Point Taken: Steven McDonnell on Football

One of the first things that Joe Kernan asked of us when we met in the Canal Court Hotel back in 2001 was to trust him and his backroom team. If we could do this, then he would help us win the All Ireland.

Paddy McKeever, Enda and Justin McNulty and myself spent that summer in Chicago playing football and that's where we were when the news filtered through that Joe had got the job. We all knew this would happen as he had just won three All-Ireland club titles with Crossmaglen, so in terms of trusting him we were already 90% there.

Trust is everyone doing what is asked of them. From being committed in the tackle, to working hard for one another, from communicating all the time, to sticking to the game plan and doing the required individual training. I could go on but this was the first time that I realised that you don't succeed in football without trust.

The Inner Circle

In the previous three campaigns in the championship, we had lost out to the eventual All-Ireland winners and were beaten in two semi-finals. Of course when you win an All-Ireland you need luck on your side, but when I look back at the period from 1999-2001, there was just something lacking in that team and the set-up. I believe it was trust. Everyone in the set-up from the players and management, to the medical team and stats people, the masseuse and even the bus driver, must all be on the same wavelength.

If someone's not, you can forget about winning. From 2002 onwards things changed though and Armagh built up a reputation around honesty and trust. Nothing ever left the circle. And I mean nothing. I often remember family members asking questions such as "How are things going at training?" The only answer they would ever get would be one word - "Fine".

After this they just knew not to quiz anymore. The media often came up with their own idea as to why we had symbols on our jerseys. They might still think they know why but I can guarantee you that whatever they think or believe is wrong. No-one outside the circle will ever find out. We fed off this trust and it brought us closer together as a team. I'm certainly not saying that each and every one of us liked each other but we respected and trusted one another and this is key for a team looking for success.

Testing that trust

Training was always a place where players and management had run-ins and rows but once we walked off the pitch this was forgotten about. I tested the trust of my team-mates once or twice. My birthday always fell around Ulster final time. In 2004 after we beat Donegal, the big day fell on the Tuesday after. We agreed we'd celebrate the victory together on the Sunday night and if anyone wanted to go for beers on the Monday that was fine.

After this though, we had to re-hydrate and get the body right for training on the Thursday night, and get ready to give the All Ireland a good rattle. I had other ideas. Marty O'Rourke, Paul Watters and myself went on the piss the day of my birthday. Why wouldn't we? We were young and wanted to enjoy ourselves.

This of course got back to Joe and Geezer and when we went to training on Thursday they couldn't wait to pull us on the issue. Geezer and Paul McGrane took us aside and trust me when I say this - they absolutely got dug into us in a serious way. When those guys spoke you certainly listened and that came from the respect we had for them. But we knew that this was the easy part as it was only a verbal warning.

Geezer made the McEntees, McNultys, Diarmuid Marsden and Francie Bellew aware of what we had done and time after time during the session they buried into us with everything they had, at every opportunity. We left the pitch bloodied and bruised. They roughed us up a bit but we deserved it. It was like we had to prove ourselves all over again with Geezer and the boys so this was just a case of getting on with it and accepting it. The fact that nobody found out about this until now proves the trust we had in each other.

Driving each other on

When I look at the top five teams in the modern game, Cork, Kerry, Dublin, Kildare and Donegal, I can see these traits in them. They believe in each other, in their management and in their style of play. They work hard for each other and stand up for one another. One of the stand out performers for me this year has been Frank McGlynn. He is a superb corner-back and in almost every game he gets himself a score. This is because when he takes off on a run he trusts that one of his teammates is covering for him. Donegal won't be left wide open at the back if the move breaks down.

Marc Ó Sé and Emmet Bolton are two more examples of this. They don't attack all the time. They chose the right moment and when they do they end up on the ball and finish it off with a score. They make it count. The point that Emmet got against Limerick to keep Kildare in the championship is another perfect example of this. This boils down to teamwork, work-rate and trust in each other.

In the Armagh team that I was involved with, I'd always look around the dressing room and in particular the starting 15 for that match. I knew that we'd get a performance out of everyone. The first thing we were focused on was doing the job for the team and not for ourselves. We were total team players.

One question that I am always asked is "Who was the toughest defender you ever faced?" My answer is Enda McNulty, simply because I became a better player through our battles on the training pitch. We marked each other every night at training and we came to full blows nearly every night. But we knew that it was all for the good of Armagh and we would be better prepared for the physical element of championship football.

He would be punching and digging me every time the ball was at the other end of the field and he would always have an arm across me to stop my run. He would get the same level of punches and digs thrown back at him though. We both knew that we were improving each other's game by doing this and competing at this level. You often hear about the intensity that Kilkenny bring to their training sessions. Armagh in that era was exactly the same. Enda was our best man marker and always got the job of nullifying the threat of Peter Canavan, the Gooch and players of that calibre. We all trusted Enda to do the job that was asked of him.

Pulling each other up from the gutter

To get to the stage where a team has this level of trust takes time and more than likely they will have been in the gutter together and suffered heavy and heartbreaking defeats. After such defeats this trust can be built over a beer or two because players are more open and honest in evaluating their season. This is the case for the top five. Cork in the All Ireland final in 2009. Dublin against Kerry in 2009, and against Tyrone in 2008. Donegal have had too many to mention but more recently against Armagh in 2010 and the semi final against Dublin last year. Kildare in their defeats to Louth and Down in 2010. And for Kerry, they don't have to look any further than last year's All-Ireland final.

These defeats hurt you hard and you can either feel sorry for yourself or react in the best manner and get back on your feet bigger and stronger than before. There is a burning desire to put things right. All you have to do is look at Paul Galvin's interview after Kerry defeated Tyrone and you'll know exactly what I mean. The emotion that he showed in that interview tells the story about what the jersey means for that man.

These teams are dragging each other from the gutter. They can only see one shining light at the end of the tunnel. If the teams outside the top five want to find themselves competing for honours then they must get their priorities right. Gain the trust of each other first of all, and they'll find themselves moving in the right direction.

This is the second of Steven McDonnell's exclusive 'Point Taken' football columns, which will feature on GAA.ie throughout the summer.