Promotion push won’t derail Donegal’s plans
Bonner can buck trend for tier-two sides in summer
IN ENJOYING the journey, Declan Bonner is not obsessing about the destination. Donegal footballers head to Semple Stadium today – their first visit to the home of hurling in nine years – on a winding road which will most likely take them back to Division 1.
The Ulster champions appear set to justify their status as the odds-on favourites to win the division and after two rounds are currently the only team with a 100 per cent record.
Incredibly, half of the eight games played in Division 2 have already finished in draws, a stat which seals the competitive integrity of a tier too tight to mention. But it is also a division viewed as not being good for the long-term health of those who reside there.
A number of years ago, Mickey Harte claimed that it was simply not possible to win the All-Ireland coming from the League’s second tier, and facts back that up.
In the last two years, Limerick and Galway have both won the Liam MacCarthy coming from the hurling League’s second tier, whereas you have to go back as far as Armagh’s All-Ireland success in 2002 to find a team outside the top tier winning the Sam Maguire.
But Bonner, now in his second season, does not see his team’s League status as a dead weight that will ultimately sink them.
‘I don’t think it will have any bearing, to be quite honest from our point of view,’ he insists. ‘We are slightly different in that we have a lot of personnel to come back. ‘The Championship team could be slightly different, or a lot different, to the team we are putting out at the minute. ‘There are a lot of boys who are due to come back in and we need those boys hitting the ground running when we head to Brewster Park on May 26.’ Far more than the four points they have garnered, the real source of satisfaction for Bonner is in the evidence that he is developing a squad with the depth to go deep into this summer. ‘People are saying it’s a great place to try out different things and players but we are finding that it is competitive. ‘Maybe there is less pressure than when you do pick up a couple of results. ‘This time last year we were in Division 1 and even though we were playing well, we had lost the first couple of matches and that put pressure on us, there is no doubt. ‘When you are winning matches it gives you the opportunity not to force some of the more experienced players back too early. ‘The big bonus is that it is giving these young lads an extended run and that is what we want; we want to build a strong squad and that is what we are trying to achieve.’
A third of the team that started last year’s Ulster final win over Fermanagh have yet to rear their head – Paddy McGrath, Frank McGlynn, Michael Murphy, as well as cruciate victim Paddy McBrearty and Odhrán Mac Niallais.
The latter is currently focussing on Gaoth Dobhair, which has also denied Bonner of the services of Neil McGee, Daire Ó Baoill, Cian Mulligan and Micheal Carroll.
In their absence, he has plugged those holes with the likes of Brendan McCole, Jason McGee and Eoin McHugh – and the sense is that Bonner’s squad is in a far better place than last year.
That is saying a lot, given that they had one foot in a winnable All-Ireland semi-final against Monaghan before they were reeled in by Tyrone in the final round of the Super 8s.
Had they not lost McBrearty, who had one hand on a first AllStar prior to suffering that season-ending injury in the Ulster final, they might just have gone all the way to the final.
‘You would always have things in the back of your mind in relation to that,’ admits Bonner.
‘It was just 24 hours after winning an Ulster Championship in which Paddy had played very well when we got the news that his ACL had been ripped and it was a huge blow, to be honest, going into the Super 8s.
‘He was a massive loss for us but he has been working hard with the medical team and knowing his professional attitude, it will take time but I have no doubt he will be back to where he was.
‘He will be due back in the next number of weeks. He won’t see League time but he will be ready for Championship.
‘Sport is like that; it just throws things at you at different times.’
It was not the only curved ball pitched in his direction.
McBrearty’s Kilcar clubmate Ryan McHugh missed the latter rounds of last year’s League with a serious concussion and a second blow to the head in a club challenge game in the autumn left the two-time All-Star diagnosed with a bleed on the brain.
The seriousness of that injury is not lost on Bonner, but McHugh returned to the pre-season and is back playing with college and county.
It has led to some speculation that the 24-year-old, son of county legend Martin, might take on a less combative role, but there is no hiding place in this game.
And if there was one, argues Bonner, he would be the last player to go looking for it.
‘Ryan’s a brave boy, he will go back in and he will not change the way he plays. You can’t be thinking about these things when you are out playing.
‘He plays at a high level with a high intensity.
‘He missed a couple of months prior to Christmas but I don’t think the break will have done him any harm.’
‘THE SUMMER TEAM MIGHT BE DIFFERENT TO WHAT WE HAVE NOW’