ON SUNDAY, MALACHY O’Rourke will draw a line back to six years ago, when he was last on an Ulster championship sideline.
Now, it will be O’Neills Healy Park Omagh when Tyrone play Cavan (4.15pm, live RTÉ 2 and BBC NI)
Back then it was Clones. He was in his seventh season in charge of Monaghan. The year before they had reached the All-Ireland semi-final only to lose by a single point to Tyrone.
But 2019 was his most disappointing summer with Monaghan. They lost their Ulster quarter-final game to Cavan and while they squeezed out Fermanagh in the first round of the qualifiers, they were soon ushered out the door by Armagh in round 2.
The swiftness of his decision to step down – announced straight after the Armagh defeat – spoke of how much he needed the break.
As luck would have it, his time out would also coincide with the artificial and synthetic feel of sport during the Covid years, and he accepted an invitation to take over Derry club Glen in late 2020.
Serial underachievers for a football-mad town and the cradle of St Patrick’s Maghera, Glen had never won a county title before O’Rourke arrived. He left them three county titles, two Ulster crowns and an All-Ireland better off.
Now back in the county game with Tyrone, having lived the past 32 years in Ballygawley, what does he notice as the main difference over that passage of time?
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“The one thing is there’s probably there’s a lot more focus in the county football now. And the other thing is that the year – unlike the last time I was there – the year just goes past so quick,” he says in amazement at the breakneck speed of the supposedly new, enlightened age of the split season.
“The league is run – seven games in what? Nine weeks? Then you have a three-week break and then the championship goes through. And hopefully, the more successful you are, it will be fairly condensed. But no, I’m glad to be back in it but there’s a lot of work to it. As I say, there’s a great backroom team there. Hopefully, we’ll get on okay.”
O'Rourke with team trainer Ryan Porter and players before the league win over Dublin. Lorcan Doherty / INPHO
Lorcan Doherty / INPHO / INPHO
As an All-Ireland winning club manager, there were no real mountains left to climb. All the same, O’Rourke is now retired and his return is reflective of the trend towards the higher age profile of managers in the game right now, at the age of 58.
“I never said that I wouldn’t go back into the county or anything else. But at the same time, I had no massive desire to do it either,” said the former PE teacher at St Joseph’s College, Enniskillen.
“I’m living in Tyrone, I’ve been living there for a lot of years and just when they were interested in having me on board, first of all, I felt privileged to be asked.
“And then I thought that: ‘Look, there’s great talent there and it’s a great opportunity’. That was why we decided to go for it but we know there’s a lot of work in it as well.”
A lot of work and a hell of a lot of scrutiny. O’Rourke has been living in Ballygawley for 32 years. His time out of the game was filled by bits and pieces of golf and walking, but the enormous success with Glen was a natural whetting of the appetite to test himself on the big stage again.
“It’s a very passionate county. And when you’re living there and when people ask you to come involved with the county team, it’s very hard to refuse it. Especially when you know the passion for football in Tyrone and when you know the talents that are there and so on. I was delighted to get the opportunity and delighted to take it,” he said.
“At the same time, you know there’s a massive responsibility there as well. There’s a big expectation and you have to make sure that you’re doing everything in your power.”
He continued, “You have to realise that when you go into these jobs as well, you’ve no divine right to be there.
“You’re going in, you’re trying to do your best for the panel of players that’s there. If it comes to the stage at any time that players felt it wasn’t going the right way or you felt it wasn’t the right fit, I know certainly I wouldn’t be one for sticking around.
“So you’re just in there, not for your own sake, it’s to try and help the panel of players that’s there.
“As long as you’re doing that and they’re keen to keep you that’s a different story.”
In all his management roles, he likes to bring along Ryan Porter as the team trainer. Previously he had Leo ‘Dropsy’ McBride there as selector, though he wasn’t able to commit to Glen.
O'Rourke with long-time selector, Leo McBride after Monaghan win the Ulster title in 2013.
Donall Farmer / INPHO
Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO
Both men are in harness again, and O’Rourke added others to the ticket in former All-Ireland winners Colm McCullagh, who managed his Dromore club to the 2021 county title, and Chris Lawn who managed Cookstown to the 2009 All-Ireland intermediate title. John Devine comes in as the goalkeeper coach, having performed similar roles in Monaghan and Down in recent years.
“I know John obviously because he’s from Errigal as well,” explains O’Rourke.
“Chris and Collie, I would have known them without knowing them really well. I just felt that they were the type of people we’d like involved. They’ve been great.
“Their knowledge of football is top class. They’re great in that group set up as well. I’m really pleased to have them on board.
“They’ve just great experience and they’re great with the lads. They’ve great knowledge to impart as well. They’re playing a massive role and I’m delighted to have them there.”
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Devine’s role is interesting. It was only in his final couple of years playing that the short kickout came into being. Now he is responsible for Niall Morgan, the most extravagantly gifted goalkeeper the game has seen.
Their league form means Tyrone are coming into the Ulster championship with an unfamiliar feel of dark horses. An opening round win over Derry was followed by a run of poor results.
However, while they were relegated, it was on the unprecedented tally of seven points and they finished the league strong after the return of the Errigal Ciaran players once they were granted some recovery time from their All-Ireland final defeat to Cuala.
O’Rourke is hoping to have a full panel to pick from, including 2021 All Ireland captain Padraig Hampsey, and Conor Meyler, who was short-listed for Footballer of the Year the same season.
