Ronan McNamee
By John Harrington
Ronan McNamee knows it mightn’t be the most popular opinion in either Tyrone or Monaghan, but he regards both county teams as being more similar than different.
The Tyrone full-back is a key cog in a Red Hand side with a voracious work-ethic, which also happens to be Monaghan’s defining feature.
Both sides have bags of character, take no prisoners in defence, and employ a very slick counter-attacking strategy.
Something will have to give when they meet in Saturday night’s Allianz League clash, and McNamee is predicting a real ‘gung-ho contest’.
“I wouldn't think we'd be a million miles off each other,” he says. “All Ulster teams sort of tend to play a certain style of football, but Monaghan and Tyrone do sort of mirror each other to a certain degree, definitely.
“I'm sure either county wouldn't agree with that, but we're no a million miles off each other, definitely not.
“The last time we played Monaghan in the League the lights went out in Healy Park and they absolutely hammered us. We haven't played them since the All-Ireland Quarter-Final but both teams know each other really, really well.
“It'll be a an all-out, gung-ho contest on Saturday night with both teams going for it. They're coming off a really, really good result so they'll be confident.
“We'll definitely have to get up to the pace of the game very quickly.”
For some teams, defending can seem like a chore and they’re much more comfortable with the ball than without it.
Tyrone and Monaghan have made a science of it, and almost seem to take a dark satisfaction from making the opposition’s life miserable with a tightly-packed defense and rabid tacklers who have mastered the art of the turn-over.
Ronan McNamee
McNamee himself has developed into one of the best defenders in the country. Full-back can be a thankless position at times, but he’s grown to love the challenge of it.
“Definitely, it's one of the most thankless jobs. But, ach, I enjoy playing it, definitely. Any time you get to pull on the jersey, no matter what number it is, especially if it's a starting 15, then that's a good day.
“I'm happy, definitely. You grow up wanting to be in a position like this and not a lot of people get to be in it. It would be a dream for a lot of young people and it was a dream of mine and i'm living it now so it's a great feeling, it definitely is.”
One of Tyrone's best players in their last League game against Dublin, McNamee is the Head Bouncer in a defense that treats opposition forwards like underage drinkers.
As a unit they’ve matured thanks to sustained game-time together, and time and again the Dublin attack was repelled by the red and white wall.
“We got a good few dispossessions against Dublin, but you know what football is like, sometimes you'll get them and sometimes you'll not.
“We've played with each other for a long time now. A lot of us have played together from underage right up through so we know each other inside out.”
McNamee admits the postponement of last Sundays’s clash against Cavan because of the weather was ‘hugely frustrating’, but Saturday’s game against Monaghan can be the perfect pick me up.
Win it, and Tyrone will be unbeaten after three matches and very much on course for a League Final place. Lose it, and they could find themselves in the bottom half of the table. The stakes are high.
“Definitely, it will either keep you in the chase for the top of the table or else it will pull you into a dog-fight that you definitely do not want to be a part of because it definitely will be a dog-fight for the bottom three or four teams,” says McNamee.
“It's so tight. No-body is running away with anything. Everyone has been beaten or else have drawn. Teams are dropping points left, right, and centre.”
