Poacher wants players in Senior panel who want to be there for Leitrim

Leitrim manager Steven Poacher has made a strong defence of the make-up of his County Senior squad after Saturday's FBD Insurance Connacht League loss to Galway in Tuam, stressing that players he would have loved to have in the Green & Gold this year were simply unavailable for a variety of reasons.

Asked by the Observer about speculation on social media over the absence of players from County Champions Leitrim Gaels (Senior) and Allen Gaels (Intermediate), Steven simply said “Well that's factually incorrect. Donal Casey from Leitrim Gaels is in the panel, he was actually at training last night and we’ve got Arek Oberwan from Allen Gaels in.

“Unfortunately, Donal broke a bone in his neck in the County Final and please God, he'll be back playing soon, hopefully. But, listen, myself, Daniel (St Ledger) and Anthony (McGrath) watched 30 Championship games in Leitrim this year, Junior, Intermediate and Senior and I watched a number of League games as well so we've got a good flavour of what's out there.”

The Leitrim manager admitted that he made efforts to get Leitrim Gaels duo Ryan Jones and David Bruen into his squad as well as Radek Oberwan of Allen Gaels who is battling injury at the moment: “The three players we really wanted from Leitrim Gaels were Ryan Jones, Donal Casey and David Bruen. We really want David but David is in Australia, we wanted Ryan but Ryan is in marriage mode and then, obviously, Donal is still in the panel.

“We would love to have Radek here. Unfortunately, Radek's struggling with a back injury. He can only really play games and then, when he does play a game, he can hardly walk for a week and it's a big ask. The lad could play and then he might not be available for three, four weeks. Radek's a hard worker and I don't mean that in a football context - he's a hard worker in his own personal life.

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"He works hard. He's a bloody damn good child, he's a great fella, comes from a good family, good stock. He's working hard all week and then he's having to come to training and put a shift in and it’s not easy lads. Arek is in the panel, great wee lad as well. They're hard-working people.

"The damage with Radek was probably done a number of years ago. He got a number of injections in his back and different things to get him through games and he was probably too young for that sort of carry-on. Maybe that's come back to bite him now but, the door is open for Radek and he knows that himself and please God we'll have him in the near future.”

Another player the Leitrim manager would have loved to see back in the county squad was Leitrim Gaels’ Jack Flynn - “Jack Flynn would have been brilliant to have back in but Jack wants to concentrate and play a bit of football in the Spring League and get his confidence back. He felt his confidence took a hit during the Club Championship because he was used in a more defensive-orientated role.”

A number of other players were asked to join the Green & Gold squad but were unwilling to commit, a decision the Leitrim manager had no problem with: “A couple of younger lads we wanted to get a look at but they had no interest. I think the commitment scared them - they want to go to Uni and have a few pints and enjoy themselves and you can't blame young lads, so let them at it.”

However, for players looking to develop, the Leitrim manager stresses that the best place to be is in a County set-up: “I feel the best place for you to progress, develop and grow and mature is here, in the Senior set-up. You’re playing with better players, training at a higher level, a higher intensity, good nutrition, good medical staff, all those things are looked after, good S&C, all those things that maybe every club doesn't have the luxury of getting and that's the thing.”

And Poacher stresses the the aim is to build a long term culture for Leitrim football: “Young Peter Prior from Drumreilly came off the field there at the end and he just turned around and said to me, he says, Stevie, 'that means the world to me today. Thank you very much for my debut' - that's the personality we want. We want lads that want to be here for Leitrim.

"They want to be here and they want to give this a real good go for three, four years and build something. It'll take time and we'll learn and we'll grow, we'll make mistakes and we'll do things well. It's just about learning now. There's a lot of young lads in that room and they're enjoying it, and we're enjoying it - they're a good bunch of lads.

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"I've said this all along, and this is not me trying to pass the buck, this is me being sincere and genuine when I say we're here to try and build something and create something; that we leave a legacy where these lads have a sustainable opportunity to grow, develop and get into that top 16 or top 20 in the country.

“You have a top four or five, and then you have probably another pool of four or five. And then see that bottom 16, 18 teams, there's very little between them on their day and we want to try and get to the highest part of that as we possibly can.”