Keaney better than ever as he continues to defy logic
THERE’S a common theme among GAA folk these days to write players off as spent forces once they go north of 30 but Conal Keaney is doing his best to tear such notions to pieces as he continues to defy logic for Dublin and Ballyboden St Enda’s at the ripe age of 36.
Few would have envisaged that his sensational return to the Dublin hurling fold earlier this year would have been such a success but Keaney sees no reason why other inter-county players can’t follow his lead.
“You can get retired very quickly. The media do it very easily. Some managers use it as an excuse too and some lads are forced to retire. Managers don’t want to cut them,” he says.
“It depends on your lifestyle, what you’ve done before that, if you’ve anything to offer when you get past 30 or not and if you really have the motivation to do it. That’s the biggest thing.
“So many other factors come into it – work, family life – that have to be right to do it. I don’t particularly look after myself too well. But I’m not too bad. Other lads do it a lot better. I’m sure they could go further if they wanted to do it.”
Demands
Eighteen months into his retirement, Keaney never expected an “out of the blue” call to come from Pat Gilroy but he was quickly sold by his former Dublin football boss who made few demands for his return to the fold.
“He pretty much said, ‘Why wouldn’t you do it? Give it a go. Go to the gym. Come to a few training sessions and see what you want. If you don’t want to do it, just walk away at any stage,’” Keaney recalls. “I never really committed to anything too fully but I knew deep down that once you get sucked into something like that and you get training, things start moving and it’s very hard to leave it.
“So it was great that I did go back. A disappointing end to the season but I think we just had a lot of stuff to prove from the previous years that Dublin weren’t as bad as they were.”
The general reaction to Gilroy’s resignation due to work commitments two months ago has been one of disappointment and Keaney was no different, but he feels new boss Mattie Kenny will benefit greatly from the foundations laid in 2018.
“He was disappointed to go after putting a lot of work… a lot of the hard work was done that first year. Getting everyone on the right page, everything like that. That’s life, you have to deal with it. Mattie is in now, look at the experience he is bringing to it,” he says.
“What he has won the last couple of years with the club, I’m sure that’s only going to bring it on even more. Mattie is probably the only man in Dublin at the minute that knows every single player. The level of detail from what I’m hearing from the Cuala lads, if he brings some of that to inter-county it will definitely push us on further.”
The Ballyboden contingent have more pressing issues at hand, however, as they bid for a first AIB Leinster club hurling title against Kilkenny kingpins Ballyhale Shamrocks in Netwatch Cullen Park on Sunday.
They have done things the hard way, beating Kenny’s Cuala, the reigning All-Ireland champions, in the county semi-final before defeating Anthony Daly’s Kilmacud Crokes after a replay in the Dublin decider.
An extra-time win over Westmeath’s Clonkill and a double extra-time victory over Coolderry followed where the performance of Dublin footballer Colm Basquel against the Offaly champions got tongues wagging.
Basquel fired 3-3 on his senior hurling championship debut with Keaney admitting that he didn’t even know his younger clubmate dabbled with the small ball and setting the gauntlet down for a repeat performance.
“I didn’t even know he played hurling to be very honest with you. We were in charge of the U-21 team a few of us last year and someone was saying he played minor and he was very good and we wanted him to come out but he wouldn’t come out.
“We didn’t take any notice really because I have never really seen him play or heard anything before that and he got asked out for the seniors and I thought it was a good idea. You are open to bringing in anyone and when I seen him in training I knew I should have got him with the 21s.
“It is very impressive for one game and I know that’s very harsh maybe to say. He’s played well in one game and he needs to keep doing that for the next couple of weeks and months.”