Poacher the right man for Leitrim says Casey
Leitrim footballer Donal Casey reflects on some of the managers who guided his career, the roles he enjoyed most during games, some of his personal highs from his careers and what his future sporting endeavours might entail
Former Leitrim star Donal Casey has backed Steven Poacher as the man to keep the current County Senior squad together in the coming years, stressing that the Green & Gold boss has brought a new level of professionalism to the Leitrim set-up.
The Leitrim Gaels clubman has confirmed his complete retirement from all levels of gaelic football following a traumatic injury in last year’s Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC Final, two hairline fractures and a displacement fracture of the vertebrae that left the classy defender with no option but to hang up his boots.
In a wide ranging and frank interview in the ‘Leitrim People’ section of this week’s Leitrim Observer, Donal discussed his injury, his reaction to the news that he would never play Gaelic Football again, giving a revealing insight into his mindset following the injury that was sustained in an accidental collision in last October’s County Final. But during the conversation, Donal also gave his thoughts on some of the managers who guided his career, the roles he enjoyed most during games, some of his personal highs from his careers and what his future sporting endeavours might entail.
It was in this spirit that Donal offered his insights into the prospects of current Leitrim boss Steven Poacher keeping a young and talented team together over the next few years: “If anyone can, he definitely can. To be fair, Andy Moran came in and turned the set-up into aiming for professionalism. Stevie's come in, taken that and really put a heart into it.”
It is fair to say that Donal is a fan of the current Leitrim boss, highlighting his passion and his care for his players as factors into why so many of the current Senior squad are so devoted to the Down native: “I've been pretty blessed with all my managers to be fair, totally different managers and different perspectives but you take bits from every manager and that builds you up your own player base. One thing I have to say is that Stephen Poacher has been absolutely amazing since the injury. It was probably around last December and I was right in the middle of being at home all the time on my own during the day until Leah came home.
“I was in bad shape and not knowing it at the time, but Stevie and Daniel St Ledger called out to the house with a packet of biscuits and they were just slagging and chatting. That genuinely meant so much to me - for a man to just call out and literally have the craic, they didn’t care if I never played football again, it was just the craic. It is genuine respect I have for him and don't forget, he's gone through the worst times in Leitrim football - genuinely, no one's gone through worse and he just has an amazing way of making you feel like it'll all be okay.”
Even the Leitrim manager’s animated demeanour on the sideline is something that Donal loves: “On the sideline, he's going mental and I love that. I absolutely love a man that just pours his heart out on the sideline. Andy Moran is the same, Mal Guckian is the same. I've had people with the Sigerson and they’re totally controlled, they say nothing on the sideline and they’ll walk in at halftime and give a very slow speech. I prefer a man that will just go mad but I'll take the madness to give me that control. Steven puts the players first - a lot of managers put results first but he puts the players first, the people and that's why people love him.”
The respect he has for his county boss is also evident when it comes to his Leitrim Gaels club manager, Mal Guckian, with Donal again highlighting the support off the field as much as anything else, revealing that the Gaels boss went the extra mile when Donal was battling a knee injury in the lead-up to last year’s County Final. The support from Mal was amazing - all through the championship, the weeks leading up to the semi-final, I was battling with a torn meniscus and I had a hamstring, I played the county final with a torn meniscus in my knee - I shouldn't be playing but Mal was genuinely brilliant, telling me to do whatever I wanted to work through the injuries.
“Other managers would demand stuff but he worked with me and that's the only reason why I played the game. Mal is consistently on the money - if you send him a message at 10 o'clock at night, he'll text you back one minute past 10. He deserves what he got because he puts everything into it.”
Donal highlighted Guckian’s man management ability, citing the arrival of the Jones brothers to the club: “Mal invests his whole life into it and if it wasn't for Mal, the Joneses probably wouldn't be here. People always find ways to give out but it's not easy to manage people. I know people say with that much quality in your team, you could have won the County title anyway but I remember an U20 final against St. Joseph's, we should have won that game by 40 points but, just because you have the best team, doesn’t mean you are going to win.”
