Sport

McGrath proving himself a master of modern game

An interview at the start of this year, allowed Pete McGrath to demonstrate he was in charge in the Erne county  
An interview at the start of this year, allowed Pete McGrath to demonstrate he was in charge in the Erne county   An interview at the start of this year, allowed Pete McGrath to demonstrate he was in charge in the Erne county  

AT THE start of the year, Pete McGrath agreed to an interview with Fermanagh GAA TV alongside county press officer Pauric McGurn and captain Eoin Donnelly.

McGurn played host and, to his credit, wasn’t afraid to ask some hard questions – at least in the early part of the broadcast. He asked McGrath was there any way back for the man everyone in the county was talking about; the man who was top scorer in consecutive county Championships; the man who could kick points for fun.

You had to admire Pauric’s bold drum-roll. The man he was referring to was, of course, Séamus Quigley. The Roslea forward is arguably the most naturally gifted Gaelic footballer in the Erne county. Previous Fermanagh managers Malachy O’Rourke and Peter Canavan thought so as well. Like McGrath, they had their own disciplinary struggles with the free-spirited Quigley.

Sometimes at the beginning of the year, though, leniency is the order of the day and managers have a tendency to wipe the proverbial slate clean for all players. Quigley might have thought he would be given another chance to wear the county jersey again in 2015. But the broadcast, carried from the Enniskillen Hotel on the eve of the Dr McKenna Cup, ended any hope of him playing under McGrath again.

The previous year, McGrath’s first in charge of Fermanagh, he dropped Quigley for a bout of indiscipline. So the broadcast was going swimmingly. Pauric was doing a fine job in the chair.

“So, Pete,” asked Pauric, “is there any way back for Séamus Quigley?” McGrath turned to his host and said: “No.”

The worst thing for an interviewer to cope with is silence. The silence that followed, understandably, left Pauric slightly dazed. And, in fairness, it took him a couple of questions to recover. With a one-word answer, McGrath showed who was in charge. It didn’t make McGrath any less amiable for the remainder of the interview, but it conveyed where absolute authority lay.

Of course, McGrath has never shied away from making it clear he is the boss. After all, when James McCartan and Greg Blaney left the Down panel in the ’90s, during his hugely successful time in charge, McGrath did not bow to any pressure to leave himself – and the players eventually returned with Pete still the man in charge.

When McGrath was unveiled as Fermanagh’s new manager at the tail-end of 2013, many questioned whether he was still relevant in a game that had changed immeasurably. The early ’90s were a long time ago. What could an old dog like McGrath get out of Fermanagh that nobody else could?

At this stage of his career, and with the honours he’d won, nobody would have blamed him had he sloped off into the comfy surrounds of the commentary box or indulged himself by writing a weekly newspaper column.

The unsaid thing is that he’s been fighting prejudice ever since he left the Down job back in the early ‘Noughties’. As U21 manager, he guided his native county to the 2009 All-Ireland final, but was deeply disappointed not to get another crack at the senior job. The prevailing wisdom of the day was Pete had his shot. It was time for someone else to have a go.

And Gaelic football’s new intelligentsia were perhaps looking down their collective nose at the double All-Ireland-winning manager of the early ’90s. The game had moved on. But had Pete?

In a recent interview, Ross Carr said: “You know, we don’t appreciate the scenery we have in Down. We take it for granted. The Mournes, the Silent Valley and Slieve Donard... Maybe we didn’t appreciate the coaches we had either.”

Carr, who won two All-Irelands under McGrath, added: “I know he’s been labelled a traditionalist. Well, what’s wrong with being a traditionalist and having a set of principles and sticking to them?

“I don’t know what way Pete is training Fermanagh, but I can assure you, at the very core of his set-up is hard work. Anybody that has seen Fermanagh play, they’ve dug out results in the last 10 or 15 minutes of games.”

Fermanagh reaching the All-Ireland quarter-finals is a feat of gargantuan proportions. Since the halcyon days of reaching the 2008 Ulster final, Fermanagh have often played the game like it’s an exercise in damage limitation.

There was much upheaval in the Erne county in recent years and some of the best players the county ever produced had retired. When the class of ’04 left the stage, nobody truly believed Fermanagh were good enough to reach the last eight of the All-Ireland series. Deep down, many of the players probably bought into this self-fulfilling prophecy.

Carr noted that McGrath surrounded himself with good men in Down. He’s done the same in Fermanagh with Brian Treacy and Raymond Johnston, two unsung heroes in Fermanagh’s incredible All-Ireland run. 

Where McGrath’s true value to the Fermanagh effort lies is in the improved performances of the players. He’s changed their mindset. Ask any Fermanagh player what McGrath has done for them – and, to a man, they’ll tell you he has given them belief and confidence. He has made them shed their inferiority complex. He has drilled it into their heads that they are as good as anybody in the country.

Judging by their displays this year, Ryan Jones, Eoin Donnelly and Tomás Corrigan believe in Pete McGrath. They believe in what he says – that they are as good as anybody in their respective positions.

By all accounts, his team-talks are immaculate and his half-time briefings better again. And he commands respect throughout the Fermanagh panel.

What 2015 has proved is that men like Pete McGrath will always be relevant – no matter how much the game of Gaelic football changes.