For the last manager to beat Jim McGuinness in Ulster, it’s a new challenge. The season will be fascinating.
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Malachy O'Rourke and Tyrone: 'It's a very passionate county, very hard to refuse it'
ON SUNDAY, MALACHY O’Rourke will draw a line back to six years ago, when he was last on an Ulster championship sideline.
Now, it will be O’Neills Healy Park Omagh when Tyrone play Cavan (4.15pm, live RTÉ 2 and BBC NI)
Back then it was Clones. He was in his seventh season in charge of Monaghan. The year before they had reached the All-Ireland semi-final only to lose by a single point to Tyrone.
But 2019 was his most disappointing summer with Monaghan. They lost their Ulster quarter-final game to Cavan and while they squeezed out Fermanagh in the first round of the qualifiers, they were soon ushered out the door by Armagh in round 2.
The swiftness of his decision to step down – announced straight after the Armagh defeat – spoke of how much he needed the break.
As luck would have it, his time out would also coincide with the artificial and synthetic feel of sport during the Covid years, and he accepted an invitation to take over Derry club Glen in late 2020.
Serial underachievers for a football-mad town and the cradle of St Patrick’s Maghera, Glen had never won a county title before O’Rourke arrived. He left them three county titles, two Ulster crowns and an All-Ireland better off.
Now back in the county game with Tyrone, having lived the past 32 years in Ballygawley, what does he notice as the main difference over that passage of time?
“The one thing is there’s probably there’s a lot more focus in the county football now. And the other thing is that the year – unlike the last time I was there – the year just goes past so quick,” he says in amazement at the breakneck speed of the supposedly new, enlightened age of the split season.
“The league is run – seven games in what? Nine weeks? Then you have a three-week break and then the championship goes through. And hopefully, the more successful you are, it will be fairly condensed. But no, I’m glad to be back in it but there’s a lot of work to it. As I say, there’s a great backroom team there. Hopefully, we’ll get on okay.”
As an All-Ireland winning club manager, there were no real mountains left to climb. All the same, O’Rourke is now retired and his return is reflective of the trend towards the higher age profile of managers in the game right now, at the age of 58.
“I never said that I wouldn’t go back into the county or anything else. But at the same time, I had no massive desire to do it either,” said the former PE teacher at St Joseph’s College, Enniskillen.
“And then I thought that: ‘Look, there’s great talent there and it’s a great opportunity’. That was why we decided to go for it but we know there’s a lot of work in it as well.”
A lot of work and a hell of a lot of scrutiny. O’Rourke has been living in Ballygawley for 32 years. His time out of the game was filled by bits and pieces of golf and walking, but the enormous success with Glen was a natural whetting of the appetite to test himself on the big stage again.
“It’s a very passionate county. And when you’re living there and when people ask you to come involved with the county team, it’s very hard to refuse it. Especially when you know the passion for football in Tyrone and when you know the talents that are there and so on. I was delighted to get the opportunity and delighted to take it,” he said.
“At the same time, you know there’s a massive responsibility there as well. There’s a big expectation and you have to make sure that you’re doing everything in your power.”
He continued, “You have to realise that when you go into these jobs as well, you’ve no divine right to be there.
“You’re going in, you’re trying to do your best for the panel of players that’s there. If it comes to the stage at any time that players felt it wasn’t going the right way or you felt it wasn’t the right fit, I know certainly I wouldn’t be one for sticking around.
“So you’re just in there, not for your own sake, it’s to try and help the panel of players that’s there.
“As long as you’re doing that and they’re keen to keep you that’s a different story.”
In all his management roles, he likes to bring along Ryan Porter as the team trainer. Previously he had Leo ‘Dropsy’ McBride there as selector, though he wasn’t able to commit to Glen.
Both men are in harness again, and O’Rourke added others to the ticket in former All-Ireland winners Colm McCullagh, who managed his Dromore club to the 2021 county title, and Chris Lawn who managed Cookstown to the 2009 All-Ireland intermediate title. John Devine comes in as the goalkeeper coach, having performed similar roles in Monaghan and Down in recent years.
“I know John obviously because he’s from Errigal as well,” explains O’Rourke.
“Chris and Collie, I would have known them without knowing them really well. I just felt that they were the type of people we’d like involved. They’ve been great.
“Their knowledge of football is top class. They’re great in that group set up as well. I’m really pleased to have them on board.
“They’ve just great experience and they’re great with the lads. They’ve great knowledge to impart as well. They’re playing a massive role and I’m delighted to have them there.”
Devine’s role is interesting. It was only in his final couple of years playing that the short kickout came into being. Now he is responsible for Niall Morgan, the most extravagantly gifted goalkeeper the game has seen.
Their league form means Tyrone are coming into the Ulster championship with an unfamiliar feel of dark horses. An opening round win over Derry was followed by a run of poor results.
However, while they were relegated, it was on the unprecedented tally of seven points and they finished the league strong after the return of the Errigal Ciaran players once they were granted some recovery time from their All-Ireland final defeat to Cuala.
O’Rourke is hoping to have a full panel to pick from, including 2021 All Ireland captain Padraig Hampsey, and Conor Meyler, who was short-listed for Footballer of the Year the same season.
For the last manager to beat Jim McGuinness in Ulster, it’s a new challenge. The season will be fascinating.
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Cavan Malachy O'Rourke Tyrone Ulster Championship