'They don't come around that often' - Bannigan savouring big day

Interview

Colm Shalvey

Monaghan senior football manager Gabriel Bannigan cut a relaxed figure as he chatted freely to reporters at an Ulster SFC Final media day in Caledon, Co Tyrone last Thursday.

Given the list of injuries among his panel this year, it was little wonder that he felt the need to “touch wood” when saying that Monaghan had come through the epic battle with Derry unscathed. “Three or four fellas went off with cramp. We kept a couple off-feet on Tuesday night but a couple more trained, so I think we came out unscathed in terms of injuries, which is a big positive from our point of view.

“I hope Gary Mohan, Ryan Wylie and Fionán Carolan will be pushing for a place in the squad. They have to get through a good bit of work to make it. I was hoping to have Ryan Wylie back for the semi-final and he got a bit of a setback, so I’m crossing my fingers.”

Name-checking Cameron Dowd, Daragh McElearney, Oisín McGorman and Robbie Hanratty as being among the players who had benefited from being exposed to Division One football in the spring, Bannigan said: “I was honest during the league after every match. It wasn’t easy managing through that period. I felt for the players because I know the effort they were putting in at training.

“They were working really hard. For the newer lads in the squad, it’s difficult making your debuts when there’s a whole lot of new faces together and you don’t have as much experience around them as you’d like to have, particularly playing in Division 1. Some of our best players weren’t playing anywhere near their best either, but that was understandable as we just hadn’t got that cohesion that we had last year when we had a more settled squad.

“We saw signs of it coming towards the end of the league. We played well against Donegal in Clones and they went out and demolished Kerry in the league final. That was encouraging and we had seven men back in the squad for Cavan. Three of them started and four were on the bench and then we started Conor McCarthy and Killian Lavelle [against Derry]. Some of the players that we got experience into during the league have benefited from that.

“I couldn’t wait for this year to build on the success we had last year, but there’s no simple, straight line going from A to B with any squad. There’s going to be twists and turns along the way and there have been more twists and turns this year than I was hoping for. Fellas came back in from the club championships injured: Killian Lavelle, Conor McCarthy, Ryan McAnespie and Dessie Ward all had to have surgery. We lost Davy Garland for the whole league and Dylan Byrne for almost the full league, so it was a rough ride.”

Asked how Monaghan were intending to counteract an Armagh side in rampant form of late, Bannigan quipped: “We’re going to get a couple of Foxhound Travel buses and park them up on the pitch in Clones”, before adding: “Armagh are humming and they are raging-hot favourites. They have threats coming from all over and scores coming from everywhere. They are a very athletic team; the speed with which they covered the ground left Down chasing shadows. They put up a huge score against Fermanagh and a record score against a Down team who were phenomenal against Donegal.

“We will give them due respect, but we will be very much focused on our own performance and trying to get the best out of our team. It’s an Ulster final and a local derby. There’s going to be a huge crowd.

“Hopefully there will be a massive Monaghan noise there and I know there will be massive Armagh noise as well. We will need the start we got against Cavan and the finish we got against Derry. If we can put those two halves together, I’d like to think we are going to give Armagh a game.”

The Aughnamullen native reflected on the influence of his late father, Packie, and his late brother, Owen.

“Daddy brought me to all the games since I was eight years of age and it used to be a great privilege for me to bring my dad to All-Ireland finals in later years.

“There’s not much in the last 50-odd years since I started going to Monaghan games that I can’t remember and the fact that I can remember them all tells you what is so important about a day like this.

“They don’t come around that often and you have to make the most of them. It will be a very proud day to be involved in. I will be thinking of my dad and of Owen. I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now but for the influence and inspiration of those two men.”

Monaghan and Castleblayney icon Eugene ‘Nudie’ Hughes passed away last November at the age of 67, having been among the well-wishers to the county team throughout the 2025 season, as Bannigan recalled: “‘Nudie’ rang me last year on the eve of the All-Ireland quarter-final against Donegal.

“He was very upset that he wasn’t able to go to the game because he was in hospital having more treatment. I was in touch with ‘Nudie’ regularly and I knew then that he probably wasn’t going to be around for this season.

“I remember his words to me that day as he said he wanted to see Monaghan playing in an All-Ireland final in his lifetime. Unfortunately, we didn’t deliver that for him, but hopefully we can deliver an Anglo-Celt Cup.”