Professional sport can be as cruel as it is rewarding.
Recently Marcus Rea was forced to watch on from home as an extended squad spent over two weeks in South Africa playing against the World’s best and training in scorching conditions.
Instead, Rea had to settle for All-Ireland league battles with Ballynahinch and the chance to work on areas of his game that, according to head coach Richie Murphy, he needed work on.
And whatever work Rea did while his teammates were on the other side of the work seems to have paid off.
The abrasive flanker has been involved in both matches post-South Africa and was also a try scorer in last week’s win over the Ospreys.
So, naturally, Rea is now in a much better place than he was a few weeks back.
If anything, the short sabbatical to the AIL has been more than a worthwhile exercise.
“I was obviously very gutted not to make it over for the South Africa trip but I’ve put my head down and played a few club games and they went well,” said Rea.
“Ballynahinch are going well and it was good to get some time on the pitch.
“If I was over there I might not have got as much time on the pitch, so, coming back and getting the nod was pretty good.
“I just had to perform off the back of a few club games and put what I’ve been working on to the pitch at pro-level.”
Sometimes it may be hard to accept the coach’s decision, particularly when it involves minutes on the pitch. This can lead to a loss of confidence, but this is where Murphy’s man-management skills come into force.
“It’s tough, definitely yeah,” said Rea on missing out on squad selection.
“There are questions to ask and inevitably, sometimes doubt comes in and you just sort of remain focused.
“Richie’s very good at saying if you get better at these things, x, y, z, then we’ll have a look at you, it’s very good to have that.
“If you go to him and he’ll tell you why you’re not playing and then you can start to build a plan off the back of it and he’s been very good with that.
“He’s been honest but he can also have a bit of craic with you as well.
“When those honest conversations come around, he’s very good around dealing with them and setting us in the right direction.”
Also, the more players that get exposure to playing at the very top of the game, the higher too the standards become at Ulster.
“It’s a decision I have to make. Like, these guys are very, very good, and they are playing very, very well, so I have to bring my game up.
“Then that just bleeds through the whole team and everyone is in the same position and everyone is bringing up their game.”
