At the beginning of All-Ireland final week, Conor Meyler sent a message into the Tyrone players WhatsApp group advising them to steer clear of social media.
He’d been part of the 2018 final defeat to Dublin and reckoned that buying into the hype had done them no favours as they ultimately lost by six points.
Tunnel vision was a strong part of Tyrone’s suit throughout this year’s Championship and particularly on All-Ireland final day when they led Mayo virtually from pillar to post.
Meyler said it was an entirely different experience overall, partly because they won this time but, on a personal level, because he was fully fit having memorably recovered from a broken leg in just a month to play in the 2018 final.
“Completely different, personally and as a team,” said Meyler, the PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month for September. “I think we’re a lot more mature now. At the time (in 2018) we probably got caught up in the hype and definitely weren’t ready for it.
“The lessons we learned were invaluable as most of that team are still there playing. For me personally, I obviously couldn’t enjoy the buildup to the final against Dublin.
“I completely shut myself off from the rest of the world. I was just so focused on getting back. I’m quite intense or driven when it comes to things like that, I don’t want to leave any stone unturned so I was sleeping in an oxygen tent to get more oxygen.
“I don’t know if any of these things actually helped or worked but I did come back from a broken leg in four weeks and played midfield in an All-Ireland final.
“It was probably my own ball skills in the end that let me down, whereas having had time to prepare and to enjoy it this time was a big thing. I said to myself, I’m going to enjoy this experience’.”
On the way into Croke Park this time, Meyler made sure to wave to the fans. As much as he wanted to avoid the hype, he felt that tightening up and keeping his head down would only add to his own nervousness. Another lesson learned from three years ago which stood to him.
“I think in 2018 we definitely read into the hype,” he said. “When I look back, we definitely weren’t ready to win the final in terms of our progression as a team. But looking at how mature we are now, I think we’re in a lot better place.”
Meyler has worked hard on his own personal development, revealing that curbing his obsessive streak and tendency to over train has been at the root of his strong form.
Less is more
“Sometimes I get too hyped up and too tense and underperform then,” he admitted. “You’re thinking too much whereas it’s just about trying to go out with a mindset of ‘don’t think, just play and see what happens’.
“People say less is more sometimes, I used to think more is more. I thought you had to train every day or twice a day. I’ve just probably learned how my body works now.
“I still train hard, really hard and still train quite often but I’m probably learning what works for me. This year I probably had the balance right.
“The injuries that I was getting, hamstrings and the likes, back in 2016 and 2017, were just from doing too much, thinking I could keep going and keep going and it broke me in a sense because then when I didn’t have football, when I was injured, your sense of identity was badly hit and that’s why now I’m just more rounded and I realise that football is just one part of my life.”
Meyler could yet come into the frame for the overall Player of the Year award though still views himself as ‘just Conor Meyler’ whose calling card will always be ‘sweat and courage’, the two words he had etched on his wristband for the final.
“When you hear people talking about All-Stars, I’m like, ‘I’m not in that bracket, that’s your David Cliffords and Brian Fentons’,” said Meyler. “For me, it’s about sweat and courage - that’s what I base my game on.”
