Turlough: I think any county can compete
‘Players aren’t committing because the set-up is poor’
TURLOUGH O’BRIEN’S bid to guide Carlow out of Division 4 has anyone interested scrambling through the history books.
The last time promotion was earned? The man himself tells a story from the early 1980s that has a very GAA feel to it.
‘We played Tipperary in Clonmel in the last game to get promoted. I was actually on the team. We were promoted alright but the next year the GAA changed the structure of the National Football League and we ended up back in the last division again! We were elated, and then we lost it.’
It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad because Carlow haven’t been able to find a way back since. There was a brief moment when they moonlighted against some of the game’s big hitters, again via a committee room.
For the 1997-98 season — the League then being split into two distinct parts with the early rounds played before Christmas and the latter rounds in the spring — Carlow benefited from a decision to jumble up the divisions into four sections. And so Dublin and Kerry ended up together in Section C while Carlow found themselves in Section A in some exotic company.
An unlikely run of games saw them travel to Mayo where they were comprehensively beaten, squeeze past Kilkenny at home — their neighbours still flirting with the big ball back then — and then entertain Galway at home in March 20 years ago.
So no wonder then that Carlow are enjoying their moment as joint leaders of Division 4 with Laois after four wins from four and the chance to take another step this evening against Wicklow.
From being bottom of the table in 2014 before O’Brien took over, the team has made incremental improvements, though the manager sounds a note of caution. ‘We’re not looking too far ahead of ourselves. Local derby.
‘Wicklow are improving after a shaky start. Certainly fancy their chances. We haven’t that luxury of saying we’re going to beat anybody with our record (of being) in Division 4 for so long.’
But he’s a dreamer too. He has already gone on record to state: ‘We’re very quick to write off the lower-ranked teams. But, really, the truth of it is, if a county is organised properly and everyone is pulling the same way then every county can compete.’
What about finance? Population? Games Development funding? The hot topics that suggest a handicap system is institutionalised before a ball is kicked?
‘I don’t think so. At the very, very top level, yes. For the 28 counties below the top four I’d say that the statement about competing is true. More often than not, you’ll find in a county that something isn’t working right. That county board isn’t cooperating very well; players aren’t committing because the set-up is poor. Things like that happen to hold back counties. If you can align all those issues, I think any county can compete.
‘One of the big issues is this constant bombardment in the media of this message that counties can’t compete. I just don’t believe it. I’ve always felt that about Carlow, even when not involved, that we’re better than any lowly status within the game. That we have footballers that compete.’
From rock bottom in Division 4 when he took over, O’Brien guided Carlow on their longest summer odyssey since the Championship qualifiers were introduced in 2001 last year. It took a grandstand finish from Monaghan to avoid being part of a giant-killing act. And this after dumping Wexford out of Leinster with a first provincial Championship victory in six years and making life difficult for Dublin in the quarter-final.
The same reason he believes Carlow can compete is the reason he tips his hat to Dublin and feels they are not getting enough credit for their achievements.
‘It’s just lazy analysis to say it’s down to population and it’s down to money — it’s not. Okay, the playing pool is bigger than every other county bar Cork maybe, but you can only play 15 against 15. ‘Nowadays, nearly every young fella is going to college, playing Freshers and Sigerson football, getting good coaching, the background in sports science. There is a huge shared knowledge out there now.
‘Players are exposed to better preparation and might come back then to county set-ups where the same level of detail isn’t there. And as a result they get a bit disillusioned. But when it is there, I think they do commit. And they love to play for their county. I think everybody aspires to that.
‘There is empirical evidence that there is a higher drop-off in the lower teams, in the lower tier teams.
‘What the reason is for it? I don’t believe it’s because there is no hope. It’s the other issues that I feel are often prevalent. That the set-up maybe is not good and the players know that. Maybe clubs and county boards haven’t got their act together.’
The likes of Tipperary hurler Kieran Bergin and Meath footballer Paddy O’Rourke have gen-
erated much debate by going public to say that the balance isn’t right at inter-county level, that the demands being exacted are too much.
‘There is some truth in that,’ says O’Brien. ‘But you’ll get as many players to say the exact opposite.’
He says it is not about a manager laying down the law. ‘Creating this atmosphere where it’s nearly top secret. Can’t do this, can’t do that. Almost take the fun out of the game.
‘The fact that you can’t go for a social drink. Or if you do go out with your wife or girlfriend and suddenly you’re an alcoholic — this sort of nonsense that goes on. Maybe players take too much heed of public opinion at times.
‘I’d say we have one of the happiest squads in the country. There is lots of competition for places. Players are enjoying it.’ The proof is there for all to see. With the run-in featuring an away trip to Antrim and a home game against Laois, Carlow’s promotion fate will ultimately be decided by this three-horse race.
If they do make it, this time nobody will be able to take it away from them.