Sport

Danny Hughes: Success in 2019 varies widely for Ulster counties

Tyrone boss Mickey Harte among his players after losing out to Dublin in the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final at Croke Park on September 2 2018. Picture by Philip Walsh.
Tyrone boss Mickey Harte among his players after losing out to Dublin in the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final at Croke Park on September 2 2018. Picture by Philip Walsh. Tyrone boss Mickey Harte among his players after losing out to Dublin in the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final at Croke Park on September 2 2018. Picture by Philip Walsh.

It’s a long winter.

I know that particular season has only just officially started, but as soon as Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day is over it means one thing for me.

I suspect for many others it is the same.

A significant number of my fellow ex-county colleagues have said that they don’t miss the inter-county football at this time of the year.

The funny thing is that I never minded training at this time of the year.

The sense of purpose which comes from playing inter-county football cannot be underestimated.

The fact that you were training at a high level on a consistent basis elevated your personal and team aspirations, at least in the short term, that is, until results started to highlight real progress or not in some cases.

A New Year and a new start.

In other words for me anything was possible.

The one-to-one attention to detail and the collective training an inter-county player now expects and receives is on par with many of the standards expected by professional players in Rugby and Soccer.

The bar has been set over the years by Down, Armagh, Tyrone and Donegal.

Only the latter two teams can realistically make an argument that they are contenders going into the 2019 season.

However, I do expect Down and Armagh to make progress this year.

A fifth term for Kieran McGeeney beckons and the return of a number of players not in the squad last year will be interesting viewing in terms of team dynamic for 2019.

The players who have been very loyal to the squad over McGeeney’s tenure will welcome the returnee’s through gritted teeth.

Kieran won’t forget this loyalty however he is a practical manager and at this point, the only thing Armagh supporters will accept is silver-ware and success.

Sometimes, as a player, should you really want to send a message to players returning to any squad, I always felt it was best to send this message in training, whether it was in a tackling grid or 50/50 challenge.

Good players will always make the manager's decisions easier.

Good players don’t need motivating nor do they need cajoled into action.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Down have a new manager in Paddy Tally who has taken a much delayed entry into county management as a No 1.

I was part of the committee charged with securing a new manager and it was no secret that Tally was my preferred candidate from word go.

Indeed the individuals who made up the committee all felt the same.

For us he ticked the boxes, and despite the No 2 roles he enjoyed in Tyrone, Derry and Down in the past, the progress Galway made in such a short time of him coming on board there, simply made the decision more justifiable from our perspective.

It wasn’t easy to secure his services, he is a man of honour and Galway were keen to keep him on board.

Luckily for us, that opportunity was too good for Paddy to turn down.

As a critic of the Down County Committee over the years, I have to say that the support we received in securing his services was excellent and I hope this relationship will be a successful one for all parties going forward.

What is success (in 2019)?

It really depends as it varies from county to county, player to player.

For DOWN, it is promotion and winning the Division Three National League.

Should they beat Armagh in the first round of the Ulster Championship and secure ‘Super 8’ qualification, Down supporters could arguably be very happy with the year’s work.

For ARMAGH, winning the second division isn’t outside the realms of what’s possible.

They will also look to securing 'Super 8’ qualification.

In today’s GAA championship it is the equivalent to what Champions League qualification is to Premier League teams.

FERMANAGH will find it hard to replicate last year’s Ulster Championship run.

Success for them would be adapting to a more offensive style and dare I say a more aesthetic style of play.

Is it a pre-requisite?

Of course not, but the game plan of defending your way to success has become archaic and to an extent has become a lazy style of coaching teams for short-termism sake.

DONEGAL will want to be knocking around the semi-finals of the All-Ireland and last 4.

A third All-Ireland for the county will always remain a game away as long as Dublin still remain standing.

Recently and historically it has only been Kerry who have been able to knock them off their perch.

While TYRONE made an All-Ireland in 2018, Dublin had too much guile, experience and class on the day.

Dublin needed to have an off-day, which they rarely have nowadays, and the margin of victory flattered Tyrone to an extent.

Harte and his management team deserve huge credit for closing the gap and akin to Mayo, perhaps you need to take a couple of hidings before you become a contender.

I feel that had Tyrone played anyone else other than Dublin last September, they could well be going into 2019 as defending All-Ireland Champions.

All ifs, buts and maybes.

And what of Tyrone’s poor neighbour, DERRY.

Promotion from the depths of Division 4 is a minimum.

Indeed making their way out of the lower divisions is key should Derry Football hope to compete at a decent level in the medium term.

ANTRIM share similar woes with Derry from a playing perspective and then add into that particular depression, the Casement Park fiasco.

Antrim are the homeless man of the GAA at the minute.

No prospects and a significant lack of love.

No one seems that bothered and the irony is that the Gaels of Antrim will indirectly be footing the bill for Cork's new home ground as Croke Park’s recent bailout is testament to.

MONAGHAN aren’t far off the ceiling at this stage.

I feel that they have already achieved their lot and they continue to amaze me via their sheer consistency in staying here.

Should they make a final, wow.

CAVAN and Mickey Graham will have a ‘free pass’ in 2019.

It will be a tough National League in division one and should they maintain their status, again 2019 will be seen in a positive light.

For players, the goals are simple.

If you weren’t in the first 15, you want to become an automatic.

If you were in the first 15, you want to stay in it.

If you were the best player in the team last year, you want to be the best in the province and so on.

If you were the best in the country, the only way is down.

Happy New Year.