Stack embraces being part of younger St. Brigid's generation

There must be something in the water around Kiltoom and Cam, because Ronan Stack doesn’t appear to have aged a day since winning an All-Ireland title with St. Brigid’s in 2013.

Alongside Eoin and Cormac Sheehy, and Gearóid Cunniffe, who was joint-captain 11 years ago and is now part of the extended playing panel and backroom team, Stack represents the primary link to the team that etched their name into Roscommon GAA folklore.

As he faces the media at the club’s press night in Kiltoom on Wednesday week last, he appreciates that the dynamic between both teams is very different.

“It seems an awful long time ago, to be honest, a whole career. I was very young at the time, but we have a younger age profile now. The main thing is to focus in on the game and not get too caught up in the hype or the occasion. You have to enjoy the buzz of being there, but you also have to zone in on the job you have to do.

“When I came into the team, the goal was to win an All-Ireland. Having won two Connacht titles in a row, the All-Ireland was the one we wanted. It was funny for me walking into the set-up and feeling that straight away,” he acknowledged.

Stack was captain in 2020 when St. Brigid’s got their hands on the Fahey Cup for the first time since 2017. The Covid pandemic meant that we’ll never find out how they would have fared in Connacht. But seeing Pádraig Pearses and Strokestown win the championship since then has illustrated to Stack and his team-mates just how hard it is to emerge from the county.

“We won the county title in 2020 and wanted to push on, but those few years have shown us that the Roscommon championship is a tough one to win. We weren’t able to get over the line until this season. That was the main goal — to win the Fahey Cup.

“But, as the year has progressed, we’ve built and we’ve improved as a team. We got over the next few hurdles, which is great. It’s 60 minutes of football, it’s another game. We’re trying to build ourselves up for a big performance and see where that takes us,” he pointed out.

And yet Stack knows that a scoring drought like the one St. Brigid’s endured in the All-Ireland semi-final against Castlehaven won’t cut the mustard next Sunday.

“We would have been very happy with our first-half performance. At this stage of the championship, you’re going to expect a backlash from the opposition. Castlehaven did change a few things and put a bit more pressure on us in different ways.

“We still created opportunities but we didn’t take them, I guess. A few guys like Robbie Dolan and John Cunningham stepped up with big scores and everyone else rowed in. We were able to park those couple of wides and finish strongly.

“That showed good strength in character, and it’s definitely something we can take into the next game. But we probably won’t get away with a spell as long as that in the next game where we’re not scoring. But you try to improve in every game, and that’s something we’ll focus on,” he accepted.

Stack describes Sunday’s opponents as a “strong unit”, probably the most streetwise team St. Brigid’s have faced so far.

“We watched their semi-final after our game, but the fog made it difficult to read too much into it. But they put themselves into a really commanding position against a very strong Kilmacud team. That says a lot about them.

“Watching the latter stages of the club championship last year, as a GAA fan, they really impressed me. They play as a team and they know what they’re about. They’re very well set up by a good manager.” 

Stack’s journey to that red-letter day in 2013 included a stint with Athlone Town before he quickly rose through the ranks among St. Brigid’s adult teams.

“I played with Athlone Town youths. I went to county minor trials and it didn’t happen for me. When I got to that level with Brigid’s, the team were so strong that, as an 18 or 19-year-old, I couldn’t break in.

“I got a chance with Athlone Town’s first team. It wasn’t a preference of sport. It just seemed to be going better at the time.

“Midway through a season with Athlone, Conor Martin got me down playing a few Junior B games. I really enjoyed it and I switched back.”

He was part of the training squad in 2011/2012 as St. Brigid’s came up short against neighbours Garrycastle in the All-Ireland semi-final. But a run with a Roscommon U-21 team that put Dublin to the pin of their collar in the 2012 All-Ireland final opened the door and provided Stack with a “good bank of confidence” as he answered his club’s call.

The team that goes into battle next Sunday will have different strengths to the class of 2013. But it’s a case of “different strokes for different folks” as Brigid’s seek to cause an upset.

“It might be a different team but the game is different. If you look back at the 2013 final, the amount of kick passes and 50/50 balls wouldn’t be allowed by coaches nowadays. I guess the dynamic of the game has changed.

“It was a more experienced team. We had a lot of physical players like Ian Kilbride, Karol (Mannion), Senan (Kilbride), Darragh Donnelly. We still have the physical guys in midfield, but we’re trying to play the brand of football that suits the current team,” he concluded.

With a cool head like Ronan Stack still playing his part, that goal becomes all the more achievable.