By Paul Keane

Sometimes all it takes is a little extra responsibility to bring out the very best in a player, like Tyrone's Kieran McGeary.

The Pomeroy man's qualities have always been clear - he captained Tyrone to their U-21 All-Ireland win in 2015 - but this has been easily his most impressive season as a senior.

Along with his Ulster and All-Ireland titles, the experienced half-back was named PwC GAA/GPA Footballer of the Month for August. Further individual honours could yet be on the way.

So what's the difference in 2021? Being thrown the vice-captaincy of his county certainly helped.

"I'd love to say it didn't affect my game but it probably did - in a good way," said McGeary.

"You need to be a tad more responsible. You always want to be out on the pitch, even on cold wet nights up in Garvaghey when you're carrying a niggle and you're thinking, 'Maybe I'll rest it tonight'. You know you have to push on because you're the vice-captain and you want to lead by example, to try to push boys on even when things were going bad.

"And we had some bad times this year but it was about pulling the good out of it and keeping everybody together. We're reaping the rewards of it now fortunately."

Tyrone joint managers Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher, who were also part of the U-21 management six years ago, clearly rate McGeary as an exceptional leader. The player himself says the feeling is mutual.

"I was delighted," said McGeary of the county board's decision to turn to the Logan-Dooher combination following Mickey Harte's exit late last year. "No two better men to get it than Feargal and Brian. I suppose that (warmth) comes naturally with having won with them in 2015 and being their captain. They were fantastic that year and in previous years. They're two gentlemen, they're nearly more concerned about you as a person than as a player. They really do look after that side of things as well."

Whether or not Harte would have led Tyrone to All-Ireland success this year anyhow is an intriguing question that McGeary simply can't answer.

"Big Cathal McShane was back, Conor McKenna was only starting up, we had a number of new boys, it's hard to honestly tell," said McGeary. "At the start of the year, people were probably saying that Mickey made a good decision stepping away from the Tyrone team. We started to pick up a bit of momentum, to pick up a few Championship wins. There are no guarantees to say it would have happened and nothing to say that it wouldn't if Mickey was still there."

What's certain is that McGeary feels for the Mayo players beaten by Tyrone last Saturday week. For many it was their sixth All-Ireland final defeat in a decade with some having been involved in seven deciders if you include the 2016 replay.

The Mayo county board issued an end of season statement on Sunday in which they lamented the criticism that has come the way of 'both players and team management' since the final.

"For Mayo, being there in finals seven times in the last how many years, that's tough on them players," said McGeary. "For a number of them it was their first time, some of them three times, some of them seven.

"If you take off your Mayo hat and stand back for a second, six All-Ireland final defeats for some of them - that's not easy. It's not nice then to be criticised after trying your best, management or players.

"They were the pace-settings and the trend-setters for a team that can continue to achieve at the top level. We were always quarter-final, first-round or semi-final, over the last number of years. Mayo have been back and back and back, all the time. That's credit to those players.

"That's some resilience to do that, regardless of what anyone has to say about management or individuals."