Mickey Harte: League now taken far more seriously

Mickey Harte believes teams’ attitudes to the league has altered “full circle” since he led Tyrone to a Division 1 title in 2003.

The three-time All-Ireland-winning manager’s 2011 quote that it was “highly doubtful” a team from outside the top flight would claim the All-Ireland title has turned out to be prophetic.

With four teams still in the hunt for the top two spots in Division 1 heading into this weekend’s penultimate round, he knows the league is being taken more seriously than ever before.

“I remember 2003, when we last won the league, a lot of the bigger teams of that era didn’t particularly take the league seriously. The fact that the league is to be played for, of course, but when the championship comes along, we can turn on the championship button,” said Harte.

“Over the last decade or more, that has not been the case and I suppose it has been the emergence of that mentality that Dublin have won the last four leagues in a row, and have been very successful in the All-Ireland as well.

"People used to think if you do well in the league, you mightn’t necessarily be a big shot in the championship. But it has turned full circle, it has become very important to be doing well in the league to give yourself a chance of doing well in the championship.

"That is why the league has become more important and the games are more competitive, and that is why it has been the big focus this year, where there are four teams on seven points after five games.”

Tyrone are one of those but suffered a setback in losing by six points to Donegal in Ballybofey on Saturday, scoring just half a dozen points.

“We have to try and learn from that and see if we can take something of value out of that defeat,” said Harte, “and make sure that in our last two league games we play better than we did against Donegal.

We’d love to get a few more points — we’re probably safe from relegation, we’d like to think that we’re in with a chance of getting to the final.”

Mayo have been a bogey side for Tyrone under Harte and he knows they come to Omagh needing points after back-to-back losses to Dublin and Cavan.

“There is a degree of unpredictability about the way they play the game. They very much play off-the-cuff at times. I am not saying they are not structured but they lean towards playing a very expansive game that fits well for them and that has always been the position. You could study Mayo quite a bit and still not be sure how they are going to turn up and play on any given day.”

Harte warned people not to be getting carried away with the idea of Seán Cavanagh and Mattie Donnelly as a two-man full-forward line.

“The public at large and the people who are reporting on our games get too excited by this idea. It is a very, very fluid situation.”