Breakout star Rafferty is unfazed by lack of silverware

"I think the season we had brought a buzz back to Meath football, and that's the main thing for us.

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"Especially the main thing for me is seeing all the young lads and all the kids getting back and loving it.

"If you asked me to trade seasons, I probably wouldn't."

Meath’s graph rose this season in line with that of a number of individual players, none more so than Rafferty.

Over the course of the campaign, he was assigned marking jobs on David Clifford, Con O'Callaghan and Shane Walsh — arguably the three premier forwards in the game right now — and emerged with his reputation enhanced.

The 25-year-old will surely be nominated for an All Star and may be in with a shout of making the team itself.

Not bad for someone who never played underage football for the county and was only skirting around the senior panel in recent years, occasionally making the bench.