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After what was initially a fairytale return to Gaelic football, Conor McKenna quickly found himself exposed to the cruel side of the sport.
Proper displays in the final two rounds of the league saw him proclaim himself the PwC GAA / GPA October Footballer of the Month, but last weekend in the wind and rain the music died. Tyrone went to Ballybofey and when they left, their season was over.
And that was the end of what had been, up to that point, a glorious return to GAA. And having competed in the unforgiving world of professional sports, McKenna knows there is nothing to do but be ready to start next year.
“I think it would have been better if it had been a round robin between all of Ireland so that you were tied,” he said.
“I think it’s harder to get out of Ulster, teams like Donegal, Tyrone, Monaghan, Armagh, all the hard-to-beat teams and the likes of Dublin and Kerry are probably going to walk to their provincials so I think it would have been fairer if It would have been a round robin, but that’s how the year had to go, it’s not ideal, but that’s the way it is and you move on. “
Afterwards, Mickey Harte complained that McKenna was not sufficiently protected by officials. McKenna hinted that there was a lot to do off the ball, but insisted that there was nothing out of the ordinary and nothing that he himself would not do.
“You can get a little more probably off the field a little further, in the middle of the field you will probably get a little more attention, but listen, I would do the exact same thing with someone else. That’s Gaelic. It seemed like when I was full forward you probably couldn’t do that much for umpires and stuff but god no the players are smart. I’d do the exact same thing if someone was on top, try to stop it. It seemed to work so no no harm was done “.
And as for the manager’s future? McKenna insisted that, as a new kid on the block, it was not his place.
“It’s a little different for me, I’ve only been there for probably three months so it’s hard for me to say, I had a strange year, probably nothing was normal (for me) compared to what the guys have been through. It probably is. plus a decision of the players and the coaches and those who have been there for the last five or six years, they know what’s going on and they know what’s best for the team, so if you think Mickey is the man to stay, so. that’s more than welcome for me. It’s just going back to gaelic (for me), I haven’t given it much thought to be honest. “
During the winter, he will go to play soccer. There is also the possibility that, in the future, he would consider returning to the AFL, if he were on the table.
“I don’t think it’s quite over. There’s something in the AFL where you can get a midseason draft so you can be drafted in June and come out June through September, it’s really just a two- or three-month draft. I think the possibility may be there in three or four years with Gaelic, the way they are talking about a split season, if Tyrone was out and the club was out of the championship and there was a chance to go through two or three months, It’s not something I would close the door to. I don’t think it’s a high possibility, but I don’t think the door is closed, no. “
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