Feature: Is age only a number?

Mattie Donnelly has committed to Tyrone for another season. Paul Conroy is the current Player of the Year. Both are closer to the end than the beginning of their careers. Michael McMullan spoke with Tyrone physiotherapist Marty Loughran to dig into players’ longevity.

IT’S deep December 2023 in Garvaghey. Two cars remain in the car park. The Ulster club finals’ press event is done and dusted as Mattie Donnelly heads for home.

This writer is finishing up. Donnelly has another rehab session in the tank.

It’s dark and a long way from championship Sunday but that’s what driven players do. They keep on trucking and it’s another step towards more Trojan days in the Red Hand jersey.

He is back in contention this year as Malachy O’Rourke puts the pieces of the puzzle again. Age is only a number.

The same can be said for players like Ciaran Quinn, Ciaran McGinley and Brian Looney. As the All-Ireland semi-final blockbuster ticks into extra-time, well into their thirties, they are still ploughing important furrows. Dr Croke’s and Errigal Ciaran had nothing other than Croke Park in their crosshairs.

Age is irrelevant. It’s all about performance. Paul Conroy was Galway minor captain in 2007 and is the current Player of the Year, kicking four two-point scores in a recent challenge match with Kildare.

Do the maths. Conroy is a beacon of longevity. The same for Stephen Cluxton at the top level.

So, is age only a number? It is right to be sending county players into retirement just because they are approaching 30? Is it the same for club action half a decade later?

Tyrone physiotherapist Marty Loughran, clinical director of Cookstown’s Elite Physiotherapy, is better placed than most to talk on the subject.

It’s his fifth season looking after the Tyrone seniors and has been looking after various county teams since 2010.

Mattie Donnelly, Peter Harte, Niall Morgan and Darren McCurry are some of the more experienced Tyrone players he has worked with.

He has also looked after Chrissy McKaigue, Darren Hughes and Conor McManus from their Sigerson Cup days. He helped Enda Muldoon, Conleith Gilligan and Patsy Bradley squeeze as much from their club careers as possible.

“There is probably a tendency as soon as boys are over 30 we start asking them questions,” Loughran states of the narrative of players being past their best.

It’s as if the retirement statement is half written. He doesn’t think it’s fair. Especially when it’s not the norm in professional sport. Irish rugby players are not spoken about in the same manner.

There is a trust put in them to bring the next generation through to the next World Cup before there is any further consideration.

Flicking back to GAA, sometimes the newest and brightest star isn’t ready to displace someone in the 30 club. And if they are, then so be it. It’s survival of the fittest.

Having worked with the above-named players, Loughran groups them all in a general category. If they’ve not been a captain, they’ve been a leader.

“They are very protective of themselves,” he generalises.

Why are the top players still able to offer themselves at the highest level? Injury prevention, the makeup of their bodies or the management of workload. Is that what it is? Loughran goes back to mindset and behaviours.

“I think that’s what makes them stand out,” he said, before highlighting two key factors.

“If you have a very manual job, a very physically stressful job, I think it definitely limits your chances of being able to go and play at the highest level well into your thirties. The other precursor is injury history.”

Serious ACL or hip injuries early in a career leave it difficult to play deep into a player’s thirties.

“You can get away with that if you’ve had soft tissue injuries,” Loughran adds.

“I think you can recover from those easier than the major joint injuries because that joint injury will cause degenerative issues down the line. That probably limits the load that you can cope with as they go into their thirties.”

For the players still lining out at the top level, in their thirties, Loughran taps into what he has witnessed up close.

There is a mindset of taking ownership for their bodies and their well-being as a whole.

There is also a pride in making themselves available for selection. There is also the realism of when the body is telling them to rest.

Rather than burying their head in the sand, they put their hand up. Advice and, when needed, rest is sought.

That said, they also know the difference between “playing through” a mini-issue and when a niggle can evolve into something major. Younger players should also take note.

Another aspect of ownership is not relying on a coach to spoon-feed any pre-game warm-ups. The top players know the layers of activation.

It’s the same with rehabilitation. Like Mattie Donnelly on a dark December night, ambitious players won’t need a physio to hold their hand. It’s about following a plan. Getting back from injury is tough and it’s lonely. It deserves respect.

“This becomes a whole lifestyle issue for them,” Loughran explains. “They have their whole mindset and life focused around everything they can do to get themselves on the pitch.”

They’ll put their hand up if needed. Otherwise, they’ll tick the relevant boxes. Hydration. Nutrition. Saunas. Pilates. Yoga. Ice baths. Whatever it takes.

“These boys are not big drinkers,” Loughran adds. “I think, because they’ve lived that life for a few years, they then have the trust of the coaches, the managers and the backroom team.”

Players getting to the top of their game won’t have done so by bluffing. It will be years of the proper habits. It’s a two-way street. Everyone must be on the same page – players, managers and injury updates. Communication is everything.

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From experience, Loughran sees the trend of the top players and their pathway back from injury.

“It’s not about ticking a box and just getting it done,” he said. “These boys tend to want to hit personal bests even when you think it’s not physically possible to hit a personal best.

“It’s not just about getting back. They want to get back at 110 per cent, they want to come back even better than they were before.”

The bare minimum doesn’t cut it with them. There is always a competitive edge and a level of effort away from the pitch, away from the spotlight.

“If you look at these boys who tend to go deep into their thirties, they’ve probably been leaders at club level, at a high level or a captain with a county,” Loughran continues.

“It’s probably no surprise because the behaviours and traits that allow these boys to play for that amount of time also aligns with being a leader.”

A gym or a recovery session is approached in the same manner as warming up for a championship game. Every box is ticked.

How does any young player get on the correct path to having an elongated career at the top?

There are all the methods of good practice and habits. With 16 years of experience in dealing with Tyrone teams of all levels, Loughran’s advice is more than the important techniques and practices.

Young players never think they’ll get injured. It’s not sexy to talk about injury prevention. For them, that’s for somewhere down the line.

“You need to bring in those cultural leaders,” he said. “Get a Mattie Donnelly, or a Chrissy McKaigue, or somebody like that, to speak with them about their career and what it takes.

“I think that’s valuable for somebody at 14, even somebody at even 24 who’s breaking through into a senior county team.”

Getting the standards laid out by someone who has actually followed them is invaluable.

“Clubs that are on the rise,” Loughran added, “they have one of these boys, then they have two, then they have three and then they have four.

“Then, suddenly, it’s spread throughout the whole club. It doesn’t happen by accident and these boys really work on it.

“I think that’s what a club could do. If there’s a rookie coming into the squad, then pair it up with some of these boys who do live that life.

“There’s a cultural change as well,” Loughran continues. “Boys aren’t going out on a rip after winning a match. They’re going for an ice bath or a sauna and a coffee the next day.

“They’re recovering and the nutrition, the supplements, everything else is always on point,

“It’s almost like, that’s standard now, but I think what sets them all apart is the intensity to which they do it. The time spent on it, it’s not just ticking a box, it’s doing it to the best of their ability.”

The end product is an environment where players’ birth certificates are not an indicator for team selection. Age is only a number.

“Now, everything’s tracked,” Loughran concludes. “Gym numbers, GPS and every metric on the pitch. These boys look after themselves and we’re not seeing significant drop-offs, unless they’re nursing a long-term chronic injury.

“These boys aren’t slowing up as much as a supporter thinks they’re slowing up. It is survival of the fittest. There will be some that, at over 30, just lose their spot to the 21-year-old but we are too quick to write off boys whenever they cross that 30 mark.”