Diarmaid O'Rourke: 'A generational talent'

YOU don’t need to chat to Abbey CBS captain Diarmaid O’Rourke for long to realise his drive matches his ability.

On the pitch, he is a special talent, he reads the game better than most, anticipates where to be, when to press and not, he scores from both feet, wins his own ball, on the ground or the air and he can shift through gears.

His Abbey manager Dan Gordon says his skill level is second to none.

“He is a generational talent, his skill level is second to none, his work-rate is second to none, his building possession is second to none, his knowledge of the game would be second to none. It is pleasure to watch him train, never mind play.

“He was excellent against Omagh in the semi-final, but that wasn’t a one-off, he has been exceptional all year and every training session is just quality. But the best thing I could say about Diarmaid is that he is a lovely lad, he has a great attitude, he is very humble, very coachable, he asks questions, he tries to learn, he wants to get better and he is an exceptional leader for the rest of the group.

“Diarmaid wouldn’t be the sort of fella who would be looking to be captain or be wanting to lead, he just wants to play football and he wants to win, he wants to do well and he wants the team to do well. The decisions that he made this year on the pitch to get himself right to come back from injury, with his club involved, he missed the county final with Dromintee, which they won, which I am sure he was disappointed with.

“But the way he came back with us and Dromintee and managed himself and also led our squad at the same time, it was a credit to him, so we have a lot of good footballers in our squad, Diarmaid is obviously the man that people identify with and think of straight away in our team and he is a really good lad.”

Diarmaid is the son of 2002 All-Ireland winner Aidan O’Rourke,so along with his uncles, Cathal, Martin and Miceal who also starred for Armagh, he doesn’t have too far to go for advice, which he says he finds valuable, but this Abbey captain is taking the build-up to the final in his stride.

“With any big game there is going to be pressure, that is one of the main things of sport and it is how you deal with that is what separates the top athletes from the other athletes,” said O’Rourke.

“I have got used to dealing with pressure over the years and I feel going into the MacRory Final is a huge occasion. There is pressure, but I see it as more of an opportunity to go prove myself as a footballer. I don’t feel I have showed my full potential, I think I probably have more to give to the team and I can give a lot more. I reckon there is a lot of players in a similar situation, who haven’t fulfilled their full potential.

“Our coaches and manager have the experience of playing at the top level and I suppose the players are too to manage what you may call hype or buzz, while we are trying to keep our feet on the ground. The coaches are the main men for keeping our feet on the ground.”

O’Rourke is aware that he is the first player opponents will identify to try and nullify, he is a marked-man but still he finds away to shine, as he showed with his prolific scoring in the semi-final win over Omagh CBS. That said, it isn’t something he takes for granted and he told me he it took time for him to deal with being marked tightly and he asked for advice.

“That is something I have had to adapt to over the last couple of years. It took me a while to get used to it and it took me about a year to figure it out and I probably wasn’t reaching my potential,” O’Rourke said.

“But I talked to a lot of people who had been in that situation before, my uncles and my dad are the main people along with my coaches who helped me. They picked up things from being in that situation of being man-marked and you just have to find a way and use your team-mates to break away. It is something that you have to accept, that if you want to play at the top level, you are going to be marked tightly and you just have to get on with it. I think I am adapting to it better now than I did and it is probably an evolving process.”

It is amazing maturity from a pleasant lad who says he simply enjoys playing football. Of course, the direction of travel suggests he has a bright future and he will be key player for club and county in not so distant future, but for now he enjoying playing the game he loves and he is determined to bring home the bacon on Sunday.

“I just love playing football, it is the favourite thing I ever do, it is basically my life at the minute, I love it and all the boys are all my best friends, which makes it even better, playing with them,” said O’Rourke.

“So, getting the opportunity to go out onto the field and show what we can do, it is a great feeling and it is something special and probably something I will remember for the rest of my life.

“It would mean so much to me and my family. Schools are going through a tough enough time and sport is probably a good release for people; it just gives people such joy and such good feeling. It just makes you feel good.

“ I think it will mean more for the people I am representing when I go out on the pitch. I am representing my school, my classmates, all the first, second and third years are all looking up to us and my family of course, my dad and my uncles all played MacRory football and they are my inspirations to go and play football every day.

“So, I would like to make my family proud and it would be a huge honour.”