Colm O'Rourke set himself the task of toppling Dublin as he takes on the Meath manager's job.
Confirmation of O’Rourke’s appointment as Andy McEntee’s successor will come at a county board meeting this evening, with former Meath stars Stephen Bray and Barry Callaghan to serve as his selectors while Eugene Eivers, strength and conditioning coach with the Meath ladies team, is also expected to come on board.
One of the county’s most celebrated footballers, O’Rourke played on Meath teams that beat Dublin in Championship football on five occasions, including the climax to the famous four-game saga in 1991, but they’ve only recorded a single victory over their arch rivals since 2001.
He said: “Ultimately we have to beat Dublin. That was the measurement of Meath when I was playing and that hasn’t changed.”
The 64-year-old was linked with the job on various occasions and he admitted: “My interest in wanting the job probably had waned over the years. It was something in my earlier years that I wanted to do more than in the last few years, but this is still a great opportunity.”
O’Rourke told the Meath Chronicle that it was effectively his last chance to take on what he described as “one of the big jobs in football”.
“The whole Meath set-up has improved over the last 10 years and it is reflected in the underage success.
“I was asked by a lot of people would I make myself available for interview this time around and I did. I spoke to the committee involved in the appointment and it went on from there.
“I’m not giving away state secret when I say there was a general keenness for me to get involved in some way and I thought to myself that this is probably the last opportunity I will get, so if I’m going to do anything I better do it now.
“I still regard it as one of the big jobs in football in the country. Meath has a rich and varied history and tradition of football and I’m hoping it will be easy enough to reignite the tradition and passions that we had for the game.”
The double All-Ireland winner said that “results don’t lie” when reflecting on the slippage in Meath football over the last 20 years and set getting back into Division One of the Allianz League as an initial target.
“That is where all the serious teams are at and that is where the All-Ireland winners come from.
“I don’t know if you can say things have gone wrong. If you look back at a succession of managers, they have all worked extremely hard and extremely honestly in pursuit of the same aims that I have and it just hasn’t worked out for them.
“I’m not exactly sure where things can be improved. I hope there will be a general improvement and that a rising tide will lift all boats. When we get into the nitty-gritty and we are working with a panel of players we will see their hopes and ambitions, their abilities, their willingness to work hard and whether or not it is possible then to get improvement.
“I think everybody will agree that probably nobody in the history of Meath football has worked harder than Andy McEntee, so it will be interesting to see if the group we now have together with Barry and Stephen can bring some improvement.”
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