Colm O'Rourke is optimistic about the future of Meath and his tenure with the Royals despite their championship exit at the hands of Monaghan.
Meath failed to secure a win in the All-Ireland championship after winning the Tailteann Cup in 2023.
However O'Rourke commended his team's spirit and determination in final quarter against Meath after they hit seven unanswered points to reduce the deficit to just two.
"For three quarters of the game we seemed to be a bit timid and not playing well, and then when the game was gone beyond us, we seemed to show the traditional Meath spirit," O'Rourke said.
"We really had a very good last 15 minutes. It's a pity we just didn’t start a bit earlier."
Reflecting on the 2024 season, O'Rourke told RTE Sport; "Well, it wasn't a great year. We had a good enough league, but the championship has been very disappointing. Obviously, we've had 3 defeats in our group games, today was the closest we’ve got.
"We’re building. I thought we’d make progress quicker, but it’s quite slow it’s going to take a while."
In his second season as manager O'Rourke has been tasked with introducing new players to the squad and with the recent underage success he remains positive about the potential of the group.
"The biggest problem we have, is that we haven’t a core of very experienced players available to us and we’re building with a lot of young players.
"Today we probably showed a bit of inexperience early on, and then when they really had to fight for it, they went for it.
"The big thing is to try and develop these players further and the only way we will do that is patience and keeping them together."
The two-time All Ireland winner is optimistic about Meath's future, crediting the work ethic and commitment of his panel. He also highlights former All-Ireland winning minor captain Eoghan Frayne as one of the counties' upcoming stars.
"It's Eoghan’s Frayne’s first taste of championship football really, he came onto the team last year for the Tailteann cup and he is one of the players that we are looking to for the future.
"But he is only in his second season with Meath and that’s the same with the vast majority of our team so they will get better.
"They are a very dedicated, committed group. They all want to play for Meath they have great pride in their county and in their clubs and they certainly will get better."
When asked about his future as Meath boss and if he will remain at the helm he was quick to respond,
"Oh absolutely, I think it's going to take five years and I am going to be looking for an extension of five years with the county board.
"I’m sure they will be delighted, and will want me to stay at least that long."
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