Lean and hungry Fallon sets his sights on ultimate glory

By Kevin Egan

For the handful of people who were lucky enough to be there at a time of widespread Covid restrictions, the 2020 Roscommon senior championship semi-final between St Brigid’s and Boyle was a significant milestone in the emergence of Ruaidhrí Fallon as a force on the adult football scene.

It wasn’t just that he scored one goal and set up another for Ben O’Carroll in a man of the match performance in the Kiltoom club’s 2-15 to 2-9 win, but it was a moment early in the first half when Enda Smith appeared to try and lay down a marker by bulldozing through this raw 17-year-old, who was still to play a minor county final against Pádraig Pearses later the same month.

Even in a sparsely populated Dr Hyde Park, the ripple of shock that went through the crowd when Fallon held his ground and sent the Roscommon star bouncing backwards was palpable.

It’s because that raw physical power and controlled aggression became so intertwined with Fallon’s reputation as a player that it’s a surprise to see him at the launch of the 2025 Connacht SFC in very different shape entirely. The new rules have transformed the game of Gaelic football, and as a result, Fallon has transformed himself into a much more lean and athletic figure, one that could just as easily line up at the start line of an 800m race, or maybe fill the backcourt in a basketball team.

“Since the rules have come in about you need to be a lot fitter. The game is very up and down, when it’s turned over it’s quite panicky and there’s a lot of open space,” he explains.

“There’s a lot of scramble, high sprint distances and stuff like that. I think you’d find throughout a lot of county panels this year there was a lot of lads shedding a few kilos, maybe they had built up a lot of muscle over the last few years. Players are going to be that bit leaner and that bit lighter because it’s only going to get faster as the summer goes.

“I’d easily enough add on a few pounds over the winter and stuff like that as well. So I wouldn’t be known as one of the leaner players on the panel for sure. I’ve definitely had to change the body composition a good bit and shed a few kgs off for that change in the rules.”

Against London, Fallon was back out in the half-back line, picking off a point in the Rossies’ 2-26 to 0-13 win over the Exiles in the championship quarter-final.

Having spent a chunk of time in the full-back line during the league, a role which has also been revolutionised by the ‘three men up/four men back’ rule, there’s no doubt that while he embraced the challenge, he seems to feel more comfortable in the thick of things in the middle eight.

“It’s borderline lonely (in the defensive roles). There’s a lot of green grass in front of you sometimes. You know yourself and I do as well how good the forwards are these days, they’re getting better and better as time goes on,” he replies.

“As the summer goes on it will challenge. It’s either sink or swim for players in the full-back line or the full-forward line. Whether you’re shooting the lights out or you’re doing your damnedest to stop that player from scoring, it’s going to be a great watch for spectators.”

So is it somewhere he wants to be, in that one-on-one environment, or out in the middle where he can cover ground and be that all-purpose player on and off the ball that supporters have grown used to seeing?

“Once there’s a jersey available in between number two and number 15 I’ll try my best to do whatever job is needed. We’re lucky enough when it comes to having a lot of hybrid players around the middle that can do a variety of different jobs, whether it’s defensively or attacking.”

Suddenly, he’s in full flow and the analytical side of his personality shines through.

“Since the rules have changed where it’s not a 12 v 11 anymore and the keeper can’t come up, the breaks that you have in the full-back line or the full-forward line aren’t half as long as they were before.

“Attacks seem to be maxing between 60 and 90 seconds due to it being 11 v 11. So if teams are slowing things down or taking time off the clock if they don’t have a wind or something like that, teams are actually just pushing out on the man-on-man and trying to win the ball back. That forces mistakes as it should.”

It’s exchanges like that which reveal exactly why Fallon tended to be ahead of the curve throughout his sporting development, and why he was able to adjust so quickly after coming back to Gaelic football from his sojourn with rugby, having played for Buccaneers and Connacht at underage level. There is consideration and thought put into everything.

So when the topic of Roscommon’s prospects for the season are raised, it’s no surprise that the answer is delivered after a momentary pause, but with a note of bravery that wouldn’t always be expected in these conversations.

The lead in is obvious. Roscommon played in the Division Two final, as did Armagh and Donegal last year, and Dublin the year before. The 2024 All-Ireland series ended with defeat to Armagh in a game where Fallon was somewhat harshly sent off approaching half-time. Still it was the type of game where a couple of swing moments could have seen them knock out the eventual All-Ireland winners, who went on to defeat Roscommon’s opponents next Sunday, Galway, in the final.

So on that basis, are Roscommon All-Ireland contenders in 2025?

“Yeah, we are,” he replies, after a split second.

“Obviously that might not sound great to a few people, but for sure, internally I would hope up around 100% of the panel are there for that reason alone. We don’t mention it a huge amount. It’s mentioned every now and again as a bit of a reminder to everyone why we’re here and why we do what we do during the week. The work we put in at the weekends is for that day. Hopefully we get to walk up those steps.

“I’d say a lot of teams, not just ourselves, gained a huge amount of confidence from seeing Armagh go on and win the All-Ireland last year.

They were the better team on the day but on a different day, we wouldn’t have been overly surprised if we got over Armagh. Then to see what they went on and did later on in the summer, gives confidence to loads of different counties.”

It’s a new game, with players remaking their bodies and their minds to suit. And players like Ruaidhrí Fallon haven’t gone to those lengths just to sit in the middle of the pack.

Connacht SFC semi-final - Sunday, April 20: Pearse Stadium, 4pm, Galway v Roscommon (live on RTE).