TOP GAA COACH

Best GAA game you’ve ever watched?

For me it wasn’t one game, it was four games, the 1991 Dublin v Meath Leinster Championship first round saga. I attended all four games with my brothers and teammates and was spellbound. As the O’Dwyer’s keeper at the time I was always keen to watch and learn from my clubmate at the time John O’Leary. He was such a marvellous keeper, but he was also a great player and played outfield for us. A little known fact at the time was that the Meath keeper Michael Mc Quillan also lived in Balbriggan at this time, and before each of these games they both got their haircut at the same time in the same barber shop in Balbriggan prior to their appearance on TV. One of the things that struck me about both of these teams was the great respect they had for each other. They were fine sportsmen and left everything they had on the pitch but carried no grudges off it. For the time the football was pulsating, full of guile and intensity. Dublin had the games won numerous times with their panache and flair, but Meath just wouldn’t go away and were so plucky. The fitness levels were tremendous, and for the teams to produce four full games and extra time over six weeks was amazing. This was a turning point for the GAA in my opinion because it showed the type of unrehearsed drama that the game could produce when teams could prepare equally and there was more of an even playing field in terms of preparation and finance...

Best game you’ve played in?

The 2000 Louth Senior Championship Final. We (Newtown Blues) had been coming for a few years but couldn’t make the breakthrough. We lost the in the previous year’s semi-final controversy to Stabannon Parnells who we faced in the ‘00 final. To win this final meant a lot to the club and to me. I was the captain after transferring in from O’Dwyer’s a few years earlier, so I felt accepted by lads. It will always be remembered as the Colin Kelly final as he kicked nine ‘sweet ones’ as he likes (still) to call them. His performance in the final was top class and can’t be underestimated, as to produce that performance with all the pressures of a final is super. Finals are the icing on the cake and sometimes you can forget about near misses and standout moments from earlier rounds. Players pick up injuries and lose form, but a team wins championships and this Blues team stayed strong and committed over adversity to win back-to-back championships. On a Saturday morning now in the Blues pitch you can see ex players like Paul Carr, Thomas Carr, Shane Nugent, Donal Nugent, Ronan Phillips, Martin Phillips, Breen Phillips, Keith Lynch and Damien Martin to name a few, all down giving something back to the club.

Favourite non-GAA sport and who you follow?

I like many different sports like basketball, American football and ice hockey and always try to pick up things from them that I may apply to my own coaching. But I would have to pick soccer and Liverpool as the team I follow, but I also have a great interest in Cristiano Ronaldo. I have seen him play live many times and find him mesmerising at times. You can’t take your eyes off him during a game - he is so explosive, brave and technically excellent. Even during lockdown I see videos of him doing hill work in his house. This is the thing I like most about him. I think he has serious dedication to hard work, always did - even before he made it. He’s a brilliant example to young players in any code on how to work and practise on your own.

Favourite county other than Louth?

That would have to be Dublin. I played underage with them and got a few goes at senior but never made it. When I came to Louth I had no intention of playing county, only club, but had five great years with Louth. When I was growing up Dublin were nowhere near as dominant as they are now, the club scene was great and you got to know the Dublin players pretty well from playing against them as they played a lot more with their clubs then. There was something tangible about the Dublin team and you always felt you had a chance of making the squad even from a small club like O’Dwyer’s, that’s what I liked most. It’s not like that now, the Dublin players are celebrities now and clubs only get limited access to them which is a shame.

All-time favourite player?

