A strong bond that has lasted 15 years

We had a reunion of our 2010 Connacht Championship-winning side at the weekend.

We met in a O’Gara’s pub, The Hollywood, in Roscommon Town for a few drinks on Saturday evening. David O’Gara was centre-forward on that team and he made sure we were well catered for all night.

I had seen very little of many of these fellas over the last 15 years. Some I hadn’t seen at all in that time. Yet, within a few minutes of meeting up, the craic and banter was flowing and we’d a great night.

It was mighty to see so many of those guys, from players and management, once again. We were a tight group back then.

A couple of the lads who should have been there, John Rogers and Colm Garvey, were otherwise engaged as part of the management team for the minors in their All-Ireland quarter-final. We watched and cheered as the young Rossies got over the line against Louth.

When a team meet up like that again, the reminiscing goes back a long way, over all the different phases of our times involved at county level. It’s best punctuated by the eras of the various managers — from Tommy Carr’s time, through John Maughan, Fergie (Fergal O’Donnell), Des Newton, John Evans and Kevin McStay.

The reminiscing was great craic. Rehashing stories that we hadn’t heard in 20 years, Roaring laughing at memories formed on the training field and team holidays.

It got me thinking about strong team bonds. Fergal O’Donnell was manager. I remember him talking to us that year about the bond we’d forge with each other when we went through hell together, pushing ourselves to the limit to achieve a common goal.

It wasn’t about being best buddies with a fella, it was more a common understanding of our dependency on each other. As Fergie put it, we’d meet years later and even without saying much there’d be that nod of recognition of the great memories we’d made together.

Creating and fostering a strong bond amongst your team is massive for managers. Getting people to buy into a communal cause is powerful.

To get to that level of togetherness, you have to drive lads to go to new levels, to push themselves harder than they’ve done before.

We did that in 2010. Sligo were the strongest of favourites for that game. They’d won a Connacht title in 2007, and were now back in the final with, supposedly, a much better team — their best side in decades. That was backed up by the fact they beat both Galway and Mayo to qualify for the final.

They had even given us a fair trimming in the final league game that year. There was a much longer gap between league and championship back then.

We had about five weeks and we went to hell and back in that time with the hardest training I’ve ever experienced. It was new-level stuff which Fergie was dragging us up to. It worked.

There’s a heck of a lot more factors involved, and many ways a team can develop a strong sense of togetherness and cohesion. Winning tight games can be a big part of it.

This year’s minor team are surely developing a strong bond as they proceed through the championship, managing to eke out a few narrow victories.

Our flagship teams in both men’s and ladies’ football face similar exams this weekend. In each case, it’s hard to make out exactly how well the group is functioning together.

The lads gave us a few green shoots of hope against Meath that they may be beginning to find their groove. There was an element of leaders rising against the tide in the second half to haul us back into the game.

We’ll need their first full championship-level 70-minute performance of the year if we’re to prevail in Portlaoise against Cork on Saturday.

In this, the most exciting of championships we’ve witnessed, we’re desperate for Roscommon to finally step up to the plate and showcase the range of talents we finally have. From a Roscommon supporter’s point of view, it’s all that’s missing from a season of wonderful, close, high-scoring matches.

This promises to be the best weekend of the year yet with the potential for some real classics. They say Armagh are the only team of the 16 in Sam Maguire action who have nothing to play for, as they’re already guaranteed to top their group. I suspect though that they’ll relish the opportunity to push Galway over the edge of the cliff and out of the championship, which would be a massive shock considering the Tribesmen were many people’s favourites for the All-Ireland not so long ago.

We could see a real ding-dong battle in the Hyde on Sunday with Mayo facing Donegal. I’ve given up trying to predict what Mayo will bring to the table this year, but if it’s something like their recent win over Tyrone then Donegal will find it really tough.

Of the top six contenders, there’s legitimate questions over all of them. Five of them have already lost a game in the championship, while I’d still be unsure of Kerry’s credentials when they meet the top teams in a few weeks’ time. I’m not sure they’ll be able to win enough primary possession to feed their forwards, who are probably the most potent in the country.

Of all the teams, Armagh have impressed me most. I spoke about togetherness and a strong team bond earlier. That oozes through this Armagh team. You’d have great confidence that they’ll continue to deliver big performances, regardless of any setbacks they might face.

They look a better team in my eyes now than this time last year. Their strength-in-depth is massive. Oisín Conaty has brought his game to a new level. They’ve a range of match-winners who have stepped up to the plate in Rian O’Neill’s absence. Now that he’s back, I’m sure they’ll feel that’s the final piece of their jigsaw and leaves them in great stead for defending their title.

They’re definitely the team I’d have most confidence in. The way this championship is going though, there’s a good chance there’ll be a further shake-up after this weekend. Let’s just hope the Rossies can be in the conversation when the dust settles.

As for the intermediate ladies’ team, they’ll also pull up at the last chance saloon this weekend. It’s now or never for them in terms of getting their season up and running, which feels odd given they'd had such a long period of inactivity up to that Laois game last week.

The hope for them is that the Laois performance can be explained by rustiness and the fact that the opposition were a step ahead due to having played well in a Leinster championship while the Rossiettes sat idle.

It’s hard to get a definitive line of form on Fermanagh, but they’ll definitely be no pushovers. They’ve been very competitive in their Ulster championship games and again against Laois at the weekend.

Like the lads, we’re waiting for the ladies to click into gear. If they do, I think they’ll succeed and progress to an All-Ireland quarter-final.

*Please continue to send your thoughts and ideas for this column to me at mfinneran.mf@gmail.com.