‘It makes things feel a bit normal again'

Roscommon’s Ultan Harney is as relieved as any footballer with the return of collective training and competitive inter-county action. Yet every cloud has a silver lining and the lengthy Covid-enforced lay-off gave the Clann na nGael man a chance to banish his injury problems.

Over the years, Harney has endured far more than what could be considered a fair share of injuries.

“Touch wood, and I don’t want to jinx myself, but I’m probably feeling as good as I have for the last few years. To be honest, the break of five or six months did me good,” Ultan told the Westmeath Independent this week.

“I came back from a cruciate injury last year and went straight into the club championship. I wasn’t fully over the injury and the rest of my body was suffering because my knee wasn’t right. I had trouble with hamstrings and my back and everything else.”

“Then when inter-county training started last September or October, it was a step-up from club level and I just wasn’t able to keep up with the pace. Since November, I was in good health and I was able to get a good four or five months’ training on my own under my belt. Hopefully I’ll get a good run at it this year,” he continued.

Roscommon take on Dublin, Sam Maguire Cup winners for the past six years, in their opening Allianz Football League game at Dr Hyde Park on Sunday (throw-in 1.45pm).

“Everybody on the street knows what Dublin will bring. They’re All-Ireland champions for the last six years in a row and on their day they can beat anyone they want,” said Harney.

“Everyone in Division 1 is tough and the All-Ireland champions are that bit tougher. But Division 1 is where you want to be and playing the likes of Dublin is what you look forward to and where you can test yourself. We’ll probably learn a lot about ourselves on Sunday. We’re all looking forward to it and we’ll give it a good shot.”

In normal times, a large crowd would be drawn to Dr Hyde Park for the visit of the All-Ireland champions, but Roscommon GAA headquarters will be eerily quiet for Sunday’s behind closed doors clash.

“At this stage players are kind of forgetting what a crowd is like! You learn to adapt and get on with it,” said Ultan when asked about this situation.

“You know from talking to your own family and people on the street, and considering how much of a footballing county Roscommon is, that there would be excitement about the All-Ireland champions coming to town. It is a pity that there won’t be a crowd there to experience it and get behind the team. But please God, in the next few months we’ll have crowds back in. We know people will be watching on TV and cheering us on as much as always. It’s disappointing but that’s the world we’re living in at the minute,” he added.

As for the challenge of training solo, Ultan said: “It’s six months since we lost to Mayo (in the Connacht SFC) and since then we’ve all been training individually. Around Christmas time, it looked like possibly we’d be back training in January and that we’d start the league at the end of February. That obviously got scrapped. You’re probably training for four or five months on your own. It’s grand for a while but towards the end, it started to wear thin and I could feel it was the same for the other lads as well. Lads were doing as much as possible but it is still harder to motivate yourself.

“The main problem was that there was nothing to look towards - having no date in sight was probably the main thing. For mangers and strength & conditioning coaches and everyone involved, it was tough. But I’m delighted to be back with the group of lads, it’s a group of friends really. It kind of makes things feel a bit normal again which is great.”

While all counties are dealing with a tight window in terms of preparing for the league, Harney is looking on the bright side.

“GAA matches are starting later than people thought, whether that was right or wrong with Covid, nobody knows. Hindsight is great, maybe it was the right decision at the time. It’s a fine line for managers and coaches – you’re trying to get lads match fit but be conscious of lads being off for the guts of six months and going into Division 1 football can be a recipe for disaster in terms of muscle injuries and what-not. But we’re lucky insofar as the draw in Connacht put us straight into a semi-final (against Galway). It gives us more a break between league and championship which is no harm,” he said.

Roscommon will also face the Tribesmen in Division 1 South of this year’s league (their other opponents are Kerry).

“Ourselves and Galway are well accustomed to each other at this stage. We’ve played each other in four Connacht finals in a row. On an individual level we know each other fairly well at this stage. Playing them twice in the space of a few weeks will present its own challenges and mind games, but we’ll take it as it comes,” said Ultan.

Harney’s preferred position is probably midfield, but given the competition for places in Roscommon’s starting XV, he’s happy to soldier wherever he’s stationed.

“Growing up with Clann na nGael, I would have mainly played midfield while, with Roscommon, I was mainly in the forwards. Anywhere I can get on, I’ll be damn glad of it at this stage,” he said.

Paul McGrath (St Brigid’s), Niall Higgins (Elphin) and Peter Gillhooly (Roscommon Gaels) are new additions to this year’s Roscommon squad. But with very little scope to experiment with new players, Ultan describes it as “a tough year to come into a county panel”.

He said: “It helps this year that there isn’t too much of a turnover. Players and the management are used to each other which is a help as there was no FBD League. You have three league games and then you’re either fighting relegation or going for the league title. Normally you’d have seven league games to try out lads.”

A former student of DCU and the University of Limerick, Ultan has been working for FBD Insurance for over a year. From the Bealnamulla area, close to Athlone, Ultan recently set up a part-time coffee trailer business (Craze) alongside his girlfriend Kayleigh Dunning. The trailer has been based at the Arrabawn co-op in the Baylough/Monksland area on Sundays.

“I suppose I saw a bit of an opportunity in the area. There was very little happening especially during Covid when people couldn’t go anywhere. Myself and my girlfriend Kayleigh decided to set one up and with the help of both our families, we got the wheels in motion,” said Ultan. “People can meet up and be socially distant and have a chat over a cup of coffee. They see people they know or haven’t seen in a while. There have been no Saturday nights out for a long time, and no games in the likes of Johnstown or Kiltoom on a Sunday, and people are looking to get out and about in the fresh air. People were long enough locked up.”

Like Ultan, Kayleigh is also known for her sporting prowess and has had her injury problems. “Kayleigh did the dreaded ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) as well and a few other bits along the way. She’s looking forward to getting back into club football with Clann and giving the county title a good crack this year,” Ultan added.