Internet abuse is driving Colm to excel...
COLM CAVANAGH has revealed he used online abuse to make himself a better footballer.
The 31-year-old Tyrone star has become a leader on Mickey Harte’s Tyrone team, winning back-to-back All-Stars in the process, but was the victim of sustained internet criticism in his early years as he struggled to establish himself.
However, rather than shrink away from the hurt keyboard warriors sought to inflict, Harte says he chose to use their hateful words to motivate himself — deliberately scanning message boards to absorb what his critics were posting about him.
‘That was the curiosity in me. I would have had no problem reading it and I’ve no problem now reading criticism,’ revealed Cavanagh in Philadelphia, where he is part of the PWC GAA All-Stars tour.
‘I would have went looking for it and said to myself “that’s fine, I’ll read that and deal with it”.
‘I’m thick-skinned, I can take it. It annoyed me but, at the same token, I didn’t say “this is really getting to me”.
‘I’d just go “you know what, I’m away to the gym here or down to the pitch here to get to where I need to be”. The key was having that focused, determined head on me during those years.
‘Don’t get me wrong, you read stuff and you do feel a wee bit disappointed that people are writing it but a lot of the times the people who write those negative things aren’t sporting people themselves,’ he added.
‘It actually made me want to prove them wrong.
‘I’m a stubborn enough sort of guy so anything bad that was said about me I was like “well I’ll tell you what, I’ll show you what I can do”,’ said Cavanagh.
‘And maybe, in a way, it sort of helped me in that I was going “I see what you are writing about me and I don’t like it. I’ll show you down the line”, explained the Moy clubman.
There is little doubt he has done just that in stepping out of the shadow of his celebrated older brother, Sean, to become the pivotal figure in a Tyrone team that bridged a 10-year gap by reaching this year’s All-Ireland final. In the process, Harte has reinvented his game, going from an orthodox midfielder to play a sweeping role in front of his defence and winning rave reviews for his performances. His selection on this year’s All-Star team at full-back was the focus of some criticism as he had not played in the position — but it reflected Harte’s pronounced influence in shoring up the Tyrone defence. Without him, Tyrone would not have made it to the final — he produced huge second-half displays in the clutch Super 8s win over Donegal and also in the All-Ireland semi-final win over Monaghan. In the latter game, Cavanagh produced one of the best defensive plays of the summer, when his perfectly-timed tackle on Jack McCarron late in the game proved to be a matchdefining moment.
That play was no accident and it underlined how the 31-year-old has transformed his skill-set and his approach.
‘I was probably a reckless enough tackler starting out.
‘I was all blood and thunder, not very much coached, whereas now the game has evolved and people are very focused on fine details.
‘You watch the way Dublin tackle. I love basketball and they have had a basketball coach with them and you can see that in the way they tackle and back off you,’ said Cavanagh.
‘They are obviously coached to a very fine element because they very rarely will foul you unless they need to. The way they are coached to stand off, get the hand, get back out again is just brilliant.
‘The game has moved on from “go out there and give it all you have got” to being very tactical and to now being coached very well on the fine details.’
That diligence to detail was the source of that great play against McCarron, when Cavanagh stood off and pounced to force the turnover.
‘There is that much footage out there so you are analysing players and teams and patterns and how people are playing. What foot they are with?
‘You have to know that someone has a dummy or someone is going to try and step inside you and that’s the time to get him.
‘I have watched Jack playing. I knew he was going to go for that bounce pass to go past you. It would have been very easy to stand off him and he potentially could have rolled me and put it over but again that goes down to fine margins and I bring it back to the basketball,’ said Cavanagh.
‘Seeing the ball, knocking it away and going again. Gone are the days of just going out and playing as hard as you can. They don’t exist any more.’