Good people as important as good footballers if Leitrim are to reach new heights - Poacher

You don’t have to spend too long in the company of Steven Poacher to hear the word ‘consistency’ as the Down native’s infectious enthusiasm for Gaelic football and a young crop of Leitrim footballers  emerging in the county sees  the Green & Gold manager stressing the importance of consistency in everything that goes into making a modern day inter county footballer.

Speaking at the launch of the Connacht Senior Championship at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence in Bekan, Poacher talks with a passion and belief that Leitrim have the footballers to achieve sustained success in future years but that it will take time and, most importantly, consistency!

“I was chatting at great length with Ryan coming down the road there,” Poacher to the Observer ahead of the Connacht SFC clash with Sligo in Markievicz Park on Sunday, “and to get consistency on the field, the first thing is you need consistency off the field. For us, to have 21 new players last year and then to have 17 new players this year, you're talking about a 36-37 player turnover there and we're building a new group again. “

Interestingly, Poacher also stressed that character was every bit as important as footballing ability: “I do feel this year we've got a lot of really good people in that group. I think having good people is equally as important as having good players. I think the good people that we have in that group, they're really good lads, they're great young men. 

“I actually have told them this numerous times and I'll say this publicly, I think the world of them. People on the outside probably don't see this, they're putting as much work in as any other team is and probably not getting the same rewards for it. The big thing for us is consistency off the field. If we can keep that group together for two to three seasons, then you can judge them.

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“Please God, if we can keep this group together going into next season, a second pre-season under their belts for a lot of these lads. I think 16 lads made their senior debut for Leitrim this year, whether it be FBD League or National League and then probably you're going to have more now in the Connacht Championship.”

However, in a common theme for the Leitrim, Poacher emphasises that the work done off the field is just as important as what occurs at organised training: “What you do at training is only one thing but how you live your life away from training is another thing. No-one's asking players to be monks or no-one's asking players to be recluses, to sit in the house 24-7. 

“But doing your S&C, doing your recovery, looking after the body, doing the right things, throwing yourself at every aspect of inter-county life, that will really get you where you want to be. If you really want to progress and you really want to be successful, you've got to ask yourself, what am I doing differently to what I've done before? 

“Because if you keep doing the same things, you'll keep getting the same results. Something has to change. You have to say to yourself, right - what do I need to do differently, that I haven't done before that will give me that extra edge? And please, God, over the next few years, we'll see that.

“I think there's a lot of good young players coming through at the minute but if they're learning good habits off the likes of your Ryans, your Marks and your Barry, Conor Reynolds and these guys - they're living their lives the way a county player should. If they learn good habits, that small circle that are doing the right things will get bigger and get bigger and bigger. Every team starts like that and hopefully, please God, we'll be on the right path.”

The Leitrim boss doesn’t have to look too far to find an example - Wexford, beaten two years ago in Andy Moran’s promotion clinching campaign, have since won back to back promotions and Steven points out an obvious correlation between that and the fact that the Model County have kept a core of their team together!

“If you look at Wexford, Wexford got promoted back-to-back. But four years ago, when John Hegarty came in, Wexford weren't going that well but 24 players that were in his first year are still there now and that's huge. It's that sort of consistency.”

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And Steven believes the signs of Leitrim progress are there: “I think judging players after one season of county football is extremely, extremely harsh. We have had some brilliant performances this year. Wicklow away was a really good performance. We don't get anything for glorious defeats, of course. But I felt that day we were genuinely hard done by in more ways than one and we should have won that game.

"We beat Waterford comfortably. We had a number of men injured that day as well, which didn't help. We played the first three or four games without Barry McNulty who is seen as probably one of the best footballers there is in Connacht. We can't afford to have Barry McNulty, Donal Casey, Tom Prior sitting watching the game, we need those players on the field.

“Hopefully, please God, if we can get a clean bill of health and we get a good run at it next year, then we can really build on this year because there has been a lot of green shoots this year, the Longford performance is probably the one that stands out. Kicking 3-20 and winning the game by 12 or 13 points and then the following week Longford go and get promoted against Wicklow. It shows you that they're not that far away.”