Niall Gartland: You obviously won your All-Ireland medal last year but was it still a tough decision to step aside?

Hugh Pat McGeary: There’s 101 things to do with it. But firstly, I’ve a big year coming up. I’m building a house in Rostrevor this year and I’m getting married in August.

I’ve a busy time ahead and just didn’t think I had the commitment levels that I always used to have. The way the game is going now, and you’ve probably heard this from a 101 different lads, it’s not just two pitch sessions and a game at the weekend any more. You’re fully dedicated to it four or five times and a week now, and I just didn’t want to be going to training giving 60 per cent of my effort to a thing that requires 110 percent. The highs are high and the lows are low but I’ve been told since day one with Tyrone that there are some things you have to put to one side when playing county football.

So look, there’s a lot of things going on this year, I sat down with Brian (Dooher) and Feargal (Logan) and I explained everything to them. They were disappointed to see me go and they gave me plenty of time to think about it, but I’d mulled over it for it a long time after the All-Ireland final and I thought it was a perfect chance to step aside for the time being and give my complete focus this year to my own personal self and see how I can go from there.

NG: Rostrevor’s a nice part of the world but it’d be some trek to Garvaghey at the same time.

HP: It would but I’ve thought about that before, if you had to travel you’d be able to make it work. There’s no doubt about it, I work with a company called Michael Nugent, they’re based in Pomeroy, so if I had to go to training in the evening I’d have been able to do it no problem.

NG: So what you’re saying is that travelling isn’t the only factor.

HP: Definitely not, county players down through the years have travelled long distances – sure Cathal McCarron was travelling from Kildare. It can be done and I wouldn’t put it down to that one excuse of travelling. I just have a lot of stuff going on at this stage of my life and I thought taking time out now was probably the best option.

NG: So you’re not ruling yourself out from coming back?

HP: Well I want to focus 100 per cent on myself this year. If I got a good run with the club you never know what will able down the line.

But as I’ve said, there’s plenty of u-20s coming in biting your heels. I’m not saying I haven’t been a big part of it. I think I’ve been a big part of it in my own eyes. I know I mightn’t have got as many games as I would’ve liked but I definitely thought I pushed lads on in training that needed to be pushed on, in my view.

The competition is high in Tyrone football, there’s no doubt about that and we know ourselves – I can speak for Rony (O’Neill) and Cass (Michael Cassidy) too, once we step out there’s boys coming in to take your spot, who are as every bit as good.

That is probably why Tyrone have been dining at the top table for a long time. You notice some counties around Ulster and further afield struggle when they lose those players. In Tyrone we can replace them and I think that’s a great thing and why Tyrone are going to be at the top for a long time.

NG: You alluded to the highs and lows of your career earlier, did you still derive much satisfaction from last year even if the full-back line was the same three fellas every game?

HP: At times it was tough, I’m not going to lie to you. The McKenna Cup is vital I think in any county season and it wasn’t played last year.

A lot of boys mightn’t like to hear me say that but I thought it was vital to get boys game time to see where they’re actually, particularly new lads.

If your first league game is away in Killarney and you need the points, a manager will want to play his most experienced team and that makes it difficult. They’re not going to throw in a new lad at 19 years of age unless they’re maybe playing exceptionally well in training.

I think the McKenna Cup is vital in that sense and maybe that’s where I lost a bit of game-time last year under a new management set up. I was always there or thereabouts.

NG: You were always in the ’26’ last year, right?

HP: I missed the matchday panel just once, against Armagh in the league. I got certain pointers through the year so I knew I was always going to be close, I was given tasks during the year on certain games coming up, say in the second half if a big forward was coming off the bench that’s when I’d have to be ready.

In the Kerry game for instance I was tasked for coming on in the final 15 minutes to mark Tommy Walsh. You have to be ready and it didn’t work out the way it was suppose to as ‘Dazzler’ (Darren McCurry) got the unfortunate black card at the time so we had to restructure.

I’d a great time last year obviously because we won the All-Ireland but at the same time it’s tough when you’re performing very well in training and you’re not getting game time to show that.

With the condensed league and championship it is very hard and you have to bite your lip at times and keep your head down and keep going.

