LAST UPDATE | 19 Jul 2022

FROM THE OFF, he aimed for silverware. As soon as Padraic Joyce was installed in the Galway hotseat that goal was set in stone. The dream appointment to deliver the greatest ambition. It was all about winning an All-Ireland. Then things took a turn.

Covid interrupted a bright start. When the season reassumed, Galway lurched between extremes. Some signs of promise, plenty of underperformances. Kerry dished out a 22-point hammering on the opening day of the 2021 campaign. They lead by five at one point in the Connacht final against Mayo and lost by six. 

The post-season review was unsparing. There was talk of discontent. Once again, the county was gripped by doubt.

Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO

Sitting in Pearse Stadium now, Padraic Joyce the manager embodies all the hallmarks of the Tribesmen’s iconic player. Proud. Defiant. 

After two frustrating years, was that always the case? Did doubt ever creep in? 

“We have had a couple of hammerings in the league, a couple of different things over the years,” he recalls.

“Definitely, the last two years were tough enough. No matter what when you lose a game, the first thing you hear is that they were not fit enough and the second thing is that the manager has not got a clue, no matter what game you play and it is no different at inter-county level.

“I have had a few rough nights at it and we had a lot of soul-searching last July as a group. As players and management, there is no one hiding from that. We went away, came back and talked about it and got a different formula together. So far it has been working, it has been great. But we need to get a result against Kerry on Sunday before the real work is done.” 

Chart that journey from then to now and much has changed. Tactically they have progressed. The squad turnover has been colossal. Five of the side that played in the 2018 All-Ireland semi-final will play in Sunday’s decider.

Someone told Joyce recently he has used 86 players so far. That is a mere reflection of where they were rather than a ruthless streak, he says. The number of players he has dropped is only three. 

Not ruthless, but certainly direct. Unapologetically.  

“A few can take it. A few get it. They don’t react too well to it, but they’d have a chat with you after training about it.

“That’s fine. I am who I am. I’m not going to change. I’ll change a little bit, as much as I can, but you have to be mindful as well, that you talk to them in a constructive manner.

“It’s easy to point out what’s wrong, but as I always say to our lads, don’t come to me with a problem because I can see it, come with a solution to the problem as well and see where you can go.”

It is a young squad, with several of his U20 All-Ireland winners starring this year. The likes of vice-captain Matthew Tierney, Jack Glynn, Patrick Kelly and Paul Kelly progressed from that outfit.

Joyce is involved in a couple of horses with Kerry’s Mike O’Callaghan in the Curragh. ‘It’s as easy training young horses as old horses,’ he tells him. They are also liable to get fitter and stronger. He trusts them. A lesson passed on by a legend. 

“I’ve no problem putting young lads in. I remember years ago Seán Purcell, Lord have mercy on him, after one of the matches, he said if you’re good enough, you’re old enough.”

After 2021′s disappointment, the backroom team changed. Cian O’Neill came on board in a coaching capacity. Former Dublin sports performance coach and boxer Bernard Dunne was recruited, along with strength and conditioning coach Jonathan Harris-Wright.

Harris-Wright previously with Bristol Bears Rugby, Glasgow Warriors & Cricket Ireland.

“The three of them have come in this year and they have done really good. Cian brings a huge level of experience to it. He takes a lot of training and he is really astute, a very keen guy.

“He is travelling from Cork to do the job two nights a week and he is coming at the weekend. He is really, really good.

“Are we bosom buddies? We are probably not. We get on well together, I respect his decisions. We have had loads of rows, don’t get me wrong. It is part and parcel of it, that is why we got him. To get the little bit of experience we were lacking as a group and that I was lacking probably but he has been exceptional for us. Again as Jonathan and Bernard have.” 

Dunne has been charged with introducing steel on top of evident skill. 

“We needed a performance-type coach person and he has just brought that little bit of mental toughness to the lads that I think we were lacking. Just how to cope in tight situations and pressure situations.” 

Speaking of backroom additions, Pat Comer is there as a goalkeeping coach. 

Comer was the sub goalkeeper during Galway’s 1998 All-Ireland triumph. He famously made a fly-on-the-wall documentary, A Year Till Sunday, about that success.  

“Pat is here this year, he’s doing a few bits this year before matches and stuff. He’s a bit of craic as well. That’s video analysis. We use that to our advantage. With Pat there, it’s a bit of motivation before games. It’s great.”

What’s more, Comer has been filming. Has he enough footage for a second documentary? 

“I’d say he has,” Joyce says with a smile.  

All it needs now is the perfect ending.