Roscommon footballer Ruaidhrí Fallon pictured at the launch of the Connacht SFC. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
By Cian O'Connell
Ruaidhrí Fallon's sporting adventure continues. Delivering for Davy Burke's Roscommon senior football team is Fallon's current remit.
A stint in the Connacht Rugby Academy was beneficial and an experience Fallon embraced. Now, though, Fallon's focus is firmly on Gaelic Football.
Saturday evening's Allianz Football League Division Two decider against Monaghan will be followed by a trip to Ruislip for a Connacht SFC clash against London.
Valuable lessons were learned with Connacht with Fallon highlighting the importance of carrying out work when nobody was looking. The marginal gains. A thirst for knowledge and improvement.
That is something Fallon, a University of Galway student, remains keen to do. "I'm in my final year of college, so I'm living in a house with four or five of my best friends who are all doing different things," Fallon says. "There's lots of distractions and stuff like that.
“So, it's tough to do the right things every single week. But I do my best to get into good routines.
"Obviously, let's say gym and stuff like that. I'd be talking maybe more about maybe some extra nutritional or even psychological stuff people might be interested in, that you can get some wins out of it.
“I think that's definitely the difference between the amateur and professional set-up."
Finding the balance between sport and daily life is key. That is why Fallon enjoys the time spent with his housemates. "It's good to take a step back every now and again," Fallon remarks.
"Obviously, they're all up in college and they're sporty fellas as well, playing with clubs and playing rugby and Buccaneers. So it's good for a change and good to step back out of the seriousness of it.
“You might have a good result or a bad result or a heavy video review or stuff like that as well. You can just leave that at the door and walk into the sitting room and they're all chatting about different stuff. So, that's definitely a good aspect of it. Not to get too bogged down or zoned in on it as well.”
Fallon is part of a new generation of talent in Roscommon. A decade or so ago the Smiths, Murtaghs, and others flared to prominence. Recently players such as Fallon have emerged. That is a source of encouragement. "From maybe 2011-13, around then, you'd great Dublin under-21 teams, there were some superb Roscommon teams," Fallon recalls.
Ruaidhrí Fallon in action for Roscommon against Armagh in the 2024 All-Ireland SFC Quarter-Final at Croke Park. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
"They got a lot of change out of county players from that as well. It's just about really driving it, about not being in any way in the slightest a midget mentality towards competing with the bigger counties and the bigger teams.
“The way they address their underage stuff and how much they put into it, it really does show in the long run.
"Obviously, Roscommon are doing that to a great extent in the last few years. We've had some great underage teams and obviously different things like the Centre of Excellence come in and things like that as well. I would have a brother involved with the minors this evening (Friday).
“They have another great Minor team and things like that. It's just about really driving it forward. We came off the back of a good U20 team and a bad All-Ireland final when we lost to Offaly.
“We were so good at underage that it wasn't crazy to have to compete with the likes of Galway and Mayo in our mind, which was a nice thing to come into a senior set-up. Why would we start changing our mindset on it now?"
Ultimately, it means that Connacht is competitive at every level. “It's at an all-time high, for sure," Fallon responds.
"Again, it's not the superpowers that are ruling the roost every year at all different age grades. We've seen Sligo do very, very well in the last few years at underage. They're hoping, obviously, nothing more than to bring that through to senior level.
“I think the Leitrim U20 team, people were saying they were very good as well. They'll be hoping to get as many people out of that as they can.
"Definitely, you have to really, really zone in on underage set-ups. Even from when we started out, I remember like it was yesterday, the time we used to go for U14 county trials or whatever.
“Honestly, it starts from there and it just builds step by step from there on out. It's all important. It can't be lost in any way."
A Croke Park tussle with Monaghan is imminent. "We were saying during the week, I think there's probably 19 or 20 of us that don't have a national medal, as such," Fallon remarks.
"Any day that you get to line out in Croke Park for your county, to contest for a cup or a medal, and to try to walk up the steps is a very special day."
