MICHEÁL McSweeney believes no one deserves a Celtic Cross more than his Newcestown team-mate, Luke Meade – a player who has been a constant presence for both club and county over the past decade.
McSweeney has hurled alongside Meade for more than 16 years, from underage level with Newcestown right through to winning the Cork senior A hurling and football championship double in 2023.
‘The Meades have a wall at home, and I’m almost certain that, because of Luke and his brother Jack, it’s had to be rebuilt a couple of times,’ McSweeney explained.
‘That wall has fallen over because those two lads have pucked a sliotar off it every single chance they got since day one – that’s a true story. Luke has had a hurley in his hand every day since he was young.’
All those years hurling together through good times and bad, McSweeney has watched Meade’s influence grow. A role model for hurlers both inside and outside the parish, Meade lets his hurling do the talking. So, would bringing the Liam MacCarthy Cup back to Newcestown be a fitting reward?
‘It would be huge, massive”’ McSweeney said.
‘He would definitely deserve it. The amount of work he’s put in to get this far, the amount of heartache – he’s lost two All-Ireland finals.
‘Tim Crowley was the last man to bring Liam MacCarthy back to Newcestown. Everyone in the club would be delighted for Luke because I don’t think anyone deserves it more than him to have an All-Ireland medal in his back pocket.’
Such is the talent at Pat Ryan’s disposal that Meade – like many others on Cork’s 38-man panel – isn’t guaranteed a place in the match-day 26, let alone the starting 15 for All-Ireland final Sunday.
‘I don’t know who the Cork management is going to select,’ McSweeney admitted.
‘Don’t forget how good Luke has been for Cork – not just this year but for the last ten years. He’s made the senior inter-county panel year after year, which shows his consistency and how good he’s been that whole time.
‘I’d say any Cork senior hurler you talk to would have nothing but good words to say about Luke – the way he trains, the way he plays. He doesn’t need to talk the talk because he does his talking on the pitch.
‘Luke wouldn’t ask anyone to do anything he wouldn’t do himself. He’s a leader. Not every leader needs to roar and shout like Roy Keane – Luke leads by example. He’s a great role model for all the young people in Newcestown. They all look up to him and everything he does.’
Meade has never forgotten his roots either – when he can, he’s back at the home club grounds, watching matches or training sessions.
‘He’s up at our pitch every evening he can make it,’ McSweeney added.
‘Even when he’s training with the Cork seniors – three or four nights a week – Luke will still turn up to watch Newcestown train on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. He’ll have a puck around with whoever’s there.
‘That – in the middle of representing Cork at inter-county level – shows what kind of fella he is.”
