BY RONAN SCOTT

r.scott@gaeliclife.com

Joe Diver is an enigma. On the field his greatest strength is his passion. He tackles like the ball is his and his alone, and he doesn't care who his opponents are. Yet off the field, when he is talking to reporters, he is reserved and that competitive streak and fiery nature is concealed so that he doesn't put his foot in his mouth.

However, this week he let his guard down when, in a final comment to describe the Tyrone game he admitted, "The gloves are off."

Who could blame him for revealing his appetite for the big challenge, days before Tyrone meet Derry? Anyway, Diver has more cause to see this game as a defining point in his, and his county's, season than anyone else.

Firstly, he has almost regained full fitness after spending four months on the sidelines with an injury. Secondly his first ever County championship experience came against the Red Hands and thirdly, this game represents a chance for Derry to prove that they have what it takes to win an Ulster Championship.

In his first year as a senior county footballer, back in 2006, he was lauded as the midfielder to bring greatness to Derry. He started the Championship opener against Tyrone alongside Johnny McBride and in that match they defeated their old rivals, holding the All-Ireland champions scoreless during the first half. That year ended in disappointment and then last year his season was pockmarked with absences due to injury.

"I wouldn't say that I had a good run as regards injuries because more or less the whole of last year I struggled with injury," said Diver. It was an ongoing hip injury that ruined his year. At the time the best course of action was apparently to keep on going and rest it when he could be sacrificed. He went for surgery in December and then, last weekend, made his first appearance for his county.

His last full game was the Ulster Championship semi-final against Monaghan last year, but his fighting spirit won't have been encouraged by the outcome in the games where he has had cameos since then. Derry lost the clash with Monaghan, a game they were expected to win. He did make an appearance in the Armagh game, but his substitution late in the All-Ireland quarter-final Dublin game failed to inspire Derry to victory. Then last week he came on in the loss against Galway.

While many may have marvelled at Derry's run through the qualifiers, last year did not live up to Diver's high standards.

"It was just a really strange year. It took one really bad performance and one really good performance against Armagh to kick it back off again. But in terms of my own personal goals it wasn't really a great year for me," he said.

Injured players suffer the terrible limbo of feeling that they are surplus to requirements. Diver did admit that there were dark days when he had to deal with his own personal demons while others enjoyed victory on the field. But he dealt with it and now feels he is ready to make his own impact.

"It is very frustrating but you just have to think positively. That's half the battle anyway. Think positively and that you are still in with a chance. You can still move forward, and that the team are better with you so rather than thinking that I am just dead wood, you'd rather think that everyone is thinking positively," he said.

Since Diver was carrying an injury one could speculate that his performances, particularly during those defeats, were below par because he was worried about his hip flaring up again.

But this year, unlike in previous ones, the help that he has received has given him encouragement and, if his mood is anything to go by, he is more confident than ever.

"The Doctor told me that it would take maybe up to two and a half or three months to get back. So this is the about the time that I was scheduled to go back in," he said.

"This year particularly there has been a really fantastic rehabilitation programme set up for me. In the past it has maybe been the case that injured players have had to rest and maybe try and come back, that is certainly not the case this year, it has been a professional set up. Very proactive."

In an era when the protection of footballers and grants for players dominates the headlines, Diver is phlegmatic about his injury travails. "At the end of the day it is all about what you want to do yourself. It is not necessarily their responsibility to get you back. It is your own responsibility if you want to play you have to do it, that's the way that I look at it. You have to put in the work to get the good out of it," he said.

You get the feeling that Diver, unlike other county men these days, takes great pride in playing for Derry and regards it as a privilege. His insight to his Oak Leaf colleagues suggests that his attitude is not solely borne out of a love of his county but a respect for his team mates as well. If Diver is fighting to get back it is because he is surrounded by role models on the Derry team.

"I know it's a cliché, but every single player on the panel is important, and everyone should be treated as important as the first team player," he said.

