Tyrone manager Malachy O'Rourke, with selector Leo McBride to his right, during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Tyrone and Dublin at O'Neills Healy Park in Omagh, Tyrone. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
When Malachy O’Rourke took charge of the Tyrone senior footballers it looked like a marriage made in heaven.
One of the smartest managers in the game with a great track record of success allied with a panel of players made up of veterans of the 2021 Sam Maguire success and a talented young generation that delivered All-Ireland U20 glory in both 2022 and 2024.
The potential is obvious, but O’Rourke has been around the block long enough to know that alchemising potential into achievement requires a lot of hard work.
And while Tyrone were perhaps somewhat unlucky to be relegated from Division 1 of the League despite accumulating seven points, that set-back was a reminder they still have ae journey to travel if they are to seriously challenge for summer silverware.
“There's no doubt there's a lot of talent there because they obviously had great underage success but I suppose I've said to them and everything else that talent only gets you so far,” says O’Rourke.
“It's about working really hard, it's about maximising what you have and it's about learning to work really hard as a team and I think that's the process we're going through and trying to make sure that we do that.
“There's no doubt there is a lot of really good players there. There's good experience there as well, there's lads who have been there a number of years who have had success at the top level, there's lads I suppose in between as well. But we're just concentrating very much in the short term.
“We know the first round of the Championship is a massive game for everybody and we've got Cavan, it was a draw last year, it went to extra time.
“We're just very much focusing on the short term and hopefully we get it right.”
Tyrone finished their League campaign on a high with a draw against Galway followed by wins over Donegal and Dublin.
Darragh Canavan of Tyrone celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Tyrone and Kerry at Pomeroy Plunkett's GAA Club in Pomeroy, Tyrone. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile.
As the Errigal Ciaran players returned and a number of injuries cleared up, O’Rourke was able to get stronger and stronger teams on the pitch and they’re coming into this Ulster Championship with some decent momentum now.
“The Errigal players coming back in have been a great boost,” says O’Rourke. “It's great to have them back.
“There's been a couple of fellas who have been injured as well. I suppose it was a tricky year all round in that the boys were trying to get used to us, we were trying to get used to the lads who were there, the new rules came in on top of that and we probably hadn't the full panel.
“So it's very hard just to get a team with real cohesion in a short period of time like that.
“As well as that there was no pre-season competition this year as well which probably fed into that a wee bit as well. We're hoping that as time goes on we're getting better, we're getting stronger, we're developing a better cohesion in the team. That's what we're hoping going forward.”
When you consider the quality of last year’s All-Ireland U20 winning team and the calibre of players in the senior panel in their early to mid-twenties it’s easy to surmise that Tyrone’s chances of achieving some big things in the medium to long term are very strong.
Supporters and the Tyrone team stand for Amhrán na bhFiann before the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Donegal and Tyrone at O’Donnell Park in Letterkenny, Donegal. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile.
O’Rourke isn’t looking that far ahead though. He sees no reason why they can’t have big ambitions in the present also.
“We're not really looking at it like that to be honest with you," he says.
Football is fickle. You never know what's going to happen in the future.
“We do know that there is a lot of young lads coming through that need guidance and they need to be developed and so on.
“But at the same time, we're looking very much at this year and trying to get the team working as well as we possibly can this year and being competitive and that starts in three weeks' time against Cavan.
“We're hoping to be really competitive that day. And if we're good enough that day, we'll get another day out. And that's the challenge and if not, we'll have to plan a different route. But we're not really looking, to be honest, as a management team, that far ahead.
“We're just looking at what's happening in the present. And I think that's the best way to go forward.
“There's a lot of younger lads coming through. But they have some great lads who have been there for a number of years now who have won at the top level but they're really hungry to achieve more and really hungry to try and develop those younger lads and bring them through and make sure the standards are good.
“It's a healthy panel but at the same time, everybody has a healthy panel - the competition is really intense. There's a lot of teams who are setting a very high standard. It's up to us to try and reach that standard.
“We haven't reached it yet, we have a lot of work to do and we know that ourselves.
“But we're really determined to try and get that work done. And try and keep improving.”
