It became part of Conor Meyler's night-time ritual. As familiar and routine as brushing his teeth.

He'd reach for the roll of sticky tape and the scissors without thinking. A strip of a couple of inches length would be cut. He'd put it to one side to get himself comfortable in bed. Then he'd cover his mouth with the tape.

The reason? To ensure he'd breathe through his nose, leading to a more restful and productive sleep. All in search of those often elusive tiny percentage points that can make the difference on a big day.

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But there's no getting away from the fact that there is an irony to that image. So many intercounty players act as if their mouths have been taped up, Meyler couldn't be more different.

We could get into that tired and cliched shorthand of him 'blasting' and 'hammering' his way through this interview, but that would be to do him a disservice.

A calm, measured and intelligent voice, his criticisms of the way the GAA operate are rooted in sharp observations, rooted in real experience.

For the past couple of months, Meyler has been crossing Australia and New Zealand, but it's been no jolly. He's visited a host of Aussie Rules and rugby clubs.

Meyler is studying for a PhD in Sport, Leadership and Gender. He is fascinated by the notion of leadership and group culture in sport, and that is the basis for his study of different operations down under.

An invitation to speak at a conference in Geelong was the push that he needed.

He is quick to point out that the life of a pro isn't glamorous, that their days are often made up of seven hours training plus naps, but he's been thinking long and hard with the way GAA players are being stretched to the limit.

"We have lads getting up at six or seven in the morning, doing a day's work and then training. And I've noticed over my time that training times are getting earlier and earlier. It used to be that you'd be at 6.30pm. Then it was 6pm, now it's 5.30pm.

"You do all your individual work and prep, the team meetings, training for 90 minutes on the field, in for physio, ice bath, get your feed. You're not eating until 9.30pm or 10pm and then you're on the road for 10.30pm. I'm back in Belfast for midnight, maybe. Then it's rinse and repeat.

"You look at Jakob Ingebrigtsen and these fellas. The documentary on him was good. Stress and energy was saved for training. Anything outside of that, it was a no go.

"Our lads are going through high stress environments with work and family outside of training. Physical stress, yes, but the mental stress on fellas with office jobs is great too. If you are ambitious and want to push on, like I do professionally, you're racking up a lot of stress hours during the day.

"You have fellas with wives and kids who don't see them three or four days a week, because they're away to work early and not back from training until late.

"That brings added stress that professionals don't have. They know their schedules, when they can pick their kids up, what day they'll have off. But when we get into season, things chop and change all the time.

"If they need an MRI scan, they'll get one in an hour. The medical care is off the charts. We'd probably have to wait three or four days for one, then another wait of a few days for the results. Then probably a wait to see the physio.

"That's the bit that's nonsense for me. We're not getting paid so everything else should be taken care of because we're generating enough money for the GAA and big wages being paid at national level.''

Meyler is coming off the back of a year where he had far more time than he wanted to think about the demands of the game. A knee operation, then an Achilles injury, followed by another knee operation.

It meant he didn't play a minute for either Tyrone or Omagh St Enda's. He's still on crutches so he's not tying himself to any return date, but new Tyrone manager Malachy O'Rourke has been in regular contact.

Meyler made the shortlist for Footballer of the Year in 2021 - he was one of the main reasons why Tyrone won the All-Ireland, but he was no Darragh Canavan type prodigy, tipped for greatness from a young age.

Meyler didn't make many school teams, let alone Tyrone underage ones. Only for the fact that Omagh had a B team at Under-14, he might have walked away from football to concentrate on athletics.

But, at 17, he went after his goal. A Tyrone senior jersey. When he got his hands on it, he became one of their main men quickly.

Think of the 2018 All-Ireland final. Tyrone hardly laid a glove on Dublin but Brian Fenton had one of his quietest Championship games. Meyler would have been seen as an unlikely choice to man-mark Fenton, but he restricted him to just seven touches.

Meyler only turned 30 in September, but he had a stark conversation a few months earlier.

"I was told to retire, to just pack it in, that my knee was bucked. But it's my body, my call. I don't think anyone will ever understand how much I threw at it last year to try and get back - to the detriment of everything outside of football,'' he said.

"I'm doing a PhD so not working, but on a student bursary. I was driving up and down the country, seeing different specialists. Analysing why your relationship broke down because you're so focused on getting back training. You had no time for people outside of it.

"Then you're sitting on your tod, looking at the four walls and going 'what am I doing?' The impact it had outside of sport was shocking.

"That's the side that people don't see. Even with Conor McGregor and these boys...there's a dark side to high performance, a pressure and expectation that you and others put on yourself as you get up the ladder.

"The problem for many in sport is that they struggle with that. They're saying to themselves 'I didn't ask for this'. No, but you did ask for this, this and this, and it's Yin and Yang. You can't have one without the other. That's where it gets muddy for boys. You see it all the time with the top, top ones. They cross the line, whether it's sex, drink, gambling.

"The good ones can keep it in check with a strong faith and belief. When you have a faith and belief in something bigger than yourself and have a higher purpose, you have that voice of reason that keeps you in check.''

At least Meyler has his All-Ireland medal. He sees so many other players who are spat out by the system - male and female - and left with nothing. That's not strictly true. Sometimes they're landed with huge bills.

"A report came out a few weeks ago that Gaelic games generate nearly three billion for the economy in Ireland. Professional soccer and rugby players get tax breaks when they finish here, intercounty players are out of pocket for playing their sport,'' he said.

"Conor McManus is going back with Monaghan. At some point, he'll need a double hip replacement. If that's in five years time and he's not playing for Monaghan, who picks up the tab on that? Because he's Conor McManus, he might get sorted but most of the fellas who play for years for their counties, generating huge amounts of money through sponsorship and attendances get told 'it's not our problem anymore'.

"Ten years ago, people in senior positions in the GAA weren't getting the six figure salaries they're getting now but they turn around to players and say you're going to get 45 cent a mile instead of 50.

"You have fellas who take jobs because they suit the inter-county schedule. They finish up playing and they don't like the job, and it doesn't suit them.

"Kerry have so many teachers because it suits the lifestyle. Players are nearly encouraged to go into it. Who picks up the pieces when a fella is dropped off a panel a few years later?''

Meyler likes the theory of a split season but he has seen the reality - players being pulled all over the place all year around.

"From a young age, you're being flogged all ends. Playing club, college, county. Nobody is overseeing the load management. You'll probably end up needing a knee replacement,'' he said.

"Our young lads broke down last year because they were playing Ryan Cup, McKenna Cup, Sigerson Cup, National League and club campaigns, because it's a 12 month cycle in Tyrone. Tyrone ended up with clubs playing nine games in three weeks, just to wrap it up. No thought or concern for the impact on players.

"It's a GAA issue. You just can't take, take, take and expect players to be happy with a pat on the back.

"I decided to get surgery sorted again last month. I've given 11 seasons and haven't asked for a f*****g penny..

"You think lads do nothing once their county season ends? They're still on individual programmes of an intercounty player.

"Physios and doctors who make the calls that you need a scan are getting well paid. I didn't have a holiday for eight years because I was playing for Tyrone.''

Meyler will keep asking awkward questions. More power to him.

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