COLM NALLY
fellow players hold you in and everyone feared playing Stephen. He was tough, strong and fiercely competitive. I played again with him when I played with Louth, and after Paddy Clarke’s cull of his squad after his first year in charge Stephen was one of the older players he kept on. He was the heartbeat of that team, driving it every night in training. They say that a coach telling his team something is like a father telling his son something. But a player telling his teammate something is like your older brother telling you something. It carries a different weight. It hits you differently. Teammates make the best leaders and Stephen certainly did.
Best GAA memory?
As a player it was winning the NFL Division 2 in 2000. The late great Paddy Clarke, Stephen Melia and Brendan Reilly were involved, all great Gaels who loved what they did. Nobody expected us to win it as we had rebuilt the team with young players such as JP Rooney, Simon Gerard, Breen Phillips and the late Benny Reilly. Personally it was one of my best years in terms of performance. I saved five penalties over the course of the league, including one in the semi-final against Laois. Paddy gave youth its chance and it didn’t disappoint. The energy levels the boys brought was amazing. JP went on to become one of Louth’s best attackers and was one of the main focal points of our attack that year. We beat Offaly in the final that year in a half Croke Park as they were constructing the new Hogan Stand, so the atmosphere was a bit surreal.
As a coach it was getting to the 2016 All-Ireland Intermediate Club Final with St Colmcille’s. This was a tremendous journey for a great up and coming club. An All-Ireland final is an All-Ireland final. It doesn’t matter what age or grade it is, it just grabs you and the community and tells you ‘Get Ready’. For me this was the best bit. When we beat Pomeroy Plunketts from Tyrone in January we had three weeks to prepare for Westport of Mayo. That’s what I love best - preparing players and teams for games. Our training for those few weeks was as good as anything I’ve seen from county teams I’ve been involved with - intense, aggressive, curious and challenging. No one was disappointed with the result as such as we had prepared to our best, played with heart and pride. Nothing prepares you for the occasion - the only way to prepare for these occasions is to face them regularly, that’s everyone’s goal.