It’s happened to me before, that when it seems you’re never going to get game time, that’s when you do get game time. I remember one night in Healy Park in a warm up I was told I was starting. You just have to be ready, I was told literally five minutes before the game ‘you’re starting here by the way’, and you just have to be ready for it. Kieran [McGeary] kept me going at the same time, he just said keep the head down, we never know where we’re gonna go here so keep going. But the lack of game time is very tough when you put a lot of time into training and video work.

NG: Do you think that was maybe the story of your Tyrone career, that it was a bit stop-start for whatever reason?

HP: I don’t know – I wouldn’t like to think that would be the story of my Tyrone career. I know a lot of boys behind the scenes, Mickey [Harte] and Feargal and Brian probably wouldn’t tell you that.

I wouldn’t class it as stop-start, but we’d a great full-back line, possibly the best in Ireland with Michael McKernan, Rony (McNamee) and Paudie (Hampsey), they’re three of the best man-markers you’ll get. I’d class myself as a good man-marker also but you just have to accept sometimes that you are going to be second best. These lads have All-Stars and Paudie is captain, you have to accept you’re going to a very good second best sometimes, and that if the opportunity comes you’ll be able to come in and provide the same value to the team.

NG: After the All-Ireland a few players said that they were building on the progress made under Mickey, is that how you assess it or were things significantly different?

HP: I wouldn’t say we were building as such, I think we just showed what we can do. We knew there was more in us and I think Mickey knew that himself. I think Feargal and Brian took the gamble and said ‘we know what these boys can do’. Then you had the addition of Conor McKenna and the extra youth coming in, we just pushed things on to a new level. I think we took the shackles off. Brian and Feargal really weren’t afraid to do that, to let you go 15 on 15 against big teams.

NG: That was obvious watching on – Tyrone scored three goals against Kerry, that was something the team struggled to do in previous years in those big matches.

HP: Definitely, I think in previous years we were a bit safe against teams like that. After the Killarney game, it would’ve been standard enough for us to go defensive and play sweepers, but you’re never going to beat these teams playing like that. I think Feargal and Brian really set us up to be as good as we can be.

NG: It’s been some accomplishment for Pomeroy (McGeary’s club) to have had three or four players on the county panel for years now.

HP: I have to say the Pomeroy club itself has been really supportive of us lads playing for Tyrone. It’d have been easy for Pomeroy to come to me and put the hand on the shoulder and say you’re not getting the game time you want, we need you back here, but they never did that.

They never put any pressure on me like that, they were always supportive and I’m forever grateful for them. I know it’d have been easy for them to say you haven’t played any football this year for Tyrone, you’re missing out on league games at home, you might as well come back here and play football.

There’s no doubt you miss a lot of games with your club, there’s no doubt about that. It’s tough when you don’t get playing for your club, and at times don’t get playing for your county either. It’s tough but they’ve always been very supportive of all of us on the county squad.

NG: it was some moment for you to lift Sam with Kieran, that’s a great photo to have.

HP: You’ll never forget that one, it’ll be one you’ll hang in the house. As Brian said to me when I left, it’s a photo that no-one will ever take away from you – lifting Sam with your brother up in Croker and there’s not many men who have done that. That’s one thing Brian said to me when I was leaving. I’ll never forget that experience, lifting Sam with Kieran.

NG: That’s sweet of Brian, he gets portrayed in the media as a very no-nonsense character.

HP: He can be, if you’re not doing what you need to be doing he’ll cut you in half! But if you’re doing your best, he’s sound and I couldn’t speak highly enough of either Feargal or Brian. They didn’t keep me in the cold, they always let me know that I was going well and deserved to be where I am. It wasn’t just the starting team you were trying to get into it, it was the 26. The quality of some of the players who didn’t make the 26 for the All-Ireland final was insane, and it just goes to show the competition in Tyrone football.

NG: Taking things back a bit, you played on the team that won the All-Ireland Minor title in 2010. Was there a reason why it took you a while longer than some to break onto the senior team?

HP: You’re dead right, I played corner-back that year. I remember after my first season on the u-21s I got senior trials and I couldn’t do them as I injured my ankle and tore ligaments, and I’m not sure whether Mickey did trials after that.

