Brennan satisified with Meath progress

​By Paul Keane

Robbie Brennan says his Meath players have now entered new territory, knowing, as opposed to hoping, that they're good enough to win big.

Brennan guided the Royals to huge Championship wins over eventual All-Ireland winners Kerry, Galway, Dublin and Cork in his first season in charge.

And they've continued to make progress in 2026 with national silverware now tucked away, the Allianz NFL Division 2 title, thanks to their Croke Park win over Cork.

It was Meath's seventh win of this season's League campaign with Derry, Tyrone and Leinster champions Louth also defeated.

"I suppose you have to hope it's another little step on the way," said Brennan of Meath's win and their long-term quest for Championship success.

"As we've said, it's not our stopping point at all here today. We still have other plans we want to try and get after, whether it's this year, next year or whenever it is.

"We're kind of getting to the stage where it's not necessarily about belief anymore. The lads should understand now that they're at that level and they're more than capable of holding their own and beating good teams, like we did last year and we've done again this year.

"Now it's about being able to maintain those standards across 70 minutes, which we still probably haven't done yet. We're still chasing that."

That sheer unpredictability has been one of the most exciting things about watching Meath under Brennan. They have the potential to cut loose at any moment and run up big tallies. They hit Cork for eight points without response in 14 second-half minutes.

"That's that big thing, momentum," said Brennan. "If you get it, and you can keep it for as long as you can, it's a very hard thing to break. You've probably seen examples of that even going back to the challenge match we played months ago against Mayo. You get those opportunities, you try to fill your boots as much as you possibly can."

It takes a special set of forwards to be able to deliver those sorts of blitzkriegs.

"Meath have always had good forwards and I think we've an exceptional bunch at the minute," said Brennan. "I sound like Aidan O'Brien, 'exceptional bunch', but there's an exceptional crop of forwards there and they're all a little bit different. That can bring challenges for opposition. I think the main thing is we encourage them to play and to do their own thing."

For Cork, there are clear areas for improvement ahead of their Munster SFC campaign which begins in a fortnight against Limerick.

"They did trouble us big time with kick-outs, particularly down the middle," said Cork manager John Cleary. "Looking at it there midway through the second half, they outscored us eight points to zero. Other than that, it was toe-to-toe. We were in the game. There were times we were on top as well. We fought back very valiantly in the end.

"There were times we upset their kick-out as well. But maybe when four or five go against you in a row, you are kind of looking at that and saying that was the changing of the game.

"But as I said, I felt we fought valiantly to the end. We were sizing up a two-pointer at the end. I am disappointed but incredibly proud of the lads for the way they fought to the end. They left it all out there and ultimately we fell short to a very good Meath team."