Croker hex is not ours, says Breen
DAVID Breen insists t hat t he r ecent poor record of Limerick t e ams in Croke Park makes no difference to Na Piarsaigh as the young city club looks to capture its first All-Ireland club title against Cushendall tomorrow.
‘That record is irrelevant to me and it is irrelevant to a lot of the players as well,’ the forward explained. ‘Limerick people love to go on about history and voodoo and spells and all the rest, but that’s nonsense. Our club has only been around for 48 years and that doesn’t stand up to a lot of other clubs in Limerick, but that’s history. That’s not now.
‘We have got a good team and we are trying to achieve something and that’s all that matters. The amount of teams from Limerick that have played in Croke Park and what they have done, that doesn’t really matter, is not relevant to this final.’
Breen works as a physio with Leinster rugby and admits he went against the best practice of his own profession when he took his hand out of a cast a week early to play in the Munster club final. Given that the job with Leinster is pretty demanding — and includes plenty of travel during the PRO 12 league season — and that he broke his hand while playing for Na Piarsaigh, he does wonder how long he will be able to juggle the two.
‘Yeah, it was testing for the five weeks that I had the cast on alright, but you work around it,’ Breen says. ‘The other physios have been very good to me, picking up some of the slack and allowing me to do work in the gym with players, away from the hands-on stuff.
‘It wasn’t a great time for me personally when I had the broken hand and Leinster showed a lot of patience with me. And at the same time, you have to give back to them because they are not GAA people and they are interested in their own players. You either are fit to do your job or you are not. I have gone from wearing one ashguard to two.’
‘And that is what you have to do. Protect yourself as best you can. There is nobody putting a gun to my head saying I have to stop playing sport. It is a healthy thing to be an athlete yourself, working in that environment, as long as you can commit to it.’
His commitments with Leinster was one of the reasons that Breen stepped away from the intercounty scene with Limerick. But it has allowed him to focus all his energies on helping Na Piarsaigh to try and claim an All-Ireland title. And Breen believes the city club is a much more mature and rounded outfit than the team who were beaten by Loughgiel in the 2012 All-Ireland semi-final
‘We were just on a crest of a wave back then. Our big ambition was just to win the county [2011]. It was the first time in the club’s history so the shackles were off. When we played Munster, every game we just went out and expressed ourselves. Winning Munster was a dream come true,’ he said.
‘Our biggest downfall back then was how we managed the 10week lay- off between winning Munster and preparing for the semi-final. Liam Watson scored 0-16 that day and any team that allows a player to do that much damage doesn’t deserve to go any further.’
The experience of being burnt by the previous Antrim side means there is no chance of Na Piarsaigh taking Cushendall lightly tomorrow.
Some Limerick folk may believe there’s a hex on their teams when it comes to Croke Park but Na Piarsaigh and David Breen have been through too much to fall under any such spell.