By Cian O’Connell

“It’s easier as a player because you only worry about yourself,” Galway manager Pádraic Joyce says ahead of Sunday’s eagerly anticipated All-Ireland SFC Final against Armagh at Croke Park.

During a decorated playing career in maroon and white, Joyce starred in two All-Ireland wins, but now sees the game from a different perspective. “Management you have to worry about the 62 people that are involved in the whole squad, getting everyone there logistically, where you go, where you stay,” he adds.

“Every decision will come back down to me, but we are lucky that we have a great logistics man in Sean Rhatigan, who looks after a lot of it, but between the two of us we will get it right.”

Is it hard to delegate as manager of a senior inter-county team? “No, it is not, it is easy enough,” Joyce responds. “You don’t have time to do everything, you have a hand in control of what is going on but, no, it is quite easy to be honest with you.

“We try to do a lot of it, you just can’t do it, you would fall down. I have good people around me in the backroom team that I trust, and trust is a big thing with them because they know me at this stage what way I like things done so we just go and get it done.”

That approach has served Galway well. Eight wins and one draw in the 2024 Championship illustrates Galway’s resilience and resourcefulness.

Powerful players have delivered when it has truly counted for Galway. “I wouldn’t say we purposely went after them, but I think Galway football over the years would have been known for having nice nippy lads so we went after a few big fellas definitely and get them in there,” Joyce remarks.

“We lost a few as well, Paddy Kelly has a bad injury for the last year and he is another man who is 6’ 2, 6’ 3 and can play football as well.

“But the lads have developed well; John Maher has developed from what he was, he is a huge animal of a man now, Mattie Tierney has grown into a serious man as well, so look, they just happened to come around at the same time.”

Physicality down the middle eight is huge now and we have a lot of men over six foot which is great.”

Opponents Armagh have similar qualities and Joyce expects another physical test against an impressive Armagh outfit. “Armagh play that way anyway,” Joyce says.

“That is something we have looked to get into Galway is a bit more of an edge because we would probably have been seen as having a soft centre over the years, but I think the lads have proved over the last couple of years that there is a good edge to them and they can mix the game either way they want.”

Did Joyce work specifically to change that perception? “I did because even when I played in my own time, we lost games by a point coming down the stretch to teams we should not be losing to,” Joyce responds.

“I think teams had the impression ‘let’s get Galway down the stretch and they will wilt or they will fold’, but thankfully I think that perception is gone now because we have been down the stretch with some of the top teams in the country in the last year, definitely this year, and we have stuck it out.”

After Galway’s draw with Armagh last month the Tribesmen had to navigate a path through the preliminary quarter-finals. In the intervening weeks Monaghan, Dublin, and Donegal have been beaten, but how did Joyce feel following the Armagh stalemate? “I wouldn’t say concerned,” Joyce remarks.

“I’d say more after making life had for yourself, but this group of players, we seem to do that over the years, make life hard on ourselves, but it was tough looking down the barrel at the time with a preliminary quarter-final to come and then a quarter-final against Donegal, Kerry or Dublin.

“So, it was a harder task than going straight into a quarter-final but look we managed to get over it and get over it okay.”

Getting through demanding matches has showcased Galway’s resolve and increasing panel depth. “We navigated it, we had a tough game against Monaghan too,” Joyce recalls.

“All those games stood to us, that’s why thinking back to the last day we were very battle-hardened and again Armagh proved that when they played Kerry, they were the more battle-hardened when the pressure came on, 10 or 15 minutes to go. We have had five very hard games along the way, six maybe. We’re okay.”

On Sunday a friend of Joyce, Kieran McGeeney will be standing on the line in front of the Hogan Stand too. The friendship is based on respect and a sheer love for Gaelic Football. “I would have played with him in the international rules over the years and played against him,” Joyce explains.

“I have great time for him. He’s a football man no more than myself. He gave a lot to his county as a player and he’s now giving back to his county as a manager.

“We’re both in it to win it. We have a phone conversation last Monday morning after the semi-finals just to wish each other well and we knew where we were going to go.

“We’ll have a chat when the final is over. He’s doing his best for his county, I’m doing the best for my county and we’ll take it from there.”

Joyce knows the value and relevance of acquiring silverware. “It is important without putting the pressure on ourselves,” he says.

“This is our 10th championship match this year to try and win our 10th title. Someone told me the other day that the three-in-a-row team only played 11 matches to win three-in-a-row so we have to win 10 to win one.”

Throughout his life Joyce has heard the stories about Galway’s decorated outfit in the 60s. The next thrilling chapter arrived during the John O’Mahony era when Joyce was one of the chief protagonists.

A few decades later, Joyce is still going strong, eager to bring further success to the west.