News: Seán Boylan has made just one change to the Meath side for Sunday's O'Byrne Cup final against Westmeath in Mullingar.
Mark O'Reilly returns at corner back, in place of Shane MacGabhann, after missing last week's match against Offaly because of work commitments.
The management continues with the new-look midfield partnership of Darren Fay and Nigel Crawford, while young talent like corner forwards Brian Farrell and Joe Sheridan get an opportunity to shine at what is expected to be a packed Cusack Park.
Another of the minors from 2002, Tomás O'Connor, will continue his learning curve at centre back. Paddy Reynolds and Hank Traynor have flu but took part in a light run-out last night. Of the two, Reynolds has shown more encouraging signs of recovery. Niall Kelly was named at full forward despite a leg injury he picked up last Sunday.
Meanwhile, several exclusive training centres are to be set up in Dublin to combat the draining travel routines undertaken each week by a large number of intercounty and club players based in the city.
The man behind the venture is Patrick Stephens, a Masters student in exercise physiology at Dublin City University.
For the last three years the University of Limerick graduate in Sports and Exercise Science, has been carrying out fitness evaluation for over 400 Gaelic footballers under the supervision of Dr Niall Moyna, the head of Sports Science at DCU.
Last year, Stephens trained the players from the reality television show, The Underdogs, and is currently the physical coach for the Meath senior hurling team. He is a former Galway minor and under-21 footballer and also lines out for DCU in this year's Sigerson Cup.
"It started last year when John Tobin (the Connacht Development manager) and Niall Moyna invited 30 to 40 elite players from Connacht and the northern counties to do their conditioning training here, so they don't have to deal with the stress of mid-week travel."
Some of the top players who took part in this venture at DCU's St Claire grounds included James Nallon (Mayo), Nigel Dineen (Roscommon), Raymie Gallagher (Fermanagh) and Paul Durkan (Sligo).
The goal is to expand the idea for club players in hurling and football. Communication with the players' clubs will be paramount, so they know that the necessary physical training is being done "so when they get them on Friday evenings they can work on coaching the skills," said Stephens.
Last year's successful Dublin women's manager Mick Bohan will be the football trainer, while Limerick native and former Dublin boss Michael O'Grady will be involved on the hurling side.
Stephens continued: "It as an opportunity to create an elite and exclusive environment conducive to peak performance for club and county players who work or reside in Dublin, but still play with their home clubs or counties. Midweek trips home for training make it difficult for players to train efficiently and more importantly recover efficiently due to long-distance journeys before and after sessions."
The sessions begin on February 9th, taking place at venues on the north and southside of the city every Monday and Wednesday night.
MEATH (SF v Westmeath): D Gallagher; M O'Reilly, A Moyles, D Curtis; S Kenny, T O'Connor, H Traynor; N Crawford, D Fay; R Magee (capt), S McKeigue, A Kenny; B Farrell, N Kelly, J Sheridan.
