Ruairí Kinsella settling into a nice groove with Meath
Meath footballer Ruairi Kinsella during the announcement of Batchelors as the Official Beans Partner of the GAA and Gaelic Players Association at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
By John Harrington
Now in his third season as an inter-county footballer, Ruairí Kinsella is quickly developing into one of the best forwards in the game.
He scored 2-21 over the course of Meath’s League campaign and is a beautiful kicker of the ball, but he brings much more to the team than just finishing.
His ability to take possession in pockets of space and then probe defences with his speed of foot and clever range of passing makes him a great link player too.
He always had these qualities, but he’s become a very consistent performer who now has the self-confidence to grab a game by the scruff of the neck rather than wait for it to come to him.
The experience of playing in lots of big games over the past two years has accelerated his development and he now feels very comfortable playing at the highest level.
“Definitely, yeah,” says Kinsella. “I feel like the first year or two you're kind of trying to prove a point. So you're nearly maybe trying too hard on things.
“Whereas now I feel like I've settled in and it's a lot more calm. I don't feel as much pressure on my shoulders or anything like that.
“Especially with the new rules, I've really enjoyed them. I feel like they kind of suit my game as an individual.”
You could say the same for other players in the Meath attack like Jordan Morris, Eoghan Frayne, and James Conlon.
They’re all gifted ballers who are thriving in the freedom granted by the new rules, and when Meath attack with the ball now they do so with the self-assurance that they’re capable of working the score-board ever time they take it into the opposition half.
“Yeah, I think we have a good variety of players in our forward line and even from our half-back line and midfield," says Kinsella.
“I think every one of us is a different type of player and I think that works well for us as it gives opposition a lot more things to study and look into so it's great to have that variety.”
Ruairí Kinsella of Meath in action against Ian Maguire of Cork during the Allianz Football League Division 2 final match between Meath and Cork at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Such is the range scoring threats that Meath have in their attack that if they dominate the contest for possession in the middle third of the pitch they’re very difficult to resist.
At times last year they struggled to do that, especially from kick-outs, but this year they’ve very strong in that area with big men like Bryan Menton, Cian McBride, and Jack Flynn really spreading their shoulders.
“Kick-outs have become such a big part of the game and we do a lot of work on that, I think every county does nowadays,” says Kinsella.
“I think we have improved on that, I think our control of the ball has got a lot better as well.
“I think we take much better care of it, we don't get too sloppy with it. I think they're two of the things we've improved on.”
After following up championship wins over Dublin, Kerry and Galway last year with League victories over the likes of Tyrone, Louth, and Cork this year, Meath are entitled to believe they’re good enough to beat any opponent.
They’ll go into Sunday’s Leinster SFC quarter-final against Westmeath as warm favourites, but the Lake County looked pretty impressive themselves in their first round win over Longford.
Kinsella is keenly aware their near-neighbours are will fancy their chances of springing an ambush on the Royals.
“Yeah, absolutely. We know how up for it Westmeath are going to be. We know the quality they have as well.
“There's some brilliant players, Luke Loughlin, Sam McCartan, Ray Connellan, Ronan Wallace. We've got our study done and we'll keep working on it this week. We know we're in for a right battle.
“They've got fierce unlucky the last two years with plenty of results. In our minds they're a Division 2 team at the minimum. They're not a Division 3 team. We'll make sure we're prepared for them.
“I feel like you have to be confident going into any game, no matter who you're playing, but of course you don't want to be too arrogant and be too overconfident.
“That's why you do your study on your players and you figure out what you need to know about the opposition. So, I think, yeah, it's important to have a bit of confidence but back up that confidence by knowing the opposition inside out.”
