Connor McAliskey
By John Harrington
Tyrone manager Mickey Harte thinks it’s ‘very unlikely’ that Connor McAliskey will recover from a torn cruciate ligament in time to play any part in Tyrone’s championship campaign this year.
The talented attacker suffered the injury in Tyrone’s McKenna Cup defeat to Cavan last Sunday week.
“That’s the luck of the draw and cruciate injuries are a very unlucky thing to happen to any player and particularly the first game of the season,” says Harte.
“Connor McAliskey put in a huge amount of work over the winter and I think he was in the best shape he’s been in in a long time – since he came to us probably.
“He was so determined to make this a good year for himself and then he gets that knock.
“It’s a challenge for young player, young athletes to have their season written off before it begins but he’s a good lad, a very committed young man and he’ll do all he can to get back as fast as possible and we’ll be there for him to make that happen but I suppose his chances of participating again this year are very unlikely.”
Tyrone are well-stocked with talented inside-forwards such as Ronan O’Neill, Mark Bradley, Rory Brennan, and Darren McCurry, but Harte admits that McAliskey brought an important x-factor to the team.
“Well there are inside forwards but I think he is a quality player and I think he gives us something very different and he is certainly going to be a huge loss to us,” says Harte.
“We do have a certain number of inside players. Maybe we have too many similar inside players? There’s a few of them lefties as well so his right-footed aspect will be missed badly too and he can kick frees as well.
“He was getting ready to be a bigger player in our team, I just had that feeling about him since he came back to our team this year. Every player is a loss because when you lose a player who’s a regular starter then somebody else is going in and you are reducing the experience you have in your back-up squad who don’t have much game-time.
“Every player who is a regular player is a huge loss in his own way but you have to live with that. Yes, maybe as they say it’s an ill wind that doesn’t blow some good and maybe somebody will benefit from the opportunity that they might not otherwise have got.”
Mickey Harte
McAliskey is not the only Tyrone player side-lined with injury. Sean Cavanagh, Rory Brennan, and Michael Cassidy are also currently in rehab and will be out of action for varying lengths of time.
“Sean would have been flying there, up to about two weeks ago, when he tweaked something behind his knee, that’s giving him bother,” says Harte.
“It’s not a big issue, but we don’t find to rush it, and find it will set him back. We went to give him every chance to be ready for the most important part of the year, and that’s what he’s doing. And I’ve no doubt he’ll be ready for the start of the league.
“Rory Brennan got a bad shoulder injury and he’ll be out for 4-6 weeks which is unfortunate too. Michael Cassidy got a hamstring injury and they happen over the course of a game too.
“Ronan O’Neill got a bang against Cavan too but he recovered quicker than any of the rest so it was a hard day at the office never mind losing the game.
“To lose four players through injury on one day is very unusual but it happens sometimes and we have to learn to live with that especially on the back of having so many other men coming back from injury or not quite over injuries.
“But that’s life in sport and you have to do what you can.”
The loss of McAliskey for the year is a blow to Tyrone’s All-Ireland ambitions in 2017, but Harte is still hopeful the Red Hand County can challenge hard for the Sam Maguire Cup this year.
“It’s difficult to say. I think all things going for us, we can challenge at that level. But challenging, and crossing that line, are two different things, and we haven’t done it since 2008.
“So we can’t speculate about anything more than I think we are capable of doing things to a very high level. If we can play to a high level have the rub of the green along with it and be in a position to seize some luck if it falls our way then anything is possible.
“If you didn’t believe that then you are probably just going out there to go through the motions.
“That’s not being boastful saying we should be winning things but you have to believe it is possible because if you don’t do that that notion goes down to your players who say ‘we’re only in this to play to a certain level, we don’t expect that we can win this'.
“I don’t want a team playing that way I want them to believe it’s possible and if they believe it is possible and do everything they can to make it possible then it might well happen.”
Mickey Harte was speaking at the GAA Healthy Clubs launch.
