Feisty Joyce ready to return to the Promised Land

For most of his tenure, only a few evangelists will have considered Padraic Joyce as a man capable of bringing Galway back to the Holy Land. In three of his four years at the helm, Mayo got the better of their neighbours and knocked them out of the championship before they reached Croke Park – albeit there were no second chances during the pandemic years. That sort of record would've been a very sore point for many Galwegians. And while they may not have amplified their dissatisfaction, they will certainly have been pondering the potential candidates that could eventually succeed the Killererin man.

Even when the Tribesmen made the All-Ireland final in 2022, bridging a 21-year gap since their last appearance, they did so after overcoming an Armagh side that hadn't made a semi-final since 2005 and against a Derry outfit that had just won their first provincial title since 1998. Dublin had also taken a rare early summer holiday, and with Shane Walsh in the form of his life producing one of the finest performances by an individual in an All-Ireland final, all the conditions were ripe for another street party in Tuam. Galway, alas, failed to capitalise and the All-Ireland title returned to Kerry.

But success, as Winston Churchill once defined it, is having "the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm". For all the disappointments over the last few years, Joyce cannot be accused of lacking enthusiasm for either his county or the game. And when the curtain eventually comes down on this year's season on Sunday evening, Joyce will be able to claim that he returned Galway to two All-Ireland finals across a five-year period after the county had spent years in the wilderness. That's how Joyce the manager will be written into the history books. He has fared much better than all of his predecessors since John O'Mahony, regardless of whether or not he steps away from the role over the next couple of weeks.

As both a player and a manager, there has always been a feisty aura to Joyce, a characteristic that has perhaps endeared him to Galway people even when the county was performing below expectations. He has, as a result, always had defenders willing to give him the luxury of another crack of the whip – he’s rewarding that loyalty.

Even if some Galway folk haven't always been convinced by his abilities as a manager, they’ve still always wanted Joyce to go well. That stems from his ability to nearly always deliver in the maroon jersey as a player. When the Tribesmen needed a charismatic and inspiring leader, Joyce almost always raised his hand.

In 2001, Meath were fancied heading into the All-Ireland final after roasting Kerry, the reigning All-Ireland champions, in the semi-final. On All-Ireland final day though, Joyce outscored the Royal County on his own, scoring 10 points in his side's 0-17 to 0-8 victory. Those sort of performances, tinged with feistiness and a desire to prove a point, mean the denizens of Galway will always have a soft spot for him. During his management career, he's also been prone to the odd barb in post-match interviews – and he'll need that spiky attitude coming to the fore amongst his panel over the coming days if his side is to overcome Armagh players that will be hellbent on ensuring that they don't journey through their entire careers without silverware of some sort. For this Armagh side haven't yet to win a McKenna Cup, not to mention a provincial or league title. Those players know they're too good to end their careers with bare cabinets.

But they’ve also shown a salient inability to get over the line in big games, even if they were the side that dumped Kerry out of the championship. Galway will be aware of that, too – even if the same could be said of the Connacht champions at times. They were the same side, after all, that allowed Stefan Campbell to fist a late score and secure a draw during their last tussle with Armagh in this year’s group stages.

Credit must still be given to Galway for holding the pace in a season when many of the big teams were stricken by mediocrity. It's clear that Dublin were lacking that same clinical edge that brought them so much success over the last decade, and Galway showed the ruthless streak to punish them, a trait that has been absent from many of their performances in Croke Park over the last decade.

Kerry suffered a similar fate to Dublin, with Clifford having a rare off-year by his own incredibly high standards. Tyrone had their own issues and were caught out by Roscommon before they usually begin to find form late in the season, while Donegal are still adjusting to Jim McGuinness' ways and will clearly come on in Year Two. Derry, meanwhile, struggled to maintain momentum after peaking in the spring, while Mayo were simply unable to produce the requisite levels of consistency to become a major player in the All-Ireland race.

Within this strange season of teams lacking form, Galway persisted and trudged their way to the finale in a way that will surely stand to them this weekend. Their largest victory of the year, outside of their thumping of London in the opening round of the championship, was a five-point win over Derry. They've only won by a score in all of their games since the group stages. Heading into the biggest game of the year, they’re as battle-hardened as soldiers sailing home from Gallipoli.

If Galway manage to claim the All-Ireland title, it will be a remarkably poignant occasion, particularly as it will come only a few weeks after John O’Mahony passed away. And even though it’s been over 25 years since he brought an All-Ireland title back over Shannon for the first time in three decades, the evocative gesture by this generation before their semi-final victory over Donegal proves that they’re aware of the history, the culture, the way of life that has football at its core. Most pertinently, they managed to channel that emotion into their play and seemed hungrier than Donegal – a rare feat against a McGuinness side.

The challenge now for the county is to ensure that the semi-final wasn’t their final – as has been the case for their great rivals over the border on so many occasions, as was perhaps the case for the side in 2022, too.

But they’ve become big game players, they’re less dependable on marquee names, their manager is beginning to convince the doubters of his capabilities, and they should be able to leverage the 2022 final experience to their advantage. And the old adage demands that you have to lose one to win one.

With all that in mind, the case for a Joyce-inspired victory on Sunday is exceedingly easy to make.