“We would do a sprint session, then we would do a gym session, and then do a skills session in the evening.”
Enda McNulty went from being a kid looking up to Kieran McGeeney, to becoming his teammate, friend and training partner, so few people will know him better.
McNulty and McGeeney both come from the same club at Mullaghbawn in Armagh, and went on to play together in the famous county team that won the All-Ireland in 2002.
The sticky corner back even followed his old captain down to Dublin where they played for Na Fianna club, and enjoyed great success.
McGeeney is now the Armagh manager, and not many outside of the camp really know what he’s like. You hear the stories about how diligent and committed he is, but really it only scratches the surface; the truth is much more impressive.
Enda McNulty and Kieran McGeeney tackle a young Colm CooperSpeaking exclusively on the GAA Hour podcast, McNulty gives some insight to the the real Geezer.
“As a young player, I started to watch him, then started to train with him – I started to play senior football when I was 14 or 15, and Geezer at that stage was 20, so imagine what it’s like in a training session with or against him.
“You’re learning very quickly, you’re toughening up pretty quickly, because he nurtures you but he is tough with you. You could be in a tackling drill with him, and maybe Cody Burns who is a 6’4 farmer, built like steel, Geezer is about 6′ built like steel, so you’re learning the hard way.
“He also would have gave you a lot of coaching and advice from early on. He would say ‘Enda, come on, you need to work on that step quickness’ or ‘Enda, you really need to work on that long foot pass’, and you would spend hour after hour after a session practising.
“Whenever I went to live in Dublin, we would do a sprint session, then we would do a gym session, and then do a skills session in the evening – we would train three times a day.”
McGeeney’s role wasn’t always confined to just pushing boundaries in terms of training and demanding more from everyone, he was also just as diligent with his preparation from a tactical point of view as well.
“I’ve spent thousands of hours with him during that 15-20 year period, so I couldn’t speak any more highly of him as a player. As a captain he was inspirational, he would never ask you to do something he would never do himself.
“Me, Geezer and Justin (McNulty) would always have sat the day before a match in Newry or in Dublin – Justin full back, Geezer centre half, and me in corner back – and we would have, what I call, a triangulation meeting.
“We would chat about ‘well if Canavan loses me, Justin you step inside and take him. If Mike Frank Russell loses Justin, Geezer you step in and take him.
“We would have always had those pre-match chats, it was always over a bun and a cup of coffee, and when we left that cafe, we had it locked down.
“We had it locked down what was going to happen tactically, mentally, from a leadership point of view and so on, so Geezer was always formidable in that space.”
You can listen to the full interview with Enda McNulty on the latest episode of the GAA Hour now.
Related links:
- How ‘hungry’ teenager Johnny Sexton impressed GAA legend at their first meeting
- Enda McNulty on how Al Pacino speech was theme for Armagh’s All-Ireland win
- Kieran McGeeney admits that Armagh were over reliant on Rian O’Neill
