'This isn’t a fluke'- Mark Bates on Courtwood’s journey to Laois GAA SFC decider for the first time

In his debut season at the helm, Mark Bates has guided Courtwood to their first-ever Laois Senior Football Championship Final, a milestone moment for the club. 

Reflecting on what it means to reach this stage, Bates said the emotion around the camp and community has been immense.

“Getting into any county final, especially when you haven't been in one before, there's that extra special element to it. You can see the reaction of the players as well as their families and former players at the club, and how they reacted after the game on the pitch. You can see how much it meant to everyone,” Bates said.

When asked if he ever imagined this kind of success in his first year, Bates admitted he always believed in the group’s potential, even if few outside the club did.

“I knew the group before I joined them. I recognised last year the wheels kind of came off the wagon, but that doesn't make them a bad team. They're still a young team; they got to a league final. They still beat Killeshin in the first round of the championship. The last few games didn't go to plan for them; there was still a huge potential there.

“I suppose when you meet the group, you're kind of setting their goals for the year. The quarter-finals were the target for the championship, but in the back of my mind I felt that we should be pushing towards the semi-final and see what happens. When you get to a quarter-final, semi-final, and a semi-final especially, a lot of it can come down on the day and just being on the right side of the decision. We were, we're in the final, and I think we're rightfully where we should be.

“I would have said to the group that this isn't a fluke. They're good footballers, they're a good age group, and they're achieving where I think they should be achieving. Now, obviously, getting to the county final with them in year one when the club hasn't been there before, it is an extraordinary achievement for them, but I wouldn't say I'm overly shocked,” Bates added.

Bates credited much of Courtwood’s growth this year to their Division 1 campaign, which provided the perfect testing ground for a side developing under new management and adapting to new rules.

“Right throughout the league, you're playing in Division 1, you're playing the top teams. When you're looking at Division 1 and Division 2, you’re saying, well, Portarlington and O’Dempsey’s are in there; they probably should be in Division 1 on paper. Then the rest of your Division 1 teams are all what I would call proper Division 1 teams.

“So you're playing that, and I would say the big focus this year was obviously changing the style of play. You were coming in on the back of new rules as well, which meant that they needed to be examined, studied and then developed. I then had to look at my own style of how I would want to play that would suit the players, and then, from chatting to the players at the start of the year, what they felt they lacked in the last couple of years or whatever in terms of their shape or whatever style they wanted to play.

“So you're kind of putting all that together, and you're doing it in Division 1, so it's great. You're getting well-contested games, you're getting your defence being well-tested, and your forwards being well-marked, so that all helped.

“I would have felt that through Division 1, we were doing reasonably well, but I never really felt we were playing brilliantly. There were a couple of challenge games after the league, where I kind of felt we really upped the level here. Division 1 gave us that foundation, and to be clear on the quarter-final, that was a minimum target. It wasn't the target, as in that would have been the absolute, for me anyway, the lowest point we should have been this year would have been a quarter-final. That's what I thought starting off, anyway,” Bates commented.

The Courtwood boss also spoke about how his players adapted to the new Gaelic football rules, saying their natural style lent itself well to the changes.

“It was a good mix because even in previous years, I would have got a bit of a stick over having the defence nearly too focused, but I would have always left a couple of forwards up like 3v3s or whatever it is now. So I kind of felt I was able to adapt quickly enough to it because I wasn't making massive changes to the way I would set up a team.

“Then, in terms of the players, they play that kind of a style anyway, of counter-attack running game, so we kind of married quite early and quite well to start,” he said.

With a blend of veterans and emerging talent, Bates said the mix of experience and youth has been crucial to their success, particularly for long-serving players finally tasting a county final.

“It's funny because Niall, for example, is nearly 40, Robbie's 40, but they've obviously played so long for Courtwood, Niall's playing senior football for probably 20-21 years if not more, but he's never played in a senior final, so it's brand new for him and he'll be as nervous as everyone else will be on the day.

“When you have the likes of Darragh McEvoy, Dan Boland and Adam O'Halloran in your full backline, they grew up watching these fellas play. They would have been inspired by them and to walk out on Sunday with them shoulder to shoulder, in a county final, it's just rewards.

“Although the players would definitely be looking up to these guys, and we have a lot of guys with a lot of experience, like Barry Donnelly and Colin Wilson, as well, on the panel. It definitely helps because the younger lads can feed off the calmness of the older lads,” Bates added.

READ ALSO: IN PICTURES: Laois GAA club host Meet and Greet ahead of first-ever Laois GAA SFC County Final

Bates also revealed the thinking behind his decision to move Dan Boland from midfield to full-back, a switch that has paid off handsomely.

“It was probably the one position that when I came in, everyone would have said to me that we could have vulnerability in our full-back line, and I took that on board. In terms of the early days of training, we would have done an awful lot of defending work, an awful lot of tackling work.

“He was just very good. His arms are so long you'd need a Google GPS to go around them. You're kind of looking at that, and you try him out in the Kelly Cup games, and he was doing well. He's improved, and he’s at every training session with Ed, his brother. He just loves it, and he just keeps getting better and better.

“In fairness, at the start of the championship, he marked the likes of Mark Barry and Diarmuid Whelan and did brilliant jobs on them. It just shows you his potential over the next few years as well,” Bates said.

Finally, the manager was full of praise for goalkeeper Matthew Byron, whose remarkable consistency and scoring feats, including eight points in the semi-final, have been vital to Courtwood’s campaign.

“In fairness to Matthew, he works as hard as every other player. We don't do specific goalkeeping training. Matthew's been around a good while. He's getting lots of training in the sessions, but in the main part, he's doing all the outfield drills, and he's involved in all the running drills.

“So he's as fit as everyone else, and he plays as much football as everyone else, which is great. The new rules definitely suit him. He's able to get up to pitch now this year, which is a brilliant advantage for us, and then obviously his free-taking ability is massive as well, but we're not the only team that has that in the locker.

“You can see that Killeshin have with Killian (Roche) there as well. Matthew’s attitude is just exceptional; he doesn't miss a session, and he's there all the time. He's there early, he's in the gym, out on the pitch. He's just been a model player this year, like they all have been,” Bates ended.

READ NEXT: Sean O’Flynn relishing the chance to lead Courtwood into historic County Final