Whether it’s a mark of respect or endearment towards his captain, we can’t be quite sure. It’s probably both. There are only three people that refer to Chrissy McKaigue as ‘Christopher’ - his parents and Rory Gallagher
“Me and Rory have a very, very close relationship but the boys laugh too that our relationship is more open and honest than most of the players,” says McKaigue. “We’d have a go at each other at times but we’re very, very close and probably in many ways we share similar personality traits.”
Steering Derry to the Ulster title last month is the adornment that Gallagher’s managerial career has been missing. He may have made a huge contribution to Donegal’s success a decade ago but, as manager, Jim McGuinness was always going to get the lion’s share of the credit and Gallagher couldn’t scale the same heights when he succeeded him.
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Taking his native Fermanagh to a rare Ulster final was a decent feat but there was no silverware. However, masterminding Derry’s first provincial crown in 24 years having inherited a team that had just climbed out of Division Four ranks alongside any of the managerial achievements of the last decade.
McKaigue says that even Gallagher may have underestimated just how far off it Derry were when he was appointed in September 2019.
“Look I suppose, when he got the job, you'd always here snippets of how well received he was in Donegal. Jim McGuinness was a very special man - still is - but a lot of the Donegal players made no secret of the fact of how big an impact Rory Gallagher made on them and I know he's very friendly with the McHughs and Eoghan Bán and Hugh McFadden and they would have spoken very highly of him.
“When he came in - and I think he'd laugh about it now - but I don't think he realised how bad a place Derry were in. He was probably caught unawares in the first year - we were in a really bad place - tactically we had no idea, culturally we were in a bad place in terms of the environment needed to compete with the top teams.
“Covid came at a good time for us because we were in disarray to a fair extent, because we had a bit of time to fix where we were at, what we needed to change. Last year was when we started to see performances, albeit in Division Three that there was something to work with.
“It's a great pity there were no qualifiers last year because even though Donegal beat us, we felt we were in a really great place - so we were desperate to get back this year again, but it's a testament to Rory that we've came back and proven that that wasn't just a one-off game.”
That Donegal game last year was notable for the man-marking job that McKaigue carried out on Paddy McBrearty as he shut the Kilcar man down all afternoon, albeit he wriggled free to kick a brilliant winning point at the death. It doesn’t diminish the fact that McKaigue is extremely competent in the role, one that is at odds with that which he plays for his Slaughtneil. Remember when he picked up Diarmuid Connolly against St Vincent’s in an All-Ireland club semi-final and outscored him by 0-4 to 0-1 from centre-back?
"I just found myself in that role, even when I was playing out the pitch for Slaughtneil. I played the vast amount of my inter-county career in the full-back line and it's a very different role. The kids at school that I teach would say it's not a very glamorous task but every team needs stoppers.
“It's hugely fulfilling. I would say it's satisfying to know that you are given the trust to go out and mark the marquee players so it's more that. But you are always aware that every day you go out there is always a potential problem there so you stay grounded and you stay humble. As long as I can play that role or one of those roles it's something that I get satisfaction from. Sometimes even against the marquee players, breaking even is as good as you can manage.”
McKaigue turns 33 next month and will play in his first All-Ireland quarter-final against Clare on Saturday having first joined the panel the year after their last appearance at that stage of the Championship 15 seasons ago. He’s not fooling himself though and thoughts of retirement are increasingly entertained. He’s a highly active dual player at club level and, at the very least, will have to rein in the demands he places on his body.
“Certainly, certainly. My body is starting to feel the toll of a long number of years, not just at inter-county but the club scene too. Very soon I am going to have to make a decision regarding some facet of hurling and football, county football, whatever it is, but we will make them decisions when they come along.
“Ach, as long as I am still able to compete with the better players I am going to try and hang around. We have a very good backroom team in Derry that can look about modifying training and ways to look after certain players.
“I am sort of at the stage of my career now where I just… and that’s very strange for someone like me to say, who would train morning, noon and night. But it’s come to the stage now where I need to train smarter and if I can do that maybe I can hang around for a wee bit longer.”
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