Meyler makes emotional return

CONOR Meyler felt the rush of emotion as he stepped across the white lien and on to the field of play for the first time in two cursed years.

With 54 minutes on the Brewster Park clock, the time had come to put an end to the torment, the fear and the mental torture.

Injuries, too many to contemplate, had threatened to end the career of the Tyrone star whose dashing performances in 2021 had earned him an All-Star and a Footballer of the Year nomination.

Knee surgeries, hamstring problems and issues with groin, achilles, hip and foot contrived to rob the attacker of the joy of playing the game he loves so passionately.

But dedication and a dogged refusal to surrender to the demons which had ravaged his stricken body rewarded the 30-year-old.

And getting to play out the closing stages of the All-Ireland SFC group game against Cavan, his first appearance in a Red Hand shirt since the 2023 All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Kerry, was a very special gift.

“It was emotional, it’s been a long two years, because probably nobody will really understand what you really go through when you're on your own,” he said.

“Injuries are a very lonely place, because although you can be around people, you can feel quite alone.

“I'm just grateful to get the day over. I hadn't thought too far ahead, to be honest. It was just about getting back on the pitch, getting a bit of game time.

“You were chomping at the bit to get on the last few days, and it didn't come, and you have to pick yourself up and go again. So, I'm just glad I did back myself and got to this moment. Whatever happens after this is probably all bonus territory, personally.”

The support of family and close friends helped him through the darker times, and their presence at more positive stages of a tortuous journey meant the world to Meyler.

“I'm just very grateful for mum and dad, and there's a couple of good people around me who know who they are, and they really supported me and helped me.

“And that's the important thing, is just keep good people around you, because there will be days where you're not really feeling it, and motivation's low. So it's important to have that.

“There's plenty of times when you doubt yourself, and that's the importance of having good people around you. And then the setbacks, of course, as well, which were a very negative element to the whole journey.”

Hope came calling on a number of occasions, but time and again, relapses, setbacks and complications intervened to dash all positive expectations.

It was a lonely existence at the best of times, a solitary world for an elite athlete to inhabit.

“Anyone who's been through long-term injury will know how lonely it can be. Sometimes you're even around people and you still feel alone, but that's the nights where you're away from the set-up, that can be tricky, and that's why you say.

“I'm very fortunate to have a good family, because there's plenty of days where you wonder, is this opportunity going to come?

“You have to keep picking yourself back up again and again and again, and nobody really sees what goes on behind the scenes, even as an inter-county footballer. But then, one who's injured, it's even tougher. So yeah, just grateful is probably the overwhelming feeling.

“There's plenty of times, to be honest, that's the reality of a long-term injury, that you just don't know, and it's the uncertainty that probably keeps you wondering.

“So that's the difficult part, and then you get setbacks along the way, and there's plenty of setbacks, just other niggles and injuries.”

Sunday’s Group 1 decider, which Tyrone won comfortably to take top spot and go through to the All-Ireland quarter-finals, saw Meyler make the matchday squad for the third successive game.

The moment was edging ever closer, and finally the nod came from manager Malachy O’Rourke, who felt the time was right to make the call which was to raise the loudest cheer of the day from Tyrone supporters at the Enniskillen venue.

“I wasn't really expecting it. It just shows you I'm very grateful to be from Tyrone, and had the opportunities I've had to play for Tyrone.

“We've been back now the last couple of months in training, and you're playing in-house games, and then you're not getting selected, and you're not making a 26, and then you're getting on the squad, and you're not getting on, and you're wondering, am I ever going to get a chance?

“But I think I just made my mind up to just see it out, and if you don't get on, at least you threw everything at it. It's an easier conversation when you look in the mirror then and go, right, I gave it everything. So now that's what's sort of kept me going.

“People in other counties wouldn't have had the opportunities that I have. Some unbelievable players in other counties just haven't got that chance to play in Croke Park, to win All-Irelands.

“The friends it's given me, the opportunities it's given me, it's given me some of my best days of my life, and it's also brought me some low moments, but you wouldn't change any of it.”

Meyler knows he will have to fight for his place, a battle made all the harder by the emergence of a raft of fresh talent from All-Ireland winning U20 teams.

“It's not just coming back from injury, it's the fact that you're coming into this really competitive team that are, you know, U20s are coming through and everything else, and you've got to fight for places and get to the level again. That hangs over you as well, because we have an unbelievably tough 26 there, and there's a lot of boys who are disappointed they didn't make it.

“It's probably the strongest squad as I've been involved in the last 12 years because you've got eight or nine boys there who aren't making the 26, and boys who were on the panel last time and didn't get on.

“We're in a really healthy place, especially with the 20s wins, The last few years in the school wins, you have a conveyor belt of talent, so it's just a case of bringing it all together.

“So the fact I got my chance, even when you're looking at some of the boys on the bench who didn't get on today, we're really disappointed, but I'll be chomping it the next day as well.”

And the 2031 All-Ireland winner feels Tyrone are in a strong position to challenge for this year’s title.

“Collectively, I think we have a great opportunity, whoever we face, that we have a good squad there, and a healthy squad, the majority of it. So, it's exciting.

“You see the 20 squads coming through there. The competition's serious, so it's an exciting time.”

Tyrone U20 midfielder Conor O’Neill has been called up to the senior squad, and is one of two new recruits who can help address the Red Hands’ battle to get to grips with the crucial middle third sector.

Ruairi McHugh, who also won an All-Ireland U20 medal with Tyrone in 2022, has also joined the panel.

Donaghmore clubman O’Neill was a key influence in back-to-back All-Ireland U20 successes over the past two seasons.

McHugh, from Coalisland Fianna, has been troubled by a series of injuries over the past couple of seasons, but his return to fitness has opened the door to a call from senior manager Malachy O’Rourke.

The promotion of O’Neill means two members of this year’s triumphant U20 team are now involved with the seniors.

Eoin McElholm, who has been voted Dalata Hotel Group U20 Player of the Year, was called up following last year’s success, and has been juggling his commitments to both sides over the past few months.

O’Neill was not among six Tyrone players selected on the U20 Team of the Year.