GOOD, THE BRAD AND THE UGLY
Bradshaw’s inter-county career has been a real rollercoaster but he wouldn’t have it any other way
THE first half of Gareth Bradshaw’s Galway career was largely a tale of near misses and swift qualifier exits.
Within weeks of his joining the panel at just 19 in 2006, Westmeath beat them by a point at home in the qualifiers.
There were similar results against Wexford and Antrim in the years after that but when Mayo trounced them by 17 points in 2013, he needed to get away. So he spent the rest of the summer in America.
“I suppose you would have [been criticised] but it was a personal decision,” he shrugs.
“I look at lads now making decisions to go to America and whoever does go in the summer I wouldn’t begrudge them a trip whatsoever. It’s your own life.
“You’ve got to have a good balance to it. I don’t regret the decision I made.
“If anything, I came back a fresher and better footballer and life is for living and that’s the way I look at it. You’ve got to be enjoying what you’re doing.”
Reflecting on that Mayo loss five years ago, he says: “It was a bad day. It was definitely the lowest point of my career, looking back on that. But we’ve moved on.
“In 2014 we played up in Castlebar in the Connacht final, we lost by a couple of points and then, since that, ‘15, ‘16, ‘17 and this year we’re in there or thereabouts with Mayo who are the benchmark in Connacht football if not the All-ireland.
“They’re competing in All-irelands year in, year out so once you’re competing with them you’d like to think we’re in a good place but we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. Consistency is the name of the game. If you play well one day, you’ve got to play well a second day and the third day and the fourth day.
“We’ve unfortunately learned hard lessons on that but this year more than ever we’re in a good place.”
So it seems. They appear to have a found a level of consistency not known to Galway football since current manager Kevin Walsh was their midfield general at the turn of the millenium.
They enjoyed a very progressive League campaign and, after beating Mayo for the third successive Championship campaign, are favourites to see off Roscommon in tomorrow’s Connