Brigid’s hope Kerry lineage Stacks up

St Brigid’s players Brian and Ronan Stack hope their father won't have another Croke Park disappointment this weekend.

Fri, 19 Jan, 2024 - 07:15

John Fogarty

For at least one member of the Stack family, it was a fruitless trip to Croke Park last Sunday and the obvious hope is there won’t be another for the entire clan this weekend.

John Stack, father of St Brigid’s players Brian and Ronan, hails from Listowel, as does the Roscommon club’s manager Jerome, although they are no relation. Seeing Arva finish the Junior Club final in style against Emmets obviously hurt John. “Yeah, he was up there at the weekend,” said Brian. “He was disappointed alright, but he has a good one to fall back on now this weekend.”

The Listowel/Kerry connection was already strong with Stack’s county team-mate Conor Cox shifting allegiances in 2019. Having Adare-based Jerome as manager these last couple of seasons, Brigid’s have benefitted from a proven winner from his times with Feale Rangers and Dromcollogher-Broadford as well as stints with Kerry’s U21 and Laois, Limerick and Tipperary’s seniors.

“He’s got great football knowledge and he’s a real straight shooter,” his namesake Brian remarks. “He knows exactly what he wants from his teams and he’s been getting it out of us.”

Brian was 15 when he saw his brother Ronan feature on the Kevin McStay-managed team that surprised Ballymun Kickhams in the 2013 All-Ireland final. “I wouldn't say it was important but it definitely showed me it was possible.

"When I was that age I was playing a few sports and it kind of made my mind up, really, what sport I was going to concentrate on and when you see your own club doing it, you definitely can't help but think, ‘That could be me one day’.”

Who the 2023 All-Star nominee takes up on Sunday will be interesting. Ethan Doherty’s dynamism will need quelling but then Eunan Mulholland has been a real scoring presence.

Nobody grows up wanting to be a man-marker and certainly Stack didn’t. While he was a full-back for a period at underage level, he moved to the forwards in his second year at minor before shifting to the wing of the attack in his first senior forays with St Brigid’s.

Then Anthony Cunningham took over Roscommon and returned him to the edge of his team’s square, a switch the Galway native later admitted as a slight regret. “It’s a lot more glamorous up the field I suppose but the way the game has gone,” Stack shrugs. “Fifteen attack and 15 defend and you can actually do an awful lot of attacking from full-back.

“Look at the likes of Tom O’Sullivan or Seán Kelly, they really influence the game going forward, so I suppose that’s something I can bring into my game to get up the field and influence the game a bit more that way.”

Alongside award winner Enda Smith, Stack was full value for his inclusion in the All-Stars shortlist following a fine 2023. From snuffing out threats during Roscommon’s terrific early Division 1 form to stymying Corofin’s in-form Gary Sice in the Connacht club final, it truly was a season well played.

“It probably was my best year so far. A lot of that is probably down to our team improving as well and there’s a better structure in our defence this year I’d say with Roscommon. That’s the most important thing really as a defender – organising your defence around you.

“You always have to be thinking something could go wrong, even when you have the ball. If you are thinking like that and your concentration levels are high, then you don’t find yourself in too many vulnerable situations, I suppose.”

Stack isn’t too perturbed by being labelled outsiders against Glen. “Clubs around the country don't know too much about each other so it's very hard to put a favourites tag on teams.”

Yet he’s fully briefed on the opposition. "They're a fabulous side, they've been knocking on the door for a couple of years. They're just so tactically aware. Derry are probably the most tactically aware inter-county team and obviously the lads are bringing that back into the club and then you throw Malachy O'Rourke on top of that, a really established manager.”