Rafferty at home in the heart of defence

LIAM Rafferty would be the first to admit that he didn’t entirely do himself justice on a personal level last year.

Rafferty, who was one of Tyrone’s top performers in the truncated 2020 season, found himself slipping down the pecking order in 2021 and spent much of the All-Ireland winning campaign perched on the substitute bench.

The versatile Galbally man was forced to take stock of where his inter-county career was heading, and there was nothing else for it – work harder, work smarter, and he’s been handsomely rewarded with a starting berth in all of Tyrone’s games to date this year.

Speaking ahead of Tyrone’s crucial league clash at home to Kildare this weekend, Rafferty explained: “In the 2020 season I had a great year, played every game and was going well.

“Then the new management came in, and personally I wasn’t on top of my game, I wasn’t playing well, as well as I should’ve in training.

“I don’t think I gave football as much focus as I did in previous years.

“But I have wanted to put that right this year, and try and get back on to the team and be a regular player.

“I feel I was focusing on a lot of things outside of football, and I have now put those things to the side and focused a lot more on football this year.”

When Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher assessed their players at the very beginning of their tenure, they came to the conclusion that Rafferty could do his best work for Tyrone in the half-forward line. If he’s honest about it though, he feels he has more to offer in a defensive role.

“Brian and Feargal saw me as a half forward last year. I don’t feel that was a good position for me, especially trying to make the team, because you’re up against the likes of Conor Meyler, Kieran McGeary – Player of the year nominations.

“I felt that the team was very difficult to make in the forward line. I would be quite versatile. I do feel that I’m a better defender than a forward, I can offer more as a defender for Tyrone than being a forward.

“I spoke to Brian and Feargal, and sorta persuaded them to move me back into the back line, to give me a go at it.”

It remains to be seen whether Rafferty will be able to hold onto his starting jersey with Ronan McNamee yet to see action this year, but it’s his favoured position nonetheless.

“I had been playing cornerback for Tyrone, and then Brian and Feargal came in and moved me to half forward.

“I think I struggled to adjust to that. It’s a different game, you need seriously high fitness levels, and you’re working all the time.

“It took me a while to adjust to that. I did eventually adjust to it, but I feel that I’m better coming on to the ball.

“I would have played a lot of my university football in the full back line, marking the marquee forwards in Sigerson and that.

“It’s just a position I felt I was probably better at, but it’s still something that I want to keep improving, the defensive aspect of my game.”

As for the importance of this Sunday’s home clash against Kildare, it’s simple: Tyrone must win to avoid being suckered into a battle for survival.

“It’s a must-win game, we haven’t won a game yet this year, and we need to get off the bottom of the table, we’re second from bottom.

“We had a poor performance against Armagh, and we need to put that right against Kildare.”

Reflecting on that defeat to Armagh, there were still positives to take from the game. After a forgettable first-half display, they improved immensely when they applied serious pressure to the Armagh kick-out after the break.

“We did try and press high in the first half, and it didn’t work out at all.

“They were getting their short kick-outs away too easily, and they were killing us with runners over the top. We had pressed up the whole game, but I think in the second half the high press worked a lot better.

“We got a lot better at it, we were covering their kick-out, forcing them to go long. It worked for us, because we usually won the 50-50 ball around the middle.”