Rogers hails the Sleacht Néill evolution

By Michael McMullan

BRENDAN Rogers picked up his 18th Derry senior medal on Sunday but has hailed the changing faces and styles of the Sleacht Néill hurling story.

The dual star, along with Cormac O’Doherty, have played in all 13 of their hurling final wins since their 2013 breakthrough. His two first-half goals had the Ulster champions well on the way to victory on Sunday.

Rogers, Chrissy McKaigue and Shéa Cassidy bagged a collective 3-15 with a constant supply of ball.

“We are different ages and have different experiences,” he said of their inside line.

“We’ve all played in games at different levels now and we understand that it takes a cohort of players to make things work.

“The adaptiveness we can produce, it’s not the same one trick pony in there, you have to be able to move and change.”

Having the same player on the ball and as the fulcrum leaves an attack predictable. The Sleacht Néill way is rotation and seeking the player in the best position.

“Our style’s changed a lot,” he added. “I think that’s the most heartening thing. We’ve developed as a hurling squad and we haven’t played the same way all the time.

“We’re trying to evolve and adapt based on the player set we have and thank God it’s ever growing.”

The Emmet’s were 3-14 to 0-3 ahead by half-time. It was a ruthless display after they failed to hit the heights during the group stages and the first half of their semi-final win over Swatragh.

“We wanted a bit more life in our play and we tried to show that in the first-half,” he said of a platform against a Kevin Lynch’s side who were within striking distance when the teams met in the group stages.

“It’s actually very tiring in there as a full-forward in the first half, the ball was coming in thick and fast.

“The likes of Cormac (O’Doherty), Ruairí (Ó Mianáin) and Fionn McEldowney around that middle of the park in the first half, they were turning over a serious ball.

“They were hunting all the time. There was a period there where Mark Craig couldn’t get the ball to him because they were swarming him.

“That’s the tenacious level that comes with it and it’s probably not seen in terms of stats or in terms of the glory scores or anything like that

“It was those boys that were keeping us busy all the time and I thought they were outstanding around the middle.”