McIlroy wants to 'nail down' Ulster full-back role

Ethan McIlroy suffered a fractured eye socket and concussion during a game against Munster last November

Ulster's Ethan McIlroy says he feels revitalised going into the 2024-25 season and wants to "nail down" the full-back position during the forthcoming campaign.

The 24-year-old, who missed a sizeable section of last season after suffering a fractured eye socket and concussion in a United Rugby Championship match against Munster, feels he can operate best in the number 15 shirt despite also being deployed on the wing.

"I'd love to nail down the full-back role. I feel that’s where you can get the best out of me," said McIlroy, who faces competition for the position from Mike Lowry among others.

"I can bring the wingers into the game a bit more but I'm happy to play anywhere and comfortable playing anywhere. I can play wing, full-back, and I'm not going to be worried about playing either of them."

Despite his significant injury setback last term, the former Academy and Development player feels thankful that he was able to return to action after two months on the sidelines.

"I don't feel I've been unlucky," added McIlroy. "There are people in worse positions - I haven't had to have any surgeries or anything.

"I took a bad knock to the head but I recovered from that quickly and got back into the team and played some good rugby at the end of last season.

"I want to carry that on into this season and carry on that run of form and nail down a starting position."

'Working on the mental side'

McIlroy believes he is physically and mentally in a better place as his side prepare to launch their United Rugby Championship [URC] season against defending champions Glasgow at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday, live on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Foyle.

"I feel really confident this year, ready to kick on," he said. "I'll be ready to go when needed.

"I've put a lot of work in to be right and ready for this and hopefully that can continue as the games start and go week on week and keep building and get a bit of form going.

"A different mindset too I suppose. Darren [Devaney, Ulster's sports psychologist] has come in and I've had chats with him that have really helped. I've been working on that mental side of the game.

"That's where I could get that extra step forward which hopefully I've got now."

'Two big things I needed to improve'

The Ulster back says more meticulous preparation and putting on some extra weight should also help him perform to his optimum this season.

"I'm much more organised now, much more prepared in what I do," added McIlroy. "I've been putting in a lot more extra work and I think that's just come with a bit of maturity maybe.

"Physically I've put on a decent bit of weight, about four kilos. I feel stronger, I've been working on my passing and kicking.

"I feel those are two big things I feel I've needed to improve, things I need to improve if I'm going to play in that full-back role."

The utility back has been overcoming "a few niggles" during pre-season but was "pretty grateful" to get more than an hour of gametime under his belt in the pre-season defeat by Exeter last weekend.

"I felt good after that Exeter game," added McIlroy. "I felt I had done a good job. Hopefully that will translate into the league.

"It's been a shaky enough pre-season for me personally with a few niggles so good to finally get that hit-out and preparing me for hopefully playing in the game against Glasgow."