TYRONE’S new strength and conditioning coach Jonny Davis is a bit of an unknown quantity at the minute, within GAA circles at least, but Mickey Harte has only been impressed by what he’s seen thus far from the former Ulster Rugby man.

There was some consternation when Peter Donnelly exited the position in the wake of Tyrone’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Kerry, but the reaction from Tyrone supporters was still largely positive when it was announced that Davis had stepped into the breach.

It should be noted that Donnelly, as Head of Athletic Development in the county, had a wider remit than Davis, but the hope is that there won’t be a fall-off in standards given that Davis worked with Ulster Rugby for more than a decade.

Mickey Harte, who was speaking at last Wednesday’s launch of the McKenna Cup, commented:

“New people bring new ideas and new approaches, and Jonny Davis comes from a professional background, a professional sport, and you can see the way he’s operating here.

“He has built a good rapport with the players early on, he’s really on top of his game.”

“I know that the work that he’s asking them to do is quite difficult and challenging, but they still look forward to doing it, so that’s all good.

“He has a nice manner with him, and the players are adapting to his way of doing things. That’s what you want from new people, and you want that level of professionalism that we never experienced at that level before, somebody who has spent their life in professional sport, coming in now to show us now what it is to be absolutely professional.

“He will find the difference as well, he doesn’t have access to our players all day.

“He only gets them in the evening time, so from his point of view, he has to make adjustments.

“Jonny is very good at that, he is very committed to being the best that he can be for our players to become the best that they can be, and I just like he way he goes about what he does.

“I like his mannerisms, I like his ability to get things done without shouting or bossing about it, but at the same time they know what he needs done.”

Harte, who has been in charge of the team since late 2002, also said he still has the hunger for the role.

“Of course I do. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be here. There’s no point in being here and think this is a chore or a burden.

“I’ve always said it’s a privilege from the first day and hour I got to do anything from Tyrone football, and that’s back in ’91 with the minors.

“It’s a privilege and every year I have been involved, I still see it as exactly that, and the day that I see it as a chore, then I shouldn’t be there.

“I don’t feel that way about it, I’m excited about this year and I’ll be excited about every year.

“I’m very excited about this season coming up, because I think it should be really good, and I think Tyrone should be very competitive.”