Max Deegan rewarded for sticking out the Leinster bottleneck

STICKING IT OUT: Max Deegan is being rewarded for sticking it out in Leinster. Picture: ©INPHO/Tom Maher

Should they stay or should they go? It’s a question asked about an ever-lengthening list of Leinster players as the province continues to juggle with the ongoing stream of recruits into their academy and senior ranks.

Max Deegan is one of those whose continued presence in Dublin has raised debate. Now 27, he has played 114 times for the club in eight seasons without ever cementing his place into the frontline XV at a season’s end.

He played 15 times last year but not once in the Champions Cup. There was only one ‘European’ cap the year before. This is a man who was player of the tournament when the Ireland U20s reached a World Cup final but has played just twice at senior Test level.

There are nine back rows competing for three starting spots and maybe two seats on the bench at Leinster. There is likely no bottleneck quite like it in rugby with other huge talents like Scott Penny and Will Connors scrambling for similar scraps.

Why stay, then?

The rumour mill rotated at a furious pace earlier in 2024 when it came to Deegan. Talk of a switch to Ulster and a path taken in previous years by Jordi Murphy, Nick Timoney and many other Leinster products again was rife. And ultimately way off the mark.

“I had interest from other clubs as most people do. I just thought that I’d go at it again with Leinster. I’d more to give, I felt like I really enjoyed playing in the squad. It’s a really high achieving squad and I didn’t feel like I was that far away from being in those Champions Cup squads. I felt like I was one knock away or one game away from playing in those games.

“I still think it’s the exact same now. I still think I’m knocking on the door and I’m sure if I get an opportunity in those games I’ll step up and perform really well. Obviously small thoughts and thinking about it but I just want to back myself, you know, not necessarily one last time but just give my all in this two-year block now.” 

The irony is that he had signed back on for Leinster last November, maybe six months before the Ulster angle began to generate the most heat. The outside noise was unimportant. Deegan had long spoken it through with his girlfriend, his family and his coaches.

There is no right or wrong in any of this.

Ross Molony faced a similar struggle in earning consistent game time at Leinster – and the same questions about his future plans – before finally changing tack and making the move to England with Johann van Graan’s re-energised Bath side this year.

The West Country side fell just four points shy of Northampton in the Premiership final last season and if there is any club that can empathise with those agonising margins then it is a Leinster side that has made an art of hitting the crossbar.

Be that as it may, Deegan remains convinced that silverware is well within their orbit ahead of their first home game at the Aviva Stadium this term, against the Dragons, while the RDS is housing the bulldozers.

And that Leinster remain his best route to more Irish caps.

“Exactly, that’s exactly it. You hit the nail on the head. I just think the squad is so incredible, we can do something special with this squad.

“We’ve had pretty poor ends to the season the last two or three years but there is nothing stopping us righting those wrongs and going on a two- or three-year streak of, I’m thinking very optimistically, but winning everything.

“I don’t think that’s out of the realm of possibility with this squad and the players in it, and I think I can have a really massive part in it going forward.” 

Deegan hasn’t stood still as a player. He is more of a blindside flanker than a No.8 these days having worked hard at nailing the lineout. Input from forwards coach Robin McBryde, James Ryan and the departed Molony has been key.

So much so that he now feels like one of the lineout leaders. Identifying and emphasising your point of difference is paramount in a squad of Leinster’s class and depth. Deegan believe he has that in his athletic ability and impact at big moments.

The group will need every last one if it is to deliver on his aim of winning all four trophies available to them this next two years at the least. It is a bold and rare public proclamation to make, but one he feels is not without basis.

“I think every team, you have to have confidence in the squad to go out and do these things. I just think that with the squad there is no reason we cannot do it. Obviously it’s very ambitious and it might be a bit much saying it, but why shy away from it?”