John Concannon has always been a man to wear his heart on his sleeve. You can test the temperature of a game by watching his movement on the sideline. His eyes darting here and there, encouraging and inspiring.
I remember as a young hack covering colleges games in the early 90s for the nationals and seeing the starlet shatter nets galore in midweek games for St Jarlath's. He was a figurehead as they destroyed teams. He scored 1-6 in the 1994 minor semi-final against Dublin and 1-4 in the Hogan Cup final of the same year.
Of all those gifted players of that generation, 'Scan' was once viewed as the saviour. He scored 3-1 on his senior championship debut for St Jarlath's at just 14, while a year later, he back-heeled a ball into the net against St Mary's in a Connacht Colleges final.
He was also only 14 when he played on the Milltown team which won their third Galway U-21 title in a row. Concannon was the first one of that minor team called up to the senior squad. Bosco McDermott brought him in at the end of that season, when Galway were Connacht champions. In his first game against Sligo in the FBD League, he bagged two goals.
I remember in those early years being asked by someone not to report for the nationals that he had scored a hatload of goals in a midweek colleges game in case he became a marked man for other teams. I ignored the request on the basis that his prolific form was something that should last forever in the history books. Which it has.
Now he's up for making history of a different kind. At he faces into the last game of a long season as a key member of a management team seeking to secure Galway's tenth All-Ireland title. But there's nowhere he would rather be.
Where else would you want to be?
"It's been a great year, a great year so far, but there's one game to go and it's the biggest of them all. We're looking forward to it as a group. The ticket headaches and all the logistics side of it are hard work, but where else would you want to be at this time of the year."
He feels the most recent appearance in the decider will benefit the Tribesmen.
"Being there in 2022 has enabled us to put some of this noise to the side. Things like the tickets, the match day experience, the parades and meeting the President, all of that can be draining, so we'd hope that having had the experience in 22 will be beneficial and will lessen the distraction.
"It helped us that there was a parade the last day and the emotional tribute to Johno which was all very similar to All-Ireland Final day and hopefully those extra events will have helped the preparation," he said.
Does training change much in the lead up to an All Ireland Final?
"To be honest, there's no change and the players don't want it any other way. The players just want to do the exact same thing as they did before the Connacht Final, quarterfinal and semifinal. It will be the exact same thing. Training Tuesday, Thursday, the weekend, then Tuesday, Thursday and into Dublin on Saturday.
"The intensity will match what went before. If you don't train with the same intensity and go into any match, you are not going to be as prepared as well as you should be. Padraic said it last week that the 39 will try to get into the 26 and the 26 have to try to get into the 15 and if they don't do that, then the 15 that's there on the day will not be prepared properly.
"Everytime, depending on the opposition, there always could be two or three tweaks to the team and that is what is normal with a high performing team," he added.
"For example, we saw in the Armagh game in Sligo at first hand how powerful their bench was; it brings such a boost and such pace when they come on, so you have to think about who you can leave off to counteract that pace late on. We have to get those calls right because that is going too the a vital part of the game on Sunday."
How relevant was that round three game in Sligo, given that both teams were going through no matter the result?
"The intensity in that game was the same as in the Donegal match. Both teams wanted to win. You could see the elation on the Armagh lads' faces after the game.
Evenly matched
"To see the context of the game overall, you have to look at the last three games against Armagh and they were all 50-50.
"The teams are so evenly matched, it is unreal, so it is literally down to the old cliche 'whoever performs better on thee day will win. It has never been truer in any sense," he said.
I remind him of what Jim McGuinness said after the semi-final about there never being a Year One in a project and that opportunities have to be grasped straightaway when they arise. Has that message being front and centre with this Galway squad, lest they be thinking their youth will see them in several finals in the years to come?
"The lads know this. Every championship match is the same, but this is an All-Ireland Final. We have been lucky to play two in three years, but some lads such as the likes of Michael Meehan and Finian Hanley, wonderful players never got to play in All Ireland Final, even though they were brilliant players for Galway.
"These lads know that it is hard to get back to one, so when you are in one you have to do everything in your power to win it," he said.
The meanness of the Galway defence this year which has conceded just one goal has been a cornerstone of the progress.
He doesn't feel that the unusual concession of a goal to dent this on Sunday would derail the team.
"We are prepared for every eventuality. If a goal goes in against us in the first minute, we just react to that and reset and go again."
Armagh are familiar foes, but this won't have a bearing on the final, he feels.
"The familiarity with Armagh will not help or hinder us because they are in the exact same situation having played us so often. We are not going to learn anything new about Armagh and they're not going to learn anything new about us, so it'll be all about whoever performs best on Sunday," he said.