I think it was the end 2015 that I got the call in, along with Kieran. Maybe it was the persuasion of Mark Harte, he was taking Pomeroy that year. I remember I was told the McKenna Cup would be a deciding factor so I trained hard. It took a while for the body to adjust but I kept the head down and pushed on from there and I got a good run I think.

NG: The Down player Barry O’Hagan alluded to Tyrone’s fitness levels last year, is that down to Peter Donnelly?

HP: Some of it is down to ourselves, but Peter Donnelly plays a massive contribution, especially with the programme laid out for us over lockdown to keep us going. It just meant we came back to play football when the lockdown ended, we weren’t coming back to get slogged or anything like that. The pieces were put in place for us and then it was really down to yourself to get fit and ready to play football when we were called back.

NG: Was winning the All-Ireland a major weight off your shoulders? Would it have been a disappointment not to given you were following in the footsteps of a team that won three of them?

HP: It was difficult during Dublin’s reign as they were such a slick outfit, but at the same time I think it’s definitely taken a weight off a lot of lads – myself included as I’ve been there a long time. Then lads like Ronan McNamee, Mattie [Donnelly], Peter [Harte] and Niall [Morgan] and others have been there a long time before me. Every year you’re working towards that goal and trying to get that All-Ireland medal.

To finally get it was a relief and that was evident from the photos after the final whistle of the final. The likes of Kieran and Paudie Hampsey haven’t been on the team for as long as those other boys but you saw how much of a relief it was to everyone.

NG: I’m sure you were delighted for Kieran winning the Footballer of the Year award, he’d such a brilliant season.

HP: He was brilliant, I think he got a new lease of life, especially with Feargal and Brian in. He took the bull by the horns and drove the whole thing on, along with a lot of boys on the team. But at the same time, a lot of stuff was done behind the scenes that nobody will ever know about. A lot of stuff by boys who didn’t even get playing football, and I just want to emphasise that.

The first team wouldn’t be as good as they are without the second team at training pushing them on. That’s just the way it is, the competition levels are insane and you see that at club level as well – and long may it continue.

NG: Am I right in saying you’re a diabetic, how has that affected things for you particularly during Covid.

HP: I am indeed, a type one diabetic. I’m a diabetic now 25 years now and it’s not too bad. The doctors have been a great help since I got on the Tyrone team, and Damian O’Donnell and Michael Logan were great during the Covid thing. Those guys really did look after me this year and made sure everything went all. I’ve had diabetes that long that I can control it. I’ve had a lot of parents ringing me looking to talk to their sons and daughters who are 14 or 15 years old and have just turned diabetic.

They think their careers are over. I’ve no problem sitting down with them and giving them tips, and telling them nothing’s over for you. I’d always say, don’t let the diabetes hold you back. I don’t anyway and I’d tell that to any young person.

NG: Is is strange being separate from the panel, I assume you’ve had to leave the Whatsapp group.

HP: I left the group alright and it was definitely a bit emotional. I’ve met a lot of friends for life, I was the sort of fella who got on really well with everyone. I’ve been involved a long time and it’ll be especially tough this year, when the sun is shining and the lads are running out onto Healy Park or Clones or wherever. It’ll be tough watching that, but I know the commitment’s that needed and I’m sure of my decision.

I enjoyed the team holiday and did a couple of training sessions in Florida for a bit of craic. Brian came over and was like ‘are we going to have to resign you?’ I enjoyed every minute of it but it’ll be a busy year coming up for myself. With county football you have to be 110 per cent invested or there’s no point being there at all.

NG: Finally what are you expecting from Tyrone this year? The feeling is that there’s still a lot more to come from the squad.

HP: I don’t want to jinx anything but I feel Tyrone are in a really good position especially with the depth of squad we have. As Kieran has said in interviews, the target is definitely on our backs now.

Teams will be lifting their game when they come to play us. I think Tyrone have to focus on staying up in Division One, and I think they can, and then they’ll push on with their defence of the Ulster title. With the extended season this year, I think squad depth will play a massive part of things so we’re lucky to have such a great panel.