Joyce and Galway footballers must stick together for final crack at Sam

THE longer there is no news about Padraic Joyce’s intentions regarding the Galway senior footballer team manager’s post, the more likely the Killererin clubman will be facing into a seventh season in charge next Spring.

And though there has been some cribbing about tactics and the choice of personnel – isn’t there always when a team doesn’t land the Holy Grail – an overwhelming number of supporters would want Joyce to stay at the Tribesmen helm.

More importantly, the county’s GAA top officials are also behind the incumbent. Apart from delivering four consecutive Connacht titles and two All-Ireland final appearances, Joyce has turned Galway into one of the most consistent and formidable teams in the country.

True, last year’s final defeat to Armagh was a sickener and this Summer’s shock quarter-final exit to Meath must have been equally devastating, but Joyce knows his players inside-out and despite those big-games losses, he still holds the dressing room.

Some would want him to shake up his backroom team, but he did that last year with former Cavan manager Mickey Graham and Corofin’s respected coach Dave Morris joining the set-up. Joyce is a proud Galwayman and would do anything in his power to bring Sam back west for the first time since 2001.

As one of the county’s greatest-ever players, Joyce has also sufficient collateral built up to avoid any semblance of a heave and the way supporters warm to him after Galway’s victories leaves no one in any doubt about their belief in him.

Joyce has invested a huge personal effort in the Galway project over the past six years, and it would be a bombshell if he walked away now. Having established the Tribesmen as one of the leading powers, he still has unfinished business to attend to.

Admittedly, some of Galway’s key players are moving on in years – Paul Conroy will turn 37 next year – but they remain a talented and hungry group. A shake-up of the squad may still be required and players like Liam Costello of Milltown are currently putting their hands up for promotion.

Getting target-man Damien Comer – whose injury troubles are continuing given that he hasn’t played for Annaghdown in the ongoing club championship – fully fit next year will be a priority, as well as avoiding a preliminary All-Ireland quarter-final.

That fixture helped to break Galway’s back in 2025. It proved a high-scoring, end-to-end encounter with Down and following demanding group games against Armagh and Derry, that hectic schedule took a lot out of the players and left them drained, both mentally and physically, for their clash with Meath. The required energy just wasn’t there even if it appeared they had weathered the Royal storm when turning a six-point deficit into a three-point lead at a critical juncture of the game.

But that demanded a huge collective effort and with the team running on empty, it left them vulnerable to Meath’s late surge. It was an agonising loss, and nobody would have felt the pain more than Joyce and his management. In the space of a few minutes, their All-Ireland dream had been crushed.

He owes Galway football nothing, but Joyce is a winner, and he deserves one more crack at breaking the All-Ireland code. Frankly, if there is anyone else in the manager’s role next year, it would be a retrograde step in terms of continuity. With former great Andy Moran bound to get a bounce from his Mayo troops, there’s nothing easy about the road ahead, but Joyce has never backed away from a challenge yet.

Pictured: Oranmore-Maree's Ruben Davitt secures possession against Conor Delaney of Cappataggle during Saturday's Senior A hurling encounter at Kenny Park. Photo: Joe O'Shaughnessy.