WEIR GOING PLACES
Sligo kid’s mad year took him from fourth tier to Abu Dhabi
‘AS A CAPTAIN, ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS TOSS THE COIN AND LIFT THE CUP’
AN All-Star hurling story like no other. When James Weir lifted the Nicky Rackard Cup in June, he looked fit to burst with the emotion of it all. Still just 19 and here he was, a Sligo hurler, standing on the steps of the Hogan Stand lifting an All-Ireland trophy. Teenage kicks, so hard to beat. He never imagined the journey would lead from Croke Park and hurling’s fourth tier championship to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. In a change of policy, for the first time properly the GAA decided to fill the various spots left by the named All-Stars who couldn’t travel on the traditional tour to far-flung parts with representatives of the lower-tier teams.
And so a quirk of fate meant that he got a phonecall that he never expected.
Sitting in the foyer of the team hotel in Abu Dhabi the morning of the exhibition game at Zayad Sports City, he reveals how he thought his late call-up was a wind-up by a team-mate. ‘I found out a week and a half ago. I was at home painting the grandmother’s house and got an email. I thought it was one of the boys messing. Then I got a call from Croke Park.’
Telling him that he had a seat on the plane, that he would be joining the selection of household names that make up the 2018 and 2019 PwC All-Star selections.
His reaction? ‘Jaysus, what do I do here? A trip to Abu Dhabi – it’s too big to turn down.’
Turns out that hanging out in AllStar company can be a tough gig. He might have turned 20 since lifting the cup but youth comes with the odd disadvantage. Barely an hour after stepping off the plane and checking in, he joins the rest of the travelling party for the food and drinks reception on the 12th floor of the Aloft Hotel where there is a warm greeting from members of local club Abu Dhabi Na Fianna.
Just one problem. The doorman is taking his job ultra-seriously. Checking for valid ID and deciding that this is one night to strictly enforce the over-21 policy for the bar area.
Never mind any promises to not even have a drink, he can’t even get into the reception area. Last year’s Hurler of the Year Cian Lynch is one of those helping to plead his case so he can just get a bit of grub along with the rest of the travelling party after the seven-hour flight. Turns out there is a story there too, that he was booked into a double rather than a twin room like the rest of the players who were sharing.
‘I got to the room first and I thought “this is grand, I’m on my own”. Then I heard the door opening and Cian walked in. We had to get that sorted because we were sharing the same bed – we got two separate beds in the end.’
Lynch and the Limerick lads took him under their wing for the tour. A couple of days later he would be togging out on the same field for the exhibition game in an exotic setting that had a surreal feel to the whole experience. ‘At the end of the day, they’re just normal people. They’re all very down to earth. You can have the craic with them.’
He explains the value for counties and players outside the Liam MacCarthy Cup to get recognition like this. John ‘Tweek’ Griffin was called up for the tour to Austin, Texas in 2015, proudly representing Kerry. It was a big deal for the player, his club and the county.
Acknowledged as such. ‘For us, we might never get the opportunity again whereas those lads probably will. I think Noel McGrath has been on four of these tours. He’ll probably get one again. For us, it’s our only ever chance to be on one.
‘We wouldn’t even dream about going on a team holiday or anything like that. They would get far more endorsements and things like that. It doesn’t bother us. We’re happy just to play and try and play well.
‘We don’t do any end of year trips or anything like that. We just had the banquet where we got the medals. It was in the Clayton Hotel in Sligo – they’re our main sponsors.’
Because that’s what it boils down to really – the game. That snapshot of him lifting the cup at Croke Park says it all. It’s a testament to his talent and leadership qualities that he was picked to lead the team. Not too many teenagers are made captain of their inter-county team.
‘I suppose not, no. It’s not something I really wanted to do but I was pushed into the job! It doesn’t really make much of a difference. Everyone is a captain on the pitch. All you have to do is take the coin toss and lift the cup.
‘It’s all a bit of a blur. Everything happened that day so quickly – it was over in a shot. It’s different to any normal final day. It’s over in the blink of an eye.
The last few minutes was probably the biggest part. That was the bit that really stood out.’
The frantic endgame of the encounter with Armagh took some beating. Four points down as the electronic clock showed the end of normal time approaching.
First, a point from Conor Griffin allowed for the traditional siege on goal. Then Gerard O’Kelly-Lynch found the net in dramatic fashion to tie things up. Just to top it all, a 73rd-minute point from Kieran Prior sealed victory for the 2018 Lory Meagher champions.
The win meant that Sligo had secured their second straight promotion after only featuring the previous season in the championship’s fifth and final tier competition, the Lory Meagher Cup.
Another surreal kind of moment. ‘You don’t really have time to take it all in until the last few minutes. It’s then you think, “we might actually win this”.
‘It was great. Friends, family, everyone there. It was good for the whole county. It was a good achievement because nobody really gave us a chance. I think we were 40-1 outsiders before the first game against Louth to win.’
Nothing in his family line in a traditional football county suggested the sporting career path he has taken. ‘My father’s from Mayo, so would be a big footballer. My mother is Sligo – she has three brothers who would all have played football. I started when I was eight or nine with my local club.
‘Hurling was just something I watched on TV. I was mad to get into it and took it up.’
Togging out in the exhibition game itself just completed the kind of season that couldn’t be scripted. At the final whistle, he tries to sum it all up.
‘Very warm. Wouldn’t be used to this back home. Ah, it was great to be out there. The most scenic pitch I’ve ever played on. It’s a bit different going from home and looking at sea and mountains to playing in front of skyscrapers. I’ve been watching these lads on television so to be playing with them is cool.’
The night after the game, the touring party headed to the traditional local post-match venue of Irish bar McGettigan’s where, once again, Weir’s fresh-faced look isn’t making it easy to gain entry.
After the year he’s had? He can live with it.