Michael Meehan retires.

Started by Cunny Funt, December 20, 2017, 11:10:12 PM

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GalwayBayBoy

#15
A truly great player and very sound fella to boot. Very sad how injuries (one bad one in particular) robbed him of his prime years. Was unlucky to come around just a couple years after a great Galway side began to break up. Had he been born a few years earlier he would have got an All-Ireland medal for himself in 01. Although I'm sure the club one he has from 04 is just as important to him.

From the Bunker

Like many of my brethren! Will retire without the Senior AI medal which always takes away in the GAA world from how great a player he was!

Was surprised to see him have a go last year! Probably wanted to confirm any doubt in his head. And why not?

Rossfan

John Divilly obviously a better players than Meehan so! ::)
Davy's given us a dream to cling to
We're going to bring home the SAM

Syferus

Someone would want to tell Dermot Earley he isn't fit to lick Ray Silke's boots so Bunker.

AZOffaly

I think Bunker is being sarcastic. A lot of Mayo lads are being run down because they 'don't have a medal'.

GalwayBayBoy

John O'Mahony has described Michael Meehan as a "once in a lifetime" player following the Galway marksman's retirement.

Meehan finally drew a line under his stop-start inter-county career earlier this week having made a surprise comeback to the Galway panel earlier this year.

He made only one appearance off the bench in a qualifier win over Donegal having not been involved for three years prior to that as a serious ankle injury sustained in 2010, when he was just 26, wrecked the latter part of his career.

O'Mahony was Galway manager when Meehan came into the senior panel for the 2003 season and he was also in charge of the under-21 side that claimed All-Ireland honours the year before with the Caltra man, just 18 at the time, the star turn.

He first came to national attention earlier in 2002 when starring for St Jarlath's, Tuam in an epic All-Ireland colleges semi-final in which they beat Jack O'Connor's Colaiste na Sceilge in a replay after extra time.

O'Mahony recalled: "It was basically a head-to-head between Declan O'Sullivan for Colaiste na Sceilge and Michael Meehan for Jarlath's.

"Michael Meehan was absolutely superb in that. That announced his arrival really and he won the All-Ireland under-21 title in 2002 as an 18-year-old, corner-forward.

"It was basically about trying to ease him in then into the senior squad. We didn't want to rush it too much but he was such a good player that you needed to get him involved very quickly.

"After we won that under-21 All-Ireland in October 2002, he was straight in then. I suppose he was only after doing the Leaving that summer.

"He was in at the earliest opportunity really but he was one of those players that come along once in a lifetime.

"Again, like everything that has happened since with the lack of success, his injury issues, if Michael Meehan had come through his career uninjured Galway would have won an awful lot more than they have in those years."

Sadly, as O'Mahony's comments reflect, it's near impossible to celebrate Meehan's talent without expressing regret that his injury problems, and Galway's falling status, meant that it wasn't exposed to a wider audience on a more regular basis.

"He didn't get the opportunity because of the injuries really and I suppose Galway were away from the top table but one of the reasons that they were away from the top table a little bit was because of injuries in his case.

"I remember I had left Galway at the time but the 2005 All-Ireland under-21 final against Down in Cusack Park in Mullingar, six goals between himself and Sean Armstrong.

"That day I remember walking out of Cusack Park saying, 'This is where the future is now'.

"At that stage it was only four years from Galway having won a senior All-Ireland and walking out that day if somebody said you won't have another one before 2017, you'd say that'd be wrong.

"I would have been hugely optimistic on that occasion but for Michael on a personal level it has been frustrating for him.

"That's the way it's seen and that's the reality of it, that his progress was halted by those horrific injuries over the years.

"The big disappointment for everybody was that he had an injury-ravaged career but he has been a superb talent.

"He certainly was one of the best colleges players that I ever saw and was developing into one of the best county players and showed flashes of it over the years.

"He'll be fondly remembered as one of the great skilful forwards that everyone so badly needs."

Cunny Funt

Former Galway captain Finian Hanley also retired from inter county football yesterday, bringing down the curtain on his 15-year career.


Gael85

Meehan scored 14-112(154) in 42 senior championship games. Despite all the injuries had a decent career winning AI club title with Caltra, 2 u21 with Galway and a Sigerson Cup with NUIG.