was very important.

“There was a critical moment during the first half last Sunday (against Kildare), where Shane Allen got a bang on the ground. The Westmeath crowd got agitated, Mark (McHugh) got agitated. The ball was kicked out and Shane and Tadhg (Baker) both crashed into the Kildare lads. The ball broke and we got a point from it. We won the next four kickouts. You could hear the crowd had lifted and the players fed off that. From 0-7 to 0-3 down, we went 1-8 to 0-7 up.”

Back in 2004, Emmet enjoyed Westmeath’s march to Leinster SFC glory as a fan. “I remember as a young lad the Dublin match in 2004, Jason Sherlock getting a point early on and the loudness of the Dublin crowd. Westmeath gradually got into the game and you could hear the crowd building, and we are going to need a big Westmeath support in Croke Park next Sunday.

“2004 was my most enjoyable summer and I think every Westmeath supporter just got on that bandwagon in that summer, and every game was just fantastic. It was an incredible summer. The only thing that was maybe a disappointment was that we didn't get over the line against Derry, but up to that point, it was a fantastic summer.”

McDonnell, who is the principal of St Mary’s Secondary School in Edenderry, said the current crop of players are also creating memories. “There's about 20 Westmeath people who work there and one of the teachers came in the other day and said, ‘I brought my young kids there last Sunday and it was the most remarkable family day we've ever had’. When you hear stories like that, it just shows what we're doing at the moment.”

When the Croke Park factor is raised – and the fact that Dublin haven’t been beaten there in a Leinster championship match since 2010 - Emmet quipped: “we're thinking you lads might start a ‘Tullamore or nowhere’ campaign”.

On a more serious note, he’s well aware of the challenge of facing Dublin, who haven't lost a Leinster senior final since 2001.

“I felt that Dublin were going to beat Louth. Dublin were written off and that's the worst thing people can do, and they fought aggressively against Louth,” he said.

Emmet knows Dublin player Niall Scully through work, pointing out that “he's playing phenomenal football at the moment” and of course he's just one of several quality players Westmeath have to deal with. “I thought he was arguably man of the match against Louth. Cormac Costello scored 9 or 10 points, but I thought Scully was incredible that night."

The Westmeath management team is warning against the danger of focusing on the occasion rather than on producing their best possible performance.

“I've been there (Croke Park) with teams over the years with Westmeath and Kildare and it can be a distraction, the nervous excitement that some of the young players especially will feel as they arrive. Look, there's a lot of us with experience from days out there and we'll be drilling that into the players. Let's not let it pass without just maxing out in terms of work rate. It's all about the work ethic and the collective,” said Emmet, who has previously managed the Athlone and Tyrrellspass senior teams.

“When Mark rang me (about getting involved), I said, ‘look, I can't work in an environment where there are egos’. There are no egos in this team, and there's no ego in the management team, and the collective has been good.”

Of Westmeath’s injured contingent, McDonnell said Boidu Sayeh is the only one that's back running, but the Leinster final will still come too soon for the Rosemount player. “He has great strength in his legs. Over the winter months he was our strongest performer in the gym. If we get to round 2A or 2B, he might come into the equation,” said McDonnell.

The combination of injuries and fatigue meant Ian Martin was brought on for his Westmeath debut in the Leinster semi-final against Kildare. And McDonnell was proud of the fact that despite all the setbacks before and during the Kildare game, 13 different Westmeath players made the scoresheet, describing it as “a phenomenal statistic”.

“That's what we've been targeting – that if one guy goes out, everybody takes on responsibility,” he remarked.

The way Westmeath have coped with adversity so far this season - whether it was missing out on promotion from Division 3 or losing Luke Loughlin to a long term injury - should provide confidence and self-belief ahead of the Leinster final.

“We've all been part of teams that have a lot of talented players, but there's egos and the work rate is not there because everyone's waiting for somebody else to do it,” he remarked. “In this team, we're asking everybody to work and, you know, we're measuring the work, we're tracking the work. We're watching it live in the game, we're tracking it in training, so it's all about work rate first and foremost, and that creates space then for somebody to get into that space and get a score.”

McDonnell said the players “were really hurting” after a last-gasp Wexford goal cost them promotion and this sense of hurt has fuelled their Leinster mission.

“We recognised that you have to concentrate for the full 70 minutes. The lads are able to have open honest conversations and look for improvements to see where things need to be better,” he added.