Derry had to look in mirror during dark times: Rogers
Oak Leaf stalwart reflects on Division Four days ahead of Final against Dublin
WHEN you’ve seen the dark times, you know that hay needs to be made when the sun starts shining bright and Derry star Brendan Rogers is well aware of that.
Rogers has been front and centre for the rollercoaster ride which the Oak Leaf men have been on in recent times and the Slaughtneil dual star can scarcely believe that it’s just five years since they contested a Division Four Allianz Football League Final.
They’ve gone all the way to the top tier of the League since then — as well as back-to-back Ulster SFC titles and successive All-ireland Semi-final appearances — and they find themselves in the Division One decider this Sunday.
The small matter of All-ireland champions Dublin awaits them in Croke Park, a far cry from when they faced off against Leitrim in the fourth-tier decider in 2019.
“People would have said that Derry should never have been in Division Four but that’s where we were on merit. Did I think at that point in time that we’d be here so quickly again? Probably not,” the All-star midfielder said.
“I guess things didn’t look as if they were going that way but I suppose when Rory Gallagher came in, he made that quite clear that there would be players on this team that would win trophies and All-stars.
“He said: ‘You will be talking about Championships and competing for All-irelands’. You find it hard to believe him in the beginning but a few weeks go by and you see how things had changed and it’s unbelievable how your mentality switches as well.
“We obviously weren’t at our best compared to now, so we definitely had our struggles. I suppose a big part of it was thinking back on it, we didn’t deserve to have big crowds at games.
“We didn’t deserve to have people coming to support us the way they do now because we weren’t producing it. We weren’t giving them anything to come out for and very little to shout about.
“It was difficult but sometimes you have to learn to get through that and you have to learn to deal with where you’re at and look in the mirror and see what you can improve on individually.
“Only when you can do that can you get progress and it’s brilliant to at least get out and see the other side of it.”
Rogers’ team-mate Chrissy Mckaigue played when Derry contested Leitrim in a Division Four Final.
When you know how quickly the worm can turn, you can appreciate the good times.
“For me, I am a different age and I wouldn’t say I appreciate it more but I definitely have a deep appreciation of it,” Mckaigue said. “The likes of the Conor Glasses and the Shane Mcguigans in particular, they went through their whole careers with St Pat’s Maghera and the Derry minors, they were used of winning with Derry. I just did not have that privilege growing up of being used of winning with Derry.
“Look, I still played a fair amount of my football in Division One but obviously Slaughtneil doing well in hurling and football has denied me the chance to play in a lot of League campaigns.
“I am just deeply grateful for it and I know that I am definitely closer to the end than I am to the beginning but, look, it is just a great place to be and I have a great belief in this group of players and I also have a great belief in the players that are coming behind. I think Derry are going to be competitive for a long time.”
Mickey Harte is now the man at the helm as they come face to face with “the most in-form team in the League” and Derry have significantly strengthened their squad throughout the spring.
Fresh faces like Lachlan Murray, Diarmuid Baker and Donncha Gilmore are among 27 players which Harte has utilised throughout the Division One campaign and Rogers is keen to strike while the iron is hot.
“You always want to try and get as much momentum as you can and as many trophies as you can while things are going well and I suppose it’s of no surprise when you look back on it why Derry has improved,” Rogers says. “You look at the structures from underage, the winning level of colleges football, a couple of All-ireland minors, a fair few Ulster Under-20s and minors as well, all those players are now starting to transition into our senior team. They’re all in and around the 21 and 24 age group so no surprise then that the team’s getting better and better as the years go on and, again, you still look at the underage structures in Derry, even in clubs.
“They’re quite well organised at the minute so things are looking good across the board with Derry and it’s only starting to take fruition at senior level.”
Sunday afternoon offers the chance to win in Croke Park, a happy habit for anyone trying to secure Sam Maguire but Mckaigue admits that the Championship, and the looming clash with Donegal, is their primary focus.
“It is Dublin in the Final and that is obviously a massive game because playing Dublin in Croke Park is where we all aspire to be but the reality is that we are going to need a performance because I still don’t believe we have had a performance in this Division One campaign to where we are playing to what we are capable of,” said Mckaigue.
“And we are going to have to be playing at that level to be competitive with Dublin first and foremost, never mind anything else. So there will be a big focus on that this week to try and get ourselves to that level.
“Because, let’s be honest, Donegal here in a few weeks is the biggest game of the year and everything is building towards that so what better preparation to have than the Dubs in Croke Park.”