FOR SUCH a genuine, respected figure in the world of Gaelic football, Paul McGrane is a man of few words but what he has to say is worth noting.
His championship experiences go back to 1993 yet most men alongside him on this epic journey are now gone. Kieran McGeeney has plunged head-first into intercounty management while others like Diarmuid Marsden and the McEntee twins gave way, probably after feeling the inevitable strain when paired with younger, hungrier opponents in recent seasons.
Looking around county training sessions McGrane can see Oisín McConville, still honing his excellent point-gathering style, yet cautious not to unhinge his troublesome lower back. Francie Bellew prowls the edge of the square but a recent return from cruciate damage ensures a replacement number three will become a priority. Things have changed since the old days. "I have to say when we started in Armagh we weren't going well in the Ulster championship. In '93 it was a victory, a draw, a victory, a draw, a victory, a draw . . . but ultimately we never got an Ulster title and then we went through a very barren spell.
"Championship wins were very hard to come by and under the old system if you lost you were gone. We appreciate winning a championship match. We're just trying to win a championship match now."
Much like fellow midfield stalwarts toiling in the autumn of their careers - Darragh Ó Sé, Ciarán Whelan and Dermot Earley - McGrane is relishing these last opportunities to leap into the sky. Whoever sends such men packing to the glue factory will need to be of the ruthless ilk.
"You are a long time quit from the game. I've been back in the squad and I feel like I have something to give. There is a family life and work life after but you want to go on as long as you can because you'll be a long time watching it. Everyone wants to keep playing as long as they can keep pushing it."
A 15-year intercounty career is a serious feat of endurance.
McGrane, at 34, is not getting younger but there is enough left in him to influence games at crucial junctures. The indifferent form of Armagh and McGrane en route to a seventh provincial title, especially the second-half collapse in the draw with Fermanagh, must have rattled the proud Armagh football psyche.
"As we saw in the Munster final once a team have momentum they become very hard to stop. We were mighty relieved to get out of Clones with a draw."
McGrane was anonymous in the drawn game only to respond with a man-of-the-match performance in the replay, when he eclipsed Marty McGrath.
Many believe Wexford should be easily accounted for on Saturday. Not that McGrane would agree. Instead, he notes how Armagh struggled past Down not so long ago, in contrast to Wexford's scalping of the same opposition last weekend.
We don't bother pointing out the difference between an Ulster semi-final and a qualifier match. Not to Paul McGrane. The wars he has fought since 1993 place him above petty contradiction.
Old Armagh, now leavened with youthful exuberance, are still alive and they remain on course.
