This weekend's Munster football final will generate more interest within Meath than is normally the case, though it’s not as if the Royals have a great deal to learn of their next opponent.
The Rebels will be underdogs as they seek a first championship win on Killarney soil over the hosts since 1995, though the most recent provincial tussles suggest a close encounter at the bare minimum.
Regardless of what happens at Fitzgerald Stadium on Sunday, both sides will face familiar foes and repeat league finals next time out, All-Ireland heavyweights Kerry and Donegal locking horns again, while Meath and Cork will meet for a third time before we reach June.
The Rebels, despite a late wobble, had enough of an advantage to run out four-point victors in February to end Meath’s 100% start to Division 2.
The tables were turned in Croke Park five weeks later when the Royals claimed their first piece of league silverware since 2007 when a second-half purple patch was enough to secure promotion to the top-flight and a boost heading into the Leinster championship.
The pin in provincial ambitions however were pulled early by goal-hungry neighbours Westmeath, a below-par display from Robbie Brennan’s side punished ruthlessly in Tullamore.
The result is a five-week layoff until they travel to Leeside again having drawn John Cleary’s side in the in the first round of the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Captain Eoghan Frayne, who picked off 1-06 across both games against the Rebels, admits the aftermath of the Westmeath defeat was a sobering experience.
"It has been tough," he told RTÉ Sport. "The few days after were tough and it got worse each day when we had time to look back at the defeat. Westmeath were probably more up for it than us which is hard to say, but we never really got going. We never got up to the pitch of the game."
The consolation for Meath is that for all of the highs across this season and last, they can also draw on some setbacks. The resilience shown after last year’s Leinster final defeat to Louth, and to a lesser extent the earlier league defeat to Cork after opening with three wins, should stand the team in good stead.
Frayne also plays down the notion that the rising expectations within the county having reached the last four in 2025 is something of a burden for the players.
"To be honest, I don’t really think about it too much. It is not something we talk about. We just do our homework on teams, train hard and go out and give our best each day. If you start getting swamped by that stuff, it can be a distraction."
One area Meath will look to improve upon is the concession of goals. Cork raised three green flags over both league games, but could have added more at Croke Park given the number of opportunities created, while Westmeath hit four goals last time out.
Brennan has almost kept faith with the same team from goalkeeper to midfield throughout the league – defenders Sean Rafferty and Sean Coffey only failed to start one game each – so it is likely to be more tactical that personnel tweaks employed by the Royals.
"You never want to be conceding goals," Frayne said. "Westmeath did their homework and could see how they could get at us, and they scored some savage goals."
"Everyone has to take ownership in defence. It is not just your six defenders. Everyone has to do it. It is a collective effort that everyone is tuned in and on the same page when we are defending."
Ronan Ryan should be available, while Matthew Costello and Jack Flynn will be hoping to see gametime on Leeside.
Frayne is confident that the training block will have flushed the Westmeath disappointment out of the system as look to build on last year’s body of work that included championship wins over Dublin, Kerry and Galway.
"We know we can compete with the top teams. We showed that last year. Hopefully the loss (Westmeath) will not define us."
Watch Kerry v Cork in the Munster Football final (1.45pm) and Roscommon v Galway in the Connacht Football final (4.15pm) on Sunday from 1.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app and listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch The Saturday Game and The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on the RTÉ News app and on rte.ie/sport
