O’Rourke extols virtues of hard work

By Niall Gartland

HARD work will be absolutely pivotal if Tyrone are to enjoy success in the coming weeks and months, according to manager Malachy O’Rourke.

The vastly experienced bainisteoir is happy to acknowledge that there is no shortage of talent within the senior ranks, which will no doubt be augmented in the coming years by the conveyor belt coming through, but that alone won’t spark a rise up the rankings.

Good old-fashioned work will be key, says O’Rourke, who will lead Tyrone into a championship match for the first time in Sunday’s provincial opener against a Cavan side that can’t be underestimated.

“There’s no doubt there’s a lot of talent there, but I’ve said to them that talent only gets you so far – it’s about working really hard and maximising what you have.

“It’s about learning to work really hard as a team and that’s the process we’re going through. No doubt there’s a lot of good players there – there’s really experienced lads who have been there a number of years and who have been at the top level, there’s lads in between, there’s great underage success.

“Look it, we’re just concentrating very much in the short-term – we know the first round of the championship is a massive game for everybody. We’ve got Cavan – it went to extra-time last year so that’s the challenge in front of us and hopefully we get it right.”

While relegation from Division One sets the backdrop for Tyrone’s Ulster Championship campaign, Tyrone were extremely unfortunate to miss out on survival with seven points to their name, and on top of that they played extremely well at the tail-end of the league. O’Rourke sounds a note of caution about their back-to-back wins over Donegal and Dublin, however, as convincing as they might have been.

“We did feel that our performances were on an upwards trajectory, though we’re realistic to know that Dublin didn’t have as much to play for as we had, and Donegal were the same a week earlier, so you have to keep everything in context as well.

“We do feel our lads have been working well and training well. We’ve been getting players back and have got to know the new rules better, and each other a wee bit better. We’re hoping performances are improving and that the three weeks to prepare for Cavan will be used well.”

This will be O’Rourke’s first time patrolling the sidelines in the Ulster Championship since the 2019 season, which marked his seventh and final year in charge of Monaghan, with whom he won two provincial titles. He took a year out from management to recharge the batteries, before assuming the reins at Maghera-based club Glen. Under his tutelage they won three county titles, two Ulsters and an All-Ireland, and now he’s happy to be back on the intercounty scene with Tyrone.

“I was with Glen for four years and I really enjoyed it, it was a different arena if you like. I’m glad to be back, though there’s a lot more focus on intercounty football now, and unlike the last time I was there, the year goes by so quickly.

“There were seven games in nine weeks in the league, then a three-week break heading into the championship, it’s fairly condensed.

“But I’m glad to be back and hopefully we get on okay.”

Asked if Tyrone was on his radar as a potential managerial destination, he said: “I never said I wouldn’t go back to intercounty or anything else, but at the same time I’d no massive desire to do it either.

“But I’ve been living here for a lot of years, and when they were interested in having me on board, first of all I felt privileged to asked, and I then thought there’s a lot of talent there and it’s a great opportunity, so we decided to go for it but we know there’s a lot of work in it as well.”

When O’Rourke was appointed as Tyrone manager late last year, it was no surprise that he came on board with Ryan Porter and Leo McBride, two men who have assisted O’Rourke for many years on the sideline. It soon emerged that he had also enlisted three well-known former Tyrone players to his backroom team – Colm McCullagh, Chris Lawn and John Devine.

On their contribution behind the scenes, he said: “They’re really experienced fellas. I wouldn’t have known them particularly well. I knew John because he’s from Errigal, Chris and Collie I knew without knowing them really well.

“I just felt they were the type of people we’d like to be involved and they’ve been great, their knowledge of football is top class.

“They’re great in that group set-up as well. We’re really pleased to have them on board, they’re great with the lads and have a lot of knowledge to impart.”