I have numerous favourite players and for various reasons. Different positions have been filled by lots of greats down through the years. Paul Curran of the 90s Dublin was a fantastic half back, he always looked like he was flowing when in full flight with the ball. Graham Geraghty was another favourite of mine. Graham was a brat when he played, but that kind of attitude is crucial in a top player. Keith Lynch was possibly one of the greatest club midfielders in Louth and then we had Paddy Keenan from St Pat’s. I coached Paddy with the Louth 21s for a couple of seasons and have never seen anyone better him. But my favourite player of all time has to be Stephen Cluxton. I’ve watched his development since he came into the Dublin set-up as a youngster, I’ve seen him play outfield for his club Parnells of Coolock and like Ronaldo he’s another one who has put the hours into his craft to get where he is, he’s worked on his emotional intelligence and you can see today how nothing fazes him. He takes risks, he demands high standards from his teammates and coaches, he’s an excellent shot stopper, faultless under a high ball. Like many other young players when he arrived, he had all the talent, but that’s only half the battle. You need to work harder than everybody else if you want it bad enough and he showed the way.

Best player you’ve played with?

Back in the mid 90s O’Dwyer’s got a good run in the Dublin Senior Championship, losing by a point to eventual winners St Sylvester’s. The midfield pairing for that match for us was John O’Leary and Stephen Melia. Stephen was living in Balbriggan and transferred to us. At that time Dublin were one of the top teams in the country and every week Stephen would go toe to toe with the county stars of the time and always come out on top. The real sign of how good a player is, is the esteem

Funniest player you’ve played with?

I suppose looking back on my playing career the majority of my playing time was with the Newtown Blues. The team that I played with was full of characters, from Webs Martin’s awful clothes to Tonto Donaghy’s lack of them, from Colin Kelly telling every manager you don’t get class running around the pitch to Razor Hughes lapping everyone. But there was a crew led by Ronan Phillips that made your life misery every time you stepped out of line. Now for someone not so quick on the pitch the speed of his one-liners and put-downs is legendary. Him, Eoghan Judge and Tonto were the life and soul of the dressing-room. They observed and commented on your hair, your ‘going out clothes’ - and when they got brave your girlfriends and wife. Nothing was out of bounds to them. They led the way after every game down to McPhail’s to see the Judge brothers and even on a team holiday to Ayia-Napa. On a serious note, though, Ronan Phillips had one of the best football minds of the time when playing and could always see a pass and sense danger before it happened, he was always taking on board information despite his messing and joking and we all know what good use he put that information he gathered to when he led Newtown Blues to three senior championships in a row.

Worst GAA memory?

Losing the 2012 All-Ireland Feile final with the Blues. This was before the Feile was restructured and you had to qualify via your county competition. This is what the GAA is about. We had been with the lads since they were seven. When anybody takes over a kids team you do it because you have kids involved or you want to give something back to the club and community. It’s pure, no ego, just genuine. I have so much respect for men and women who give up their time to do it, but you get so much back from it. The joy, the sorrow, the impact you make on the kids, the values you share. The love of your club is forged here. To see the disappointment on their faces at the end of the final will never leave me. It was a roller-coaster of emotions for them over the weekend - full of highs and lows and learnings. You learn as a coach on weekends like this that you are only there to serve the players and club and that it’s memories that count, not tactics. It’s how you make them feel, not what you tell them that they will remember.

If you could change one thing about the GAA...

Has to be the fixtures, nothing else. How in this day and age there can’t be a collective arrangement from HQ on fixtures is beyond me. We train too much, we train about five or six times per game and some of these sessions can be as tough as a game. Off the top of my head, if we played club and county from March till the end of November that’s roughly 40 weeks. One week out of four would be a free week - that’s almost 30 dates to play with. Most players don’t get 30 games of football a year. Some of the more successful counties would, but you have spare weekends available in this idea to cater for these. We need to get away from pleasing the money-makers and focus on the players. Proper fixture lists will allow proper periodisation and planning of training, less overuse injuries and time off for a balanced life for our most prized assets. There should be no football of any sort in December and training can begin towards the end of January. This way everybody - the players, coaches, club men and women and county administrators - get a good break. Too many governing bodies have an input into the fixtures at the moment, so change is difficult, but other sports can produce a planned fixture list and overcome many obstacles so I can’t see why we can’t.