SINCE THE IDEA of cutting five counties out of the National hurling league was floated, a number of supposed shortcomings around the abilities of players in those counties have been thrown into the debate.
Here, we talk to Ryan Bogue, the Fermanagh hurling captain. He also – full disclosure Klaxon here – happens to be a cousin of myself. So let’s sidestep any awkwardness.
His first club was Lisbellaw St Patrick’s, but since moving to Belfast he has hurled with St Enda’s, Glengormley. He has won an Ulster Junior and Intermediate club title with Lisbellaw in 2008 and 2012, and an Intermediate club title with St Enda’s in 2019.
Here, we find out what it’s like to be an intercounty hurler at the level that some GAA officials would rather see gone.
Q. How long have you been hurling for Fermanagh?
A. 2006. I was two separate years away in Australia. So overall, 16 seasons. Started when I was just 17.
Q. Take us through how you prepare in a typical week of National hurling league?
A. On a Monday night you do a recovery session. I normally do that at home or in a gym, but it’s stretching the body out.
At my age, you would be fairly sore after matches. It takes me longer to recover so on Mondays I make an effort.
On Tuesdays, you are back on the pitch. You have your days’ work to do before that, but I always try to get up to Lissan (Fermanagh training complex) early, around 6, or 6.30 and training is at 7.30pm.
I go over to the gym for stretching and a ‘primer’; a small weights session. And then a bit of band work, all these exercises to do before you actually go on to the pitch for your main session.
Wednesdays, we do a gym session. Those in Fermanagh do their collective session. For those of us in Belfast, we do a six-week block of collective sessions.
After that, it’s self-regulated, but there is an App that the county teams use to register each session. Some weeks with the games coming thick and fast you might only get one session done, but generally it’s two weights sessions.
Thursday nights, I take it off, do as little as possible because we are back out onto the pitch on Friday nights. And it is the same as Tuesday; do your day’s work and get there between 6 or half six, at least an hour before training starts on the pitch.
During the season, you might not get away until half nine as there is usually a meeting after training on the Friday nights, and you have a big drive ahead of you to get home.
And then you are back on the road to an away game, or to Enniskillen. This year, we played a couple of our home games in Ederney.
But look, you are preparing like everyone else is. You are doing the same thing every week and getting the right food into you.
Q. What do you get out of hurling for your county?
A. It’s not for the glamour anyway! There are no big crowds.
But you get to represent your family. My parents, my sister and her son, they never miss a game. Áine, (his wife) goes when she can.
It’s about representing the county and the enjoyment of the people who do go. Old friends, people who would have coached me. Like for example John McCusker. Played for Fermanagh for a lifetime and now his son Luca is one of our best players. Sure John loves it.
Q. How are you looked after in terms of mileage, gear and nutrition?
A. With mileage, we get 45p a mile. That’s the standard in the north. It’s 70 cent a mile in the south. And we get £37 a week for nutritional needs.
We have access to a nutritionist. I try to do it as best I can. I wouldn’t be weighing out everything I eat.
But I don’t drink and I don’t smoke. I do like my food so I will occasionally eat out the odd time. I stay away from takeaways.
You do as best you can. Last year I bought in the weekly meals deal with ‘Be Prepped’, so I was within all the calories intake.
The county board give us a cheque for £150 for boots. We are entitled to two pairs of training shorts and socks, a half-zip top, a training or polo short, and tracksuit bottoms and a jacket or a gilet.
In fairness, last year we put a thing in place where we were keeping the same design of the training gear for three years. That meant the only people who got gear was those who lost something or a new panel member coming on. We did this to keep costs down.
For years we got a kitbag full of stuff and there was no need for it at all. Absolutely no need.
Q. When you talk to people from other hurling counties, how do they react?
A. Well, everyone looks down on Fermanagh no matter where you go! That goes for Australia, America, anywhere at all.
In Antrim, the last couple of years there is maybe a wee bit of realisation about the efforts we put in. But even still, people would see it as a bit of a joke.
The further you go though, people have no idea how little hurling there is in these counties. They take their own scene for granted.
Q. What are your ambitions in any given season?
A. The good thing about the tiered system is that any year we go out, we have a realistic chance of winning the competition we are playing in.
So two years ago we were promoted to the Nickey Rackard and we stayed up. But we firmly believed we were going to win the Nickey Rackard last year.
We always feel we have a chance of winning whatever we are in. And this year we are in the Lory Meagher. We are at our own level.
Same in the league. Last year we went up in the league to Division 3A. And we drew one game, we won a game, and lost every other game by a point.
It didn’t take very much for us to be in a league final there either.
Q. What’s been the standout moments hurling for your county?
A. Winning the Lory Meagher. Playing in Croke Park. Getting to win there. I played Croke Park before and never won before that.
That day against Mayo last year was massive. To win at home, in Ederney… That day we had underage kids there playing at half-time. There was a lot of children there and at the end they came running onto the field to get their hurls signed and for pictures.
That had never been seen before and it was us beating a team that would never be described as a ‘weaker’ county.
Q. What’s the overall health of hurling in Fermanagh?
A. It’s probably never been in as good a place as it has ever been.
There’s three clubs. Erne Gaels and Lisnaskea are playing at Junior level, joined by Lisbellaw’s Junior team. Then Lisbellaw play in the Ulster Intermediate level. So realistically, there’s four adult teams.
Then, there are seven juvenile clubs; Lisbellaw, Lisnaskea, Erne Gaels, Lisnaskea Emmetts, Enniskillen Gaels, Belnaleck and St Joseph’s. We have probably never been in a better position that way.
St Michael’s College are also competing again and there is some good work going in there by Frank Hughes and Sean Donnelly.
With the clubs, you would be hoping that Belnaleck and St Aidan’s will be in a position to make a step up to senior level soon. Even as an amalgamation.
Q. How have they managed to get seven clubs hurling?
A. It’s down to the Shane Mulholland Foundation. (Shane Mulholland was a former county hurler who passed away in 2015. His family then created a Foundation in his name to further youth hurling in Fermanagh and surrounding counties).
And there’s a small group of volunteers within all the clubs. You could name them all and count them on your two hands. But they have stuck with it and with the help of the Shane Mulholland Foundation and their investment, they have kept it going.
Martin Fogarty’s guidance was a big help along the way too. At a meeting last Monday night with the county board, there was a Belnaleck representative who was talking about how good Fogarty had been for them.
But it’s down to small groups of volunteers, good hurling people.
Q. How do you feel about the CCCC proposal.
A. It’s madness. There’s no thinking to it.
No matter what it is, you need a flagship team so that young boys can look up to it.
It’s just a cost-cutting exercise dressed up as concern for hurling development.
The notion that they would ringfence money and invest it into underage hurling – that’s not what investment is. Investment is when you take new money and use it. Not money that is already been assigned for something.
It doesn’t seem thought out. What gets me is that they said it was from feedback from the counties involved.
I’d doubt that. There might have been a mention or two on some Zoom calls but they haven’t spoken to the relevant people. For example, Dr John Porteous is our hurling board chairman and he heard nothing of this plan until it was reported.
I don’t think it will go through. But if it does, it will kill hurling entirely in the county and knock the stuffing out of those who are doing all the work.
Q. Are you happy with the county board’s strong response?
A. From day one, I spoke to the county board that day.
They were as shocked as we were. At the meeting on Monday, everyone was on the same wavelength.
I don’t think they could have done much more. Tiernach Mahon has been very helpful and he has spoken to delegates in other counties. They cannot do much more than they already have.
