Football

McKenna Cup Draw: New rule a 'suck it and see' for all, says Brendan McArdle

Launch of the Dr Mc Kenna Cup - Fitzwilliam Hotel Belfast -  30th November 2016.(L-R back) Nial Toner Derry, Charlie Vernon Armagh, Gearoid McKiernan Cavan, Kieran Mc Laughlin, Ulster Council, Terry Mc Crudden, Bank Of Ireland, Michael Hassan Ulster GAA President, Rory Beggan Mongahan, Sean Mc Veigh Antrim and Kieran Corrigan Fermanagh...(L-R front) James Mc Mahon QUB, Darragh Oâ??Connor Donegal, Owen Mc Hugh UU, Brendan McArdle Down. Photograph by Declan Roughan
Launch of the Dr Mc Kenna Cup - Fitzwilliam Hotel Belfast - 30th November 2016.(L-R back) Nial Toner Derry, Charlie Vernon Armagh, Gearoid McKiernan Cavan, Kieran Mc Laughlin, Ulster Council, Terry Mc Crudden, Bank Of Ireland, Michael Hassan Ulster GAA P Launch of the Dr Mc Kenna Cup - Fitzwilliam Hotel Belfast - 30th November 2016.(L-R back) Nial Toner Derry, Charlie Vernon Armagh, Gearoid McKiernan Cavan, Kieran Mc Laughlin, Ulster Council, Terry Mc Crudden, Bank Of Ireland, Michael Hassan Ulster GAA President, Rory Beggan Mongahan, Sean Mc Veigh Antrim and Kieran Corrigan Fermanagh...(L-R front) James Mc Mahon QUB, Darragh Oâ??Connor Donegal, Owen Mc Hugh UU, Brendan McArdle Down. Photograph by Declan Roughan

Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup Draw


Section A: Queen’s University Belfast, Down, Armagh, Derry


Section B: St Mary's, Antrim, Fermanagh, Monaghan


Section C, UUJ, Tyrone, Cavan, Donegal


Round 1 - Sunday January 8


Round 2 – Sunday January 15


Round 3 -Wednesday January 18



Semi-Finals - Sunday January 22


Winner Section C v Best Runner-Up


Winner Section B v Winner Section A



Final - Saturday January 28



DOWN'S Brendan McArdle admits that the introduction of the mark at the beginning of next year is going to be a case of suck it and see for everyone from January 1.



Speaking at the launch of the 2017 Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup in the Fitzwilliam hotel in Belfast last night, the Annaclone man saw pros and cons for the much-talked about new rule but isn’t entirely convinced it’s the right way to go.



“It really is a case of going into the unknown. Nobody knows how it’s going to affect the game. It could have a negative impact in the fact that it will be more important to make sure your man doesn’t catch the ball. It could have more of an impact in getting players to break the ball away,” McArdle said.



“In saying that, if a player wins clean possession, it might enable the game to have more kick passing, because if you win the ball in your own half-back line your natural instinct is going to be to turn and kick. With the current rules, by the time you get turned after winning a kickout, there are four men round you. It might allow players to kick the ball from their own half-back line further forward quicker and eradicate the three or four passes you would see in that zone.



“I think the game does have to evolve, but I’m just not sure the mark is the rule change that’s required. It’s an experiment and I suppose you have to try to see if it works.



"There’s no reason why we couldn’t revert back to the game without the mark over time if it doesn’t."

McArdle, who has battled his way back to fitness after over a year on the sidelines following a ruptured Achilles, says Down have to beat either Armagh or Derry in Section A in order to banish at least some of the ghosts of 2016.



Eamonn Burns’ men only managed to win one game over the course of the year – at home to St Mary’s – and lost to all other inter-county opposition they face.

“Last year wasn’t a success by any means. We didn’t beat an inter-county team in 2016 and the McKenna Cup is an opportunity to put that right straight away and get that monkey off our back,” he said.



“This year we’ve had a lot more time to prepare. Eamonn and his team came in pretty late on so this time it’s a good opportunity to try out more players and to get a good team and a good system in place before the National League.”



Despite Down’s dismal run in the last 12 months, McArdle says he and his team-mates should look at how Down’s All-Ireland winners of the past are feted within the county as inspiration to restore the Mournemen so former glories.



“There is a core group of players who still have ambitions of winning something with Down. The likes of Aidan Carr, Kevin McKernan and Darren O’Hagan have been there for a long time now and don’t have any silverware," he adds.

“You don’t go into a season thinking you’re not going to win something. At the end of the day, every man has to have the ambition of winning silverware, whether it be the National League Division 2 or the Ulster Championship. That’s our target and you wouldn’t be doing it if you didn’t think you were capable of winning one of those titles.



“The commitment is massive but I think the reward is even greater. You do see what players get out of it. For example, this year is the 25th anniversary of when Down won the All-Ireland in 1991 and to see how all those players are held in such high esteem, players of our generation would crave to have something even close to that. Every year, your ambition has to be to win an Ulster title,” he said.