ARMAGH coach Ciaran McKeever has been hugely impressed with the hunger among the panel, despite the All-Ireland champions losing their opening Allianz NFL Division One game to Galway last weekend.
McKeever praised the “attitude and application” of the Armagh players as Kieran McGeeney’s men welcome Tyrone to the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds on Saturday night in a bid to put some points on the board.
Galway made hay with three game-winning two-pointers to ease to a 1-12 to 0-9 victory in Salthill, while their next opponents Tyrone look a rejuvenated outfit under new boss Malachy O’Rourke following their opening win over neighbours Derry (2-13 to 1-9).
“There is no hiding the fact that there’s huge rivalry there and these games can take on a life of their own,” said McKeever.
“This is the environment you want to be in – playing Tyrone in the Athletic Grounds. You can’t get any better than that.
“They’re coming off the back of a win and there seems to be huge energy in Tyrone following the appointment of Malachy O’Rourke and a number of their players have come back into the squad, so they’re in a good place.
“They’ll see this game as trying to put down a marker on Saturday night. But we’ll concentrate on ourselves and I’ve no doubt we’ll not be found wanting.”
Tomas McCormack of Annaghmore was the only debutant in the Armagh side that lost to the Tribesmen while Madden’s Darragh McMullen got his chance to shine having made his debut in last season’s Division Two final against Donegal.
McKeever cites the performances of Peter McGrane and Oisin Conaty last season and hopes some of the newer players can take inspiration from their dramatic ascension.
“We got a huge bounce off Peter McGrane and Oisin Conaty coming in and playing games last year – so we’re trying to bed in a few new players this year,” said McKeever, who helped coach Armagh and his club St Patrick’s Cullyhanna to All-Ireland titles in 2024.
“We had Tomas [McCormack] and D-Mac [Darragh McMullen] who played at the weekend. They’ve been about the panel over the last 18 months and have shown good development and many more hopefully will do the same.
“Generally, though, the health of the squad is getting stronger. A couple of boys were carrying knocks from last season, and they’ve got a body of rehab into them now and hopefully we’ll see them over next number of weeks.”
McKeever added: “We’re hungry, everybody’s hungry in the group. We were frustrated with last Saturday night’s performance. The players are hurting, the management is hurting, but we’re striving to get up to our best.
“Since we’ve been back training, the application and attitude of the players have been brilliant.”
McKeever dismissed any discussion around the new rules even though Armagh were, bizarrely, not furnished with an updated version of the FRC’s enhancements ahead last Saturday night’s NFL opener.
“The rules will look after themselves – we’ll just be concentrating on playing the games,” McKeever said. “We’re adjusting to the new rules like every other county.”