So far that seems to be the case. In the League the Derry team has been chopped and changed. In last week's game Eoin Bradley missed a handful of efforts and was subbed for Colin Devlin. Likewise Michael McBride made way for Gerard O'Kane. Diver himself was subbed on for Michael Friel. For a player who has been missing for a long period, the fact that the manager is willing to give everyone a chance should give the Bellaghy player hope that he can win a place back on the team. But there is a flip side to that argument.

"Sometimes what can happen is that a player can get relaxed and maybe think that there is no competition but whenever everybody is in full flight there is definitely competition out there. It just keeps you on your heels. I especially found that playing for my club as well for Derry. That if you have someone who can replace you it is added pressure to play well," he said.

The competition for places at midfield in Derry is even greater than in other areas of the field considering that some of the finest footballers in Ulster are operating in the centre. Fergal Doherty is there, as is James Conway and Patsy Bradley is also on the road to recovery from a broken arm.

Tomorrow, Doherty should be back after missing the Galway game. Diver admitted that whether or not he partners Doherty is immaterial as it is the result that is more important to him.

"We have to win and we have to keep winning and get the consistency in winning. There is no point going out and winning one match and then getting beat in the next one. We have to be continuously good and be motivated to win," he said.

"We are in a position now where we are in a dogfight where we can potentially get relegated. So the character is going to show in the next couple of weeks whether we can come out on top or sink. We just have to decide on which one we want."

Derry's last win against Tyrone was in the first round of the 2006 championship. That was a big day for Diver because he played his first championship game for Derry, and it was a mix of emotions.

"It was a very important match for Derry, because there was a lot of expectation and there was a lot of fear that the All-Ireland champions were going to beat us, but the only way to deal with that was to go out and give it your best," he said.

One thing that I remember was a fantastic performance from Johnny McBride as well. It showed a lot of heart that a lot of these boys had had enough of getting beat and they just wanted to win."

That same passion to win, which Diver epitomises, is needed again tomorrow.

Having lost two games in the league, and with only Ulster opponents left, it's business time for Derry, as Diver pointed out. "The next week is going to be very important. The gloves are off."

SIDEBAR

Raymond Mulgrew recalls Derry v Tyrone clash

BY RONAN SCOTT

r.scott@gaeliclife.com

Raymond Mulgrew's is not fond of remembering his first Senior Championship appearance for Tyrone.

It should have been a great day for the Cookstown forward as he was playing alongside All-Ireland winning footballers and the county were on a high after the previous year's Sam Maguire win.

However, that day in Healy Park, Derry handed Tyrone a royal roasting and Mulgrew was reminded of that performance this week.

"It was awful. I was marking Paul Flynn that day and he gave me kick in the first half and I had to be taken off before half time," he said. "Derry taught us a lesson that day."

Mulgrew was an All-Ireland minor winner in 2004 with Tyrone and he won MacRory and Hogan Cup honours with St Pat's Dungannon that same year. The lively forward was also a key member of Cookstown's minor set up. Therefore there was every expectation that he would make a big impact during that 2006 season.

With that in mind, one might have expected that Mulgrew was over the moon about being selected to play at centre half forward against Derry in his first Championship game.

"I was and I wasn't. I was very nervous. Tyrone football was on a high because it was the year after the county had won the All-Ireland. Expectation was high," he said.

Before the game Mickey Harte tried to steady the nerves of young Mulgrew. He told him to go out and play his own game, a vote of confidence by the Tyrone manager in his forward.

But in the end Derry were hungrier for victory. "I wasn't great and they were far superior to us," Mulgrew added.

Two very different teams will take the field for tomorrow's clash. Mulgrew is likely to start at centre half forward again, but Paul McFlynn has since retired and won't get another kick at his opponent.

However, Mulgrew expects another tight match, but having had two years of senior experience under his belt he should be more prepared for this game.

"Derry are going really well but at the same time I think Tyrone have raised their game. It will be a tight enough. It really is a derby match and because I'm from Cookstown there has been plenty of banter," he said.

In fact he's already had a few friendly digs from Derry minor manager Niall Conway.

"He's likes to give me a bit of stick when he sees me," Mulgrew said.

What Mulgrew's response to those jibes is unknown but its certain that he'll prefer to let his football do the talking tomorrow and make up for his worst Championship memory with a win against Derry.