I'm a Galway man and I want us to be successful

IT was 6am and still dark when Padraic Joyce arrived into work last Friday. In more ways than one, he was waiting for the dawn to arrive.

- Garryl DOYLE

As manager of the Galway football team, he has taken charge of a side who have lost two of the previous three All-Irelands and have been waiting nearly a quarter of a century to add to their tally of nine Sams.

Joyce could talk about sacrifices and commitment, but the reason he doesn't is because he knows this life he leads is by choice. Since 1997, he has been involved in intercounty football, either as a player, or a coach, for every summer bar six.

So he could tell you about the 18 staff he has to manage in his office, the 300 lads who work on construction sites around the country, the juggle between taking phone calls off players and staff members.

Instead he navigates the conversation away from this. The coffee meetings he has with players - often disgruntled ones who want more gametime - have a purpose.

"It is something you have to do because you are trying to get the best out of your county. Lads are invested for different reasons. Me? I am invested in Galway because I am a Galway man and I want us to be successful."

They have been under Joyce. Three successive Connacht titles have been complimented by two appearances in the All-Ireland, the most successful contribution any Galway manager has delivered since John O'Mahony.

Joyce was a key figure on that team, scoring the game-changing goal against Kildare in the 1998 All-Ireland final, scoring 10 points in the 2001 victory over Meath. Now he is winning with Galway again, albeit in a different role.

"Back then you just had your ego to worry about."

Now he has a panel of 30 egos to consider but he's happy doing so because sport reveals a lot about a person.

As a father of three, and chief executive of his own company, he should not be able to find time to do what he does.