“He is very strict in what we do.”
Seamus McEnaney is entering his third year in charge of the Monaghan county football team, and has had to spend the past two seasons dealing with the complications of COVID.
The pandemic has caused constant headaches for every single coach and manager, as they had to adapt training during lockdown, limit team meetings, and even now don’t use dressing rooms in certain cases.
Then throw in the nightmare of your players or staff actually contracting the infection or being in close contact with someone who has it, the bringing it to training and spreading it to everyone else.
Numbers at training and availability for selection have had to be cut from time to time, and you only have to look as far back as the summer to see the mess that eventual champions, Tyrone, fund themselves in.
With a large section of the squad down with COVID, or just recovering from it, their semi-final clash with Kerry had to be postponed, and was in doubt of ever happening at all at one stage.
McEnaney however, has been fortunate enough in that regard, and credits the team doctor for keeping everything under control.
“We have a really good medical team. We have a doctor who insists on double vaccination and booster. Our whole squad is that way and we would be very careful about everything we do.
“Team meetings, our food is all takeaway, we go straight to the pitch and so on.
“It is difficult, we would rather have the craic in the dressing rooms, but we hope to get back to that shortly, but our medical team is headed up by Doctor Burke, it’s second to none and he is very strict in what we do
Monaghan kicked off their county campaign just last week, as they drew with Derry in a very tight game in the McKenna Cup and then got their first win on Sunday against Fermanagh.
Last year’s Ulster finalists, who only lost out to Tyrone by a single point, will be looking to go one better this year in the provincial championship and on into the All-Ireland series.
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