Sean Rafferty reflects on a meteoric rise with Meath in 2025

By Paul Keane

The good times keep on rolling for Sean Rafferty.

Last Friday evening, with the hooter already sounded at Pairc Tailteann and his club Na Fianna in possession of the ball but a point down in their Meath SFC encounter with Donaghmore-Ashbourne, he made a burst forward.

Rafferty ate up the ground ahead of him before displaying all the confidence of a veteran inter-county forward by striking the equalising score.

Only he isn't a veteran of the county game, nor a forward.

In fact, before last February, he hadn't even started an Allianz League or Championship game for Meath and was previously overlooked as both a minor and U-20.

And if you'd asked him any time up until a few months ago what his best position actually was, he might have struggled to give you a definitive answer.

"I'd say I've tried my hand in nearly every position at this point," smiled Rafferty at the launch of the 2025 Beko Club Champion, an initiative open to all clubs in Leinster.

New Meath manager Robbie Brennan had a very specific job in mind for the 25-year-old, immediately installing him as their full-back totem.

It's fair to say it was a gamble that paid off with Rafferty excelling in the role, drawing comparisons with county legends Darren Fay and Mick Lyons and providing some of the moments of the Championship, like his huge hit on Galway's John Maher in Meath's All-Ireland quarter-final win at Croke Park.

He could even end the season with an All-Star award having made it all the way to the Championship's last four.

"I was on a development panel last year until the end of the league," said Rafferty. "I played a few games in that, we played Dublin, Kildare, Offaly. They were development panels, just to see where we were at."

From there to marking the game's very best forwards in 2025, including David Clifford, it's been some journey.

"I wasn't on him at the start of the game," said Rafferty of his move onto Clifford during Meath's All-Ireland SFC group stage win over Kerry. "I think he kicked a two-pointer, then I went on to him. Look, he's nearly impossible to stop. I think even in the All-Ireland final there, (Brendan) McCole didn't do too much wrong against him. Clifford's kicking off three steps, he's not even taking a play, really.

"He's a once-in-a-lifetime type of player. You're just trying to disrupt him as much as possible. Probably Paudie (Clifford) didn't play that day, against us, so that had a bit of an effect.

"On the day it just went our way and yet he still came away with five points in total. So there is no stopping him."

The consensus was that Rafferty had done well though, holding him to two points from play whilst marking him.

"Coming away from that game, of course I had confidence," he said. "Then you're facing up against Shane Walsh of Galway, another incredible player. It was a mad year for me going from not playing to marking Con (O'Callaghan), Clifford and Shane Walsh in the one year."

Rafferty had a stint on Louth's Ciaran Downey in the Leinster final too, and Donegal's Oisin Gallen in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Gallen finished with 1-2 and helped Donegal score a big win over Meath.

At one stage in that game, Rafferty powered out of defence and sprinted up the field following an interception but the promising move petered out when a forward blasted wide. It was that sort of game from Meath's perspective.

"I think that was around the time Bryan Menton got injured," said Rafferty. "I know a lot of people say the day got to us. I don't particularly believe that was it. I think we were beaten by a better team and that's the way it goes sometimes. "

It will go down as a great year overall for both Rafferty and the Royals.

Truth be told, most years you beat Dublin, Kerry, Cork and Galway, as well as Offaly and Carlow in Leinster, you'll end up as an All-Ireland winner.

Rafferty sees the 2025 season as the start of a long journey with Meath. He makes that point when explaining why he wouldn't swap their season, which ended at the penultimate stage of the All-Ireland series, with Louth, who won the Leinster championship.

"No disrespect to Louth, they're a great team," said Rafferty. "On the day, they beat us fair and square. They'd probably been building to that, that was their third Leinster final in a row.

"That team has been on a journey whereas I feel it's the first year of our journey with Meath. There's probably, or hopefully, a lot more to come from us. Louth are midway through their journey, and getting there. They definitely taught us lessons on the day that we had to learn, just like Donegal did.

"But no, I wouldn't trade seasons with them."

The future looks bright for the current Meath group. A number of the county's talented U-20s, who have competed in back-to-back Leinster finals, winning in 2024, are expected to be upgraded to senior duty next season. And with the remarkable ascension of Rafferty in mind, perhaps there is even another rough diamond out there, just waiting to be polished up?

"I think there are more guys out there - in all of Ireland," nodded Rafferty. "It's very easy to get put off, especially when you're 17, 18 years old, just to get put off and kind of step away from football. But if it's something you want to do, I'll always tell you to stick with it.

"I stuck with it and it's got me here. That's not going to be the case for everybody but if you love it, stick with it. You never know what will happen."