The Big Interview: Monaghan’s special branch

Everyone recognises Malachy O’Rourke as one of the best managers in Gaelic football. Yet for all his success we still don’t seem to know Malachy O’Rourke. And we certainly don’t know his right-hand man, Leo McBride, who goes everywhere with him. Kieran Shannon knows them though, from working with the pair in 2008 as a member of the Fermanagh backroom team that reached a rare Ulster final for the county that year. Last week, the three caught up. And it was some catch-up.

Leo ‘Dropsy’ McBride rose from his seat in the Hogan Stand and motioned to his fellow Monaghan selector Finbarr Fitzpatrick.

“Here, let’s go down.” For all the talk in Monaghan of Malachy O’Rourke being something of a messiah, no one has known better than O’Rourke himself that he’s neither infallible nor invincible. But if there was someone, it would be his right-hand man.