AS the longest-serving inter-county player, Dick Clerkin has seen most things during his Monaghan career. Now, as he prepares for his fifth Ulster SFC final tomorrow, the Currin man speaks to Ryan McCann about the impact he’s hoping to make at
St Tiernach’s Park, whether from the start or off the bench...
DICK Clerkin shuffled uneasily from the Monaghan changing room and pointed to a wooden bench perched against a wall in the Kingspan Breffni Park tunnel.
Monaghan had just reached a third consecutive Ulster final for the first time in 91 years and, although the Currin man was only introduced as a 41st minute substitute, his legs were weary and battle-scarred.
When you’re the longest serving player in the country, that comes with the territory.
Yet while Clerkin’s game-time has dried up this season, his influence and leadership has never been more evident. When he entered the fray against Fermanagh, two points separated the sides. When the final whistle blew, Monaghan had opened up a 10-point margin.
A 20-minute cameo against Cavan in the previous round, meanwhile, was enough for pundit Kevin McStay to justify Clerkin’s selection on the shortlist for The Sunday Game’s man-of-the-match such was the magnitude of his display around the middle third.
The 34-year-old chemical engineer reveals his view from the dugout is all part of manager Malachy O’Rourke’s Farney evolution.
“I don’t think being sprung from the bench is as simple as just being another year older,” said Clerkin.
“I felt I was in a similar sort of position last year. I suppose I started more games and had a relatively good season but I’m a number now – just a panel number – and I have to fight for a place in the starting team like everybody else.
“Malachy has to look and see what way he thinks a game will go. He might be asking himself does he want his strongest team on at the start or a similar team on the field when the game is coming to an end.
“It does help having these options because you see the teams that are winning Ulster titles or winning All-Irelands and their experience helps them finish strong in big games.
“I suppose Malachy has to make calls like that but I am still happy to be involved. I’m fit and playing reasonably well at this stage after a long career.
“It’s already been a long season and we all have different commitments so you have to take what you can get,” he said with a laugh.
At Clerkin’s expense, Owen Lennon returned to the Monaghan midfield against Fermanagh for the first time since the 2013 All-Ireland quarter-final.
After a horrid ankle injury, O’Rourke was getting miles in Lennon’s legs and rather than bemoan his view from the bench, Clerkin paid tribute to the man he has soldiered alongside for over a decade.
“On a personal level, I am delighted for Owen,” he said.
“We are a long time on the road together. We went through an awful amount of bad days before we had our good days so I know what it means to get out on the pitch.
“He’s had a tough time of it. He would have felt last year would have been the right time for one big final push but it didn’t work out for him injury-wise so he said he would come back to it and give it another rattle.
“He has worked extremely hard over the winter months. He didn’t get much game-time in the League and to come in and give a solid 40 minutes in an Ulster semi-final, it was great to see.”
While Monaghan have never been the most notorious flat-track bullies in the land – evidenced by their performances against Cavan and Fermanagh – Clerkin has lost enough Ulster finals (2007, 2010 and 2014) to know that a similar level of performance on Sunday will see them come up short against old foes Donegal.
“Absolutely not, our performances so far wouldn’t be good enough to win an Ulster title,” he said.
“Two fairly patchy performances just about got us there and we have an awful lot of work to do.
“Obviously I would like to be involved in another Ulster final but it’s about managing my own expectations as well as the county’s.
“Three or four years ago when things weren’t going so good, we’d be pinching ourselves but we’re on the road so long now, we have set higher standards.
“We have a fresh bench and that helps in key moments.
“With the experience we have, we are stronger going down the home straight.”
That ‘home straight’ Clerkin speaks of will be where Sunday’s game is won and lost. In an Ulster final that is so delicately poised, don’t back against Clerkin being the one to tip the balance.
