Loyalty is a two-way street for Maxi Curran

Maxi Curran could have easily walked away from the Donegal ladies senior managerial hotseat last term after that narrow and heartbreaking All-Ireland semi-final loss at the hands of eventual winners Meath.

At the time, it felt like one last throw of the dice for the county’s so-called ‘golden generation’. Afterwards, deep in the bowls of Croke Park the palpable conclusion drawn was that many of that experienced chunk were stepping away - this time for good.

Curran had just completed his fifth term at the helm and reading the dressing room that day no one would have been surprised if he had also decided to exit stage left.

From last year’s team, the one that also reached the Division 1 decider, Roisin McCafferty, Tanya Kennedy, Yvonne Bonner, Niamh Hegarty, Deirdre Foley and Geraldine McLaughlin have not come back into the mix for 2023.

And at the tailend of a difficult league campaign where they were relegated without a single point, experienced defensive duo Emer Gallagher and Nicole McLaughlin both picked up injuries.

The likelihood is that Donegal will start their Ulster SFC without eight of 2022’s first team regulars.

Interestingly, when pressed on retirements Curran steers away from ruling any of the above out of the picture completely. He explains that Donegal ladies squad has always operated in some degree of flux. The door, he insists, is never closed.

“I won’t lie - it has been tough this term,” he said on their plummet to Division 2. “But there has always been a sort of transient nature to the make-up of the squad since day one. Ladies footballers, they drop in and out. They put some things on hold, move on, and then often drift back in.

“That can be because of the pursuit of education, travelling or even starting families. For the boys, more often than not, absolutely everything is put on hold over a prolonged period of time for football.

“But we’ve always had people coming and going. It’s not something we’re completely immune to. But, it’s fair to say we’ve never experienced something on the scale of what we’ve faced this season”.

It would be wrong, cruel even, to have described Donegal as a sinking ship at the outset of 2022. But it was definitely a set up in major transition.

Curran would have sensed that sooner than anyone - that realisation for him probably hit home as soon as the final whistle signalled on Jones Road following defeat to the Royals at the penultimate stage of last year’s All-Ireland race.

So, the question has to be asked, why did he put the hand back up for a sixth successive time when the Donegal LGFA asked that familiar question.

“The truth is there has been an awful lot of loyalty built up on either side of that fence. There has been give and take - there had to be for it to work like it has. Even at the end of last season you were immediately aware that the likelihood was, not all of them were coming back.

“Staying put… it was largely out of loyalty to the ones I knew were definitely remaining on board, that immediately put their hands up. In any team sport, if you only get on board or go into a season with the view to winning, you’re deluded.

“You go to take part, you go to compete but there are no guarantees that you’re going to be successful. The group we have, once everyone is giving everything and there is nothing else to give, that’s as much as you can ask of anyone.

“When you are getting that you have to be happy. Yeah, you can be disappointed you aren’t getting results but as long as the effort is there. Pride is a word bandied about a lot in sport but there is a lot in that at this point in time for me.

“I know what a stalwart like Karen Guthrie is giving, I know what 16-year-old Katie Dowds is giving. They’re giving absolutely everything they have. And there is such a variety of situations in between both those extreme ends of the spectrum.

“There is a lot of honour in that and there is also a lot of pleasure to take from being associated with that. Winning or losing doesn’t change that. Hand on heart, I can honestly say these girls are giving absolutely everything.

“We were relegated from Division 1 but we were relegated giving it all we had. And like I said, you can park that and move on pretty quickly when that is the case”.

Evasive would be the wrong word to describe Curran when that word ‘retirement’ once again crops up in conversation. He’s already qualified the exact reasons why he doesn’t like to use it. But you wonder if a rabbit or three might yet be pulled out of the hat prior to Sunday’s trip to Kingspan Breffni Park.

“Like I said, it’s always been a revolving door. I’ve outlined the reasons why it’s been like that in the past”.

Meanwhile, Sunday’s opponents Cavan hit the headlines last month when they pulled out of a Division 2 clash against Tyrone over a player expenses row. They’re no doubt a galvanised group because of that extreme action. And they are a side that in the past have given Donegal their fill of it.

“We’ve never had it that easy against them. They’ve always hung with us, gone toe to toe. So they will have smelt blood I’m sure ahead of this one. They’ll see us as vulnerable. They have probably put a little bit of pressure on themselves with their actions towards the end of the league.

“So they’re going to have to come out swinging. And that’s not ideal from our point of view. It’s a potent mix and it’s building up to be a serious battle.

“For the first time in my time since I came back on board, we’re not going into a game with Cavan as favourites. But it also means a little bit of the pressure is lifted, in a different sort of way. I’d mark this as a 50/50 game”.