O’Rourke now focused on Cavan clash in the Championship

MALACHY O’Rourke’s total focus is on the here and now with Tyrone set to get their Ulster Championship campaign underway against Cavan on Sunday, April 13 at O’Neill’s Healy Park.

It’s common enough for managers to talk in terms of three-year plans and all the rest of it, and while the Tyrone manager is very much invested in nurturing the county’s latest crop of talented younger players, he is keen on having a strong first season overseeing the Red Hands.

Asked if he views his Red Hand tenure as a project, he said: “Well I’m not really looking at it like that – football is fickle and you never know what’s going to happen in the future.

“There’s a lot of young lads coming through who need guidance but at the same time we’re very much looking at this year and trying to get the team working as well as they possibly can and being competitive.

“That starts in three weeks’ time against Cavan and if we’re good enough that day we’ll get another day out in the Ulster Championship, and if not we’ll have to plan a different route, but we’re not really looking that far ahead as a management team. We’re looking at what’s happened in the present and I think that’s the best way to go forward.”

Tyrone found themselves falling through the relegation trapdoor despite picking up form at the tail-end of the league and accruing seven points in total, a figure that typically would usually be more than enough to stay up. O’Rourke isn’t surprised that it took them a bit of time to gel, though it seems like they’ve turned a corner heading into the Championship.

“The Errigal players coming back in has been a great boost and there were a few fellas who have been injured as well.

“Then all the players are trying to get used to us and we’re trying to get used to them, and the new rules came in on top of that. There were no pre-season competitions either.

“It’s very hard to get real cohesion in the team in a short period of time like that but we’re hopeful we’re getting better, getting stronger and that we’re developing a better cohesion in the team.”

When O’Rourke was appointed as Tyrone manager late last year, it was no surprise that he came on board with Ryan Porter and Leo McBride, two men who have assisted O’Rourke for many years on the sideline. It soon emerged that he had also enlisted three well-known former Tyrone players to his backroom team– Colm McCullagh, Chris Lawn and John Devine.

On their contribution behind the scenes, he said: “They’re really experienced fellas. I wouldn’t have known them particularly well. I knew John because he’s from Errigal, Chris and Collie I knew without knowing them really well.

“I just felt they were the type of people we’d like to be involved and they’ve been great, their knowledge of football is top class.

“They’re great in that group set-up as well. We’re really pleased to have them on board, they’re great with the lads and have a lot of knowledge to impart.”