By Michael McMullan

THE last time Benny Heron walked off the Croke Park sod was two years ago, his final and 108th senior appearance for Derry.

The Oakleafers were agonisingly close to overcoming Kerry and booking an All-Ireland final berth.

Now part of Ciarán Meenagh’s management team, Croke Park will come into view next month for Heron with Meath nominating it as their home venue due to Páirc Tailteann’s development work.

In the meantime, Derry have Donegal and Antrim in their Dr McKenna Cup group. If they navigate those games, a semi-final would offer another game to delve through their panel.

Derry won the last two McKenna Cups and that gave them momentum but after relegation from Division One last season, the league will be key a Oakleaf focus.

“What a game to get started,” Heron said of their January 24 league opener with the Royals.

“No matter where you’re going to be playing Meath, it’s going to be a massive game.

“They’ll have ambitions to get back to Division One as well, and the fact that it’s in Croke Park in the first league game just adds to it a wee bit more.

“While you’re not looking beyond that game, you’ve also Tyrone at home the week after, so getting a good start in the league is going to be vitally important.”

Heron is well versed on the league and its inner workings, having been part of Derry’s drop to Division Four and their resurgence to the upper echelons.

With eight teams in each division, two defeats and there will be a look over the shoulder.

Back-to-back victories and it’s time to look towards the top half.

“Absolutely,” Heron agreed, “momentum is massive in the league and there’s been years where we’ve maybe gained the momentum a bit late.

“Then you’re looking at it going, you lost points or you drew a game in the first round and now it’s come back to bite you.

“You can’t be saving yourself towards the end of the league – you want to be hitting the ground running and gaining as many points as possible.

“The nature of the league does give you a good opportunity to build momentum but it’s going to be highly competitive.

“It’s just important that we treat every game with the same level of preparation and bring the same intensity to them all, because there’s going to be no easy games in Division Two this year.”

So, what does success look like for Derry? Heron immediately points to winning games.

“I’d say different teams will approach the McKenna Cup in different ways; it’ll depend on what players have available to them,” he added.

“I’d imagine we’ll go as strong as we possibly can, while also trying to give players an opportunity.”

Getting a mixture of experience and new players is the perfect cocktail for the McKenna Cup.

“Any competition you enter, any game you’re playing, you want to win, so the McKenna Cup will be no different,” Heron concluded.

“We won the McKenna Cup in 2023 and 2024, so why not go for it again this year.”