McNamee aims for a return to winning way with Tyrone

RONAN McNamee believes Tyrone have ‘a lot to put right this year’ following their disastrous 2022 championship campaign.

The Red Hands relinquished their Ulster crown to Derry in the opening round of the Championship before crashing out of the All-Ireland series at the hands of Armagh in the qualifiers.

Following on from their heroic All-Ireland winning exploits of 2021, the Aghyaran defender suggests that Tyrone didn’t deal with the transition of being the hunters to becoming the hunted.

Tyrone bowed out of the Ulster Championship this year, albeit with a much better display against Monaghan, and await the start of the round robin series.

They have been drawn into the same group as the Connacht winners, Ulster runners-up and Westmeath.

“Anybody I suppose sitting with time on their hands now is going to be looking at it, it’s a time to get work done,” said the 2019 All-Star. “Ideally, you’d rather be out this Sunday (Ulster Final) but you’re not and we just have to deal with it that way.

“With regards to last year, last year was very disappointing but it was like, when you couldn’t get the bounce of a ball, if one thing wasn’t going for you, ten things weren’t going for you, and it wasn’t for the want of trying.

“Our plan at the start of the year was to go back-to-back. Obviously, it was a different, unknown territory for us regards to having a target on our back rather than chasing a team with the target. That was probably something that we didn’t necessarily deal with well.

“I don’t know if anybody does, especially after the first time. Maybe if you got a second chance at it you might have learned a wee bit more from it but ultimately 2022 was on to forget for us and we feel we have a lot to put right this year.

“We haven’t necessarily started off the way we wanted but as I keep saying, it’s the position we’re in now and the cards that we’re dealt so we’ve just got to take it and make hay with it now.”

McNamee had missed a large chunk of Tyrone’s National League campaign, where they retained their Division One status, through injury, but returned to play in the final league game against Armagh and lined out against Monaghan in the championship.

Being sidelined through injury was tough, admits McNamee, but he’s feeling good now and looking forward to the rest of the season. “It’s a tough time mentally, definitely,” added the 2021 All-Ireland winner.

“All the work you’re doing, you always have doubts in your head, especially the older you get, if you’re still capable. The likes of the work you’re doing, you’re doing it on your own.

“If you’re out training together with 35 fellas and you’re doing running blocks, everybody’s together on the endline and starting it together and finishing it together.

“Whereas it’s a different type of mental toughness in a way that when you’re out on your own that you’re with your own thoughts and everybody is the same, your thoughts can, from one day to the next or from one minute to the next, can be completely different.

“I think it was just important that you stayed, I was always going to Garvaghy, I was always training and keeping in the loop as much as you could and surrounding yourself with positive people.

“I was just keeping an eye on it during the league. I had got my hip injected again maybe the second or third week in, but my plan was to try and be ready for further down the line rather than maybe overloading it too quickly and being sidelined again.

“I got through the Armagh game in the league and then got through the Monaghan game okay as well so it’s just a matter of building. I’m not as young as I used to be so it’s just a matter of being wise on the load that you’re putting your body through. Hopefully I can withstand the next few weeks and then hopefully it’s a long summer for us all being well.”