To do that, McGeeney must outfox a familiar face in Joyce, who he has known and respected for years. They faced off in Armagh and Galway’s first ever championship meeting in 2001 but later represented Ireland together in International Rules.
Like McGeeney, Joyce is still revered in his county for his exploits as a player, which included scoring 1-2 and 0-10 in Galway’s All-Ireland final wins in 1998 and 2001.
His tenure overseeing his county is half as old as McGeeney’s, but he has still had to overcome some significant hurdles to reach this point.
Of course, Joyce invited pressure on himself when he, upon taking the reins in 2019, brazenly outlined his ambition of leading Galway to an All-Ireland.
With the team having failed to reach the 2019 Super 8s under Kevin Walsh, it was a bold proclamation to make before a ball was kicked.
Indeed, when the Tribesmen were hammered 3-23 to 0-17 by Connacht rivals Mayo in the Covid-hit 2020 National League, Joyce was moved to call it the “most embarrassing day” of his career. A year later, Galway squandered a five-point half-time lead to lose the Connacht final to Mayo.
It marked a turning point. Ahead of the 2022 season, Joyce shook up his backroom team. Cian O’Neill was added, as were former boxer Bernard Dunne and strength and conditioning coach Jonathan Harris-Wright, whose work with Bristol Bears Rugby and Cricket Ireland promised to bring fresh perspective to a despondent group.
