Down defender Niall McParland believes that Conor Laverty possesses the necessary skillset to break through the barriers that are holding the county back.
After a tumultuous period in recent seasons, the Mourne County have displayed some green shoots of recovery this season, earning an impressive win over Donegal in Ulster on the back of a strong Division 3 promotion push that just fell short.
It's no secret that club rivalries have had an impact on the county set-up, while a discipline breakdown on a training weekend last April saw then manager James McCartan reach for the exit door before ultimately being convinced to see the campaign out.
Laverty stepped into fill the vacuum and McParland, who was keen to stress his admiration for McCartan and his assistant Aidan O’Rourke for their efforts in a difficult 2022 campaign, feels that the Kilcoo man has bulldozed through some sensitive issues since taking charge.
"Armagh had a team like Kilcoo in Crossmaglen and when a club team is really successful in a county then everyone else is envious of them," McParland said of the club dynamic within the county.
"Down couldn’t attract a lot of the Kilcoo players because they were so involved in Kilcoo but Conor coming in opened everything up and he knows the Kilcoo players so well and they’re winners. It’s naturally in them and they’ve been winning for 10 years so to have lads like that around training is brilliant.
"You have thoughts about people, 'I don’t like him on the pitch’ or whatever, but once you train with them and eat with them after training you realise that everybody is pretty similar. We’re all GAA people and normal lads and the walls quickly come down and you build good friendships.
"There are lads from Kilcoo I didn’t know until this year and now I would call them friends. That’s just the way it goes and it can only be positive for our squad."
McParland said that Laverty was proactive in bringing the group closer together, and that a real sense of camaraderie is forming.
"If there was an issue – like the Burren lads going to play for Conor with the fierce rivalry they have with Kilcoo – I think Conor made the phonecalls himself. The likes of me who would have no problems with Kilcoo - because we’re not playing them often enough - Declan Morgan [coach] rang me.
"Conor wanted to say: ‘I think you’re good enough, park the club and come and play for Down’. That’s what it is and I wouldn’t see any favouritism or anything.
"That craic is good with the Kilcoo lads, Conor is sharp enough and the likes of Niall Kane are the same. None of them are shy. The craic is great but when Conor needs to get serious it’s a very quick change and nobody would step across him.
"He rules with an iron fist but you wouldn’t get any of the Down lads saying a bad word about him, he’s been great for Down football.
"I’ve been in different set-ups and they’ve all been great but Conor has been able to pull it all together and it feels like more of a complete package. Obviously we’re not the complete package but we’re taking positive steps forward."
McParland was speaking at the Tailteann Cup launch at Croke Park on Monday and as he held the trophy on the pitch for a photoshoot, he could afford a rueful smile.
Down have a wonderful winning tradition, but the roll of honour has barely moved in recent decades.
McParland didn’t get to hold silverware when he was captain. Indeed, bar a McKenna Cup success in 2008, Down haven’t won a senior title since their 1994 All-Ireland triumph.
"That’s far too long for a county like ourselves," the Glenn man said.
"Maybe where we think we should be and where we are are two very different places....every year it’s getting harder and harder and Ulster is so competitive.
"One of the big teams takes a step back and somebody else is there so you have to be really on it to get a trophy."
That long wait for glory may come to an end over the coming weeks. A crushing Ulster semi-final defeat to Armagh was hard to stomach but the Tailteann Cup is an attainable goal for a side that start their campaign at home to Waterford on Saturday.
McParland first tasted inter-county action in 2012 in McCartan’s first spell in charge and having spent three years teaching in Qatar, he was determined to give everything to the cause when he returned last year.
"I went for a year with [Antrim footballer] Paddy McAleer. We were out of work and we decided to try it and the lifestyle was brilliant.
"There was GAA over there, there’s a huge GAA community out there and that made it a wee bit easier for me to stay a wee bit longer because I felt like I was still getting my football.
"It was a lovely change but I was always going to come back because I couldn’t not play football.
"I was heading towards the end of my career and I wanted to come back, I wanted to play for Down again and that’s why I came home and I’m glad I did. Hopefully this isn’t my last year, I’ll stick along for another couple if they’ll have me."
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