Niall McNamee wanted to wait and see how the Tailteann Cup fared before he made a full call on it.

Having made his debut in 2003, the Rhode and Offaly star has witnessed it all, from frequent league changes, back-doors, qualifiers, secondary competitions to a host of tactical fads and trends.

McNamee is old school in some ways – for instance, he would rather the league revert to Division 1 and 1A and 2 and 2B formats. And if pushed he would probably hanker for permanent games in the Sam Maguire series every year.

But he moves with the times too.

As fit, energetic and prolific as ever at the age of 36 he has built his body up to withstand the rigours of the modern game and has shown time and again he can still mix it with the best.

And structure-wise he knows things have to move on too.

"I am traditional in outlook – even now I would still like to see the league revert to the old 1A and 2A format, so I said I'd wait and see how the Tailteann fared," he said.

"But we beat Wexford in the first round, having lost to them in the first round of Leinster and that made my mind up. The Offaly fans were delighted and you could see that joy in their faces. And that kind of sealed it for me.

"The players took it seriously, the supporters did too, and the competition is going well. I think having group stages will embellish it more."

The goal for Offaly in 2023 is surely to get league promotion back to Division 2 – and if not try to win the Tailteann?

"Well, that was the goal this year," he said. "To stay in Division 2 but then when we fell to relegation it was then to win the Tailteann. But that's not easy either."

McNamee kicked off the Tailteann Cup with 1-05 against Wexford and ended the campaign with 0-06 from frees against Westmeath as they lost in the semi-final.

He played alongside some talented young sharpshooters like Jack Bryant and Keith O'Neill in the full-forward line. Those kids were just two when McNamee made his championship debut.

Similarly, the Rhode man had burst onto the scene himself - albeit in 2003 at the age of 17.

He still loves the game, though driving and running a business make it harder to combine daily life with a top flight football career.

McNamee runs 'Twelves’ - an Athleisure Brand that also creates teamwear products. He is always coming up with concepts. Their first product was a half-length football sock and the company has since grown the range to include gym apparel for men and women, teamwear, athleisure and more recently golf wear.

"There is so much to the business and so much driving and organising, but I love it," he said.

"And I love playing football too. It’s just making everything work and getting the right balance in between that is hard.

"For the last two to three years I have worked on a new football boot, Viper 1.0. It took time to design that. From still playing at the highest level, I know how the game has changed and my goal is to create a boot that almost feels like it is individual to every player.

"Now if there are 30 lads in a dressing room, I realise that not all 30 will like the same boot but we wanted to design something with players specifically in mind, to help with every aspect of the game.

"The Viper boot is named after one of my old Rhode team-mates and friends who sadly passed away last year. We worked hard on it. It gives agility, an extra edge, but there is also another layer of material which creates incredible striking zones across the boot and this helps especially with an O’Neills football.

"An O’Neills football is obviously heavier than a soccer or other balls and we had to bear that in mind too. It’s going well and some big-name players are wearing them. It was like the short football socks – we went early into the market with those and they are all the rage now and I started them in our company because the bigger and longer ones kept slipping.

"Being involved, I think, gives me that edge and once you get a product out you are always tweaking and evolving it.

"You listen to lads and what they talk about and take it on board. It is a form of market research and I guess it is kind of the same with football. You see what way the game has evolved and you must adapt to keep up with the latest trends."

As for Saturday’s final, McNamee feels it should be a cracker with both teams going hammer and tongs to win the inaugural prize.

"A huge crowd, two good teams, a realistic chance to win at Croke Park – there is a lot going right for the competition.

"It will improve when the round robin and group stages come in – that will give it another layer.

"But for now, the promotion seems good, the interest is high and teams already have a target for next year to win it and make the step up. Ultimately that is what we are all about."

Watch the Tailteann Cup final between Cavan and Westmeath on Saturday at 3pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, with live blog on RTÉ News app and on rte.ie/sport and live radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1

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