You’d imagine that winning the County Final would be top of the list when it comes to Donal’s career highlights but with the fallout from his injury, it is not surprising that another game tops the list instead, when he made a sensational return to the Leitrim team for last year’s Connacht SFC clash with Mayo at the reopening of Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada.
Out for over a year with an injury sustained in the Allianz NFL Division 4 Final against Laois in Croke Park, Donal turned in a superlative display against Mayo and, given when he had gone through, it is a personal highlight: “That was a special day. It was actually an emotional day and I never thought I was emotional but it took months and months and months to get there. We did unbelievable that day against Mayo, I know people might say the result wasn’t what you wanted but the result is different to like a scoreline - there are loads of these little wins in a game.”
But most of all, just being back on the field of play made a huge difference: “Genuinely the highlights of my career were some of the times of training. The craic you’d have, even in the tough times, were actually highlights. Things can be going brutally bad and when you're in there, it's professional but amongst it all, you still have that love of it. You're all there for one reason, and there's a lot to be said for that, but it's just the fun you have, that's what it's all about. I remember coming out of training and one of the lads had cling film all around my car when I came out and I thought ‘you shower of bastards’ - it was half ten in the evening, it was lashing rain and I just thought I have to take this off - that's what I remember.”
One of those rare players who looked equally comfortable no matter his position on the field, Donal admits that a frustrated forward lies within him! “I think what it was is that I was being bet back down the field the whole time but I loved going forward. It was always just a thing to say ‘one day I'll be up there’ - Mark Diffley is the same, we'd be messing before games and I'd tell him I think I'm going to score 1-1 today, I'd be winking at him and he'd be laughing but I loved the centre back role and I loved playing a midfield role too.
“But the role I actually played with Leitrim Gaels over the Championship last year was probably my favourite. It's more of a controlling sort of a role but, in the county final, I was given the duty of man marking the best forward in the county but I loved the challenge. The challenge was a big thing but myself and Diffley, we'd switch positions and it actually ended up helping us both because being versatile obviously helps a lot.
“There was something about that kind of controlling role I loved and you need to be versatile especially the way the game's gone now. You have to have control, not only like physical control but the mental aspect and I just loved it. I loved the whole aspect of the sport and that's why I put so much time into video work and even reading books about the sport.”
Now that his playing days are over, Donal is throwing himself into the sport of Hyrox, an indoor fitness competition that combines 8 km of running and 8 functional workout stations, alternating between running and functional exercises, and as much as he is struggling to adapt to the individual aspect of the sport, he is also relishing the challenge!
“Totally different to football, it's a new world really. I didn't know much about it, it's basically just trying to keep you busy and get back in shape. One of my friends who I actually played football with was into it and I just thought ‘Jesus this is crazy’. I needed something. I just rang up Caolan Clancy (Melvin Gaels footballer) and said will you just take me on coaching? He said 100%. Now all of a sudden, I'm looking to start competing but that's the way it's going to go - zero to a thousand.”
It is not without its challenges for a man used to a team environment but, positive thinker that he is, Donal believes that over-coming the various injuries he has been afflicted with down through the years is actually a help for his sporting endeavours: “It's brilliant, it genuinely is but it's very different to football. It is all you. I went into the gym for two hours this morning and two hours this evening and I'd be thinking ‘sure why am I doing it? What's the point? If I stop now, he's not going to know’.
“But it's just in the back of my head - I'm like ‘no, no, no, keep going, you don't have to have somebody beside you keeping you going’. Funnily enough, I think if I didn't go through all the injuries, I wouldn't be as comfortable training alone now because I've trained alone for the last 10 years which is mad. I always had it in the back of my head, I'm training to get back with the lads but this is the first time where I'm training to train.”