Grugan: Knowledge is power as Armagh’s greatest day awaits

By Shaun Casey

The experience of Kieran McGeeney and Kieran Donaghy in the Armagh dressing room will help the Orchard County players in the run-up to the All-Ireland final, according to Rory Grugan.

Armagh qualified for the All-Ireland for the first time since 2003 thanks to an extra-time win over Kerry, and now they face Galway in the decider for the second time this season.

McGeeney captained Armagh to their only All-Ireland title in 2002, while Kerry legend Donaghy finished his career with four Celtic Crosses.

“I think you have to listen to the people who have been through it,” Grugan said. “Luckily we have Kieran McGeeney and Kieran Donaghy, who have won and lost finals. So we have to rely on that.

“They know what’s good and what’s not good in terms of how we spend our energy and how we spend our time in the build-up. I think their life experience can help us because none of us have ever been here as a player.

“As you get older, you think you know better what you need.

“You still have to rely on people who have been there before and hope that you have your own processes in order to be able to perform on the day itself.

“Although it is an exciting event, it doesn’t really mean anything to the players if we don’t win. That may sound very harsh and clinical, and the fans may not necessarily agree with that, but that is the reality for us.”

The only thing that matters in the end is getting the Sam Maguire Cup and that is what Armagh will be aiming for.

“Winning is everything,” continued the Ballymacnab playmaker.

“I don’t think anyone who plays intercounty football now is that type of competitive person, even if we play table tennis or pool in the hotel the night before the game.

“The boys want to win. There’s an element of enjoying the journey and the friends you make, that’s really important. But playing at the elite level of our sport, you want the medals, you want the trophies, you want something to show for it at the end of your career.

“You don’t get that chance very often, so we also want to win.”

In terms of career medals, Grugan has just two. Under McGeeney’s leadership, Armagh won Division Three twice, in 2015 and 2018, when he was captain of the team.

They have had plenty of other chances of course. Armagh have reached the last two Ulster finals, but both ended in penalty shootout defeats to Derry and Donegal. The men in orange and white have shown serious character to bounce back from all the heartbreak.

“You had no choice. What do you do? Just jump off and quit?” Grugan said of this year’s Ulster final loss. “Do you just let your season go to waste? We decided that wasn’t what we wanted to do. We’ve had those tough experiences and I think it makes you tough.

“Like all things in life, when you lose you learn more, and we’ve certainly had our share of tough days. I think we’ve learned from them, and you see those lessons at the end of the Kerry game.

“I like to think we were battle-hardened for an extremely difficult game against Galway. The few days after the Ulster final were sheer devastation. I think you look back now and think the human spirit has a wonderful way of helping you forget difficult experiences.

“I know it’s all in the perspective of football, but the beauty of it was the two-week turnaround, we had no choice but to get back on the horse.

“We looked at it as if it was a new competition and we had the chance to go into it and see where it took us. The reality was that unfortunately we had the experience of losing on penalty shootouts in big games but we were able to bounce back.”

But in the end it’s all about winning and Armagh’s strength of character will mean nothing if they don’t climb the steps of the Hogan Stand.

“We have gone back to the quality of our squad, we have continued the training and everyone has been given a new lease of life,” Grugan added.

“It feels like a long time ago but that’s a testament to the management and the resilience of the players to come back and be where we are now. I’ve said it so many times, it will only show that we’ve really delivered if we go out and win on Sunday.”