CHRISSY McKaigue brought the curtain down on his Derry career yesterday after 15 years representing his county at the highest level. Former Oak Leaf teammate and fellow defender Gerard O’Kane says McKaigue’s influence will be sorely missed.
The Sleacht Néill man helped Derry rise through the ranks in recent years, ascending from the depth of Division Four to the heights last years Division One league title and back-to-back Ulster crowns in 2022 and 2023.
Comparing different areas is often a tough task but former county captain O’Kane feels that McKaigue was one of the best he has witnessed in the red and white of Derry. “Certainly, in my time watching Derry in last 25 years, he is in the conversation.
“It’s hard comparing different players in different positions and it’s unfair for me to compare players before our generation, but Chrissy is certainly a generational player, and he will be remembered as such for generations to come.”
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Recognised as their go-to man-marker, McKaigue went toe-to-toe with the likes of David Clifford, Patrick McBrearty and Darren McCurry in recent years and picked up an All-Star award in 2022.
“I actually roomed with him on away trips, they tried to pair younger lads with more experienced lads in similar positions, so I got to know him pretty well,” said O’Kane. “He had such an inquisitive nature.
“No matter what I told him, he probably had his mind made up already about any particular scenarios but for him he was just covering all bases and informing himself with as much information as possible.
“An example of his steeliness and single-mindedness was in 2009. He was very young, and Paul Carton got hurt in the warmup against Monaghan in the championship, a really old-school bruising affair.
“Chrissy was called upon half an hour before throw in and within five minutes he had kicked Derry’s first score form 45 yards. He didn’t shrink any responsibility, and I suppose that sort of set the tone for his next 15 years.”
Man-marking was one of his main attributes and as O’Kane describes, he learned from the very best. “Chrissy used to base himself on Sean Marty Lockhart a lot. At school in St Pat’s, they definitely had a good relationship in terms of how they saw the game.
“Chrissy developed into Derry go-to man in the last six or seven years. People don’t realise how tough it can be to continually churn out performances like that week after week and still be on your game.
“In saying that, that might underestimate his natural football ability. The early part of his career, he was as regular scorer and people maybe forget that, and it was fitting that it was his point that earned Derry the draw versus Mayo (last year) to take the game to penalties.”
McKaigue set the standard in the Derry dressing room and his absence will be a huge blow for incoming manager Paddy Tally. With McKaigue gone, and rumours that Eoin McEvoy could be heading down under, O’Kane is concerned by Derry’s lack of depth in that area.
“In terms of a loss, especially with the noises about Eoin McEvoy maybe going to Australia, you are losing your go-to man-maker from the full back line, who has over 15 years of experience.
“It certainly is a loss and given that Chrissy was still doing the man marking on the likes of Clifford in their last game (last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final), succession plans like that are hard to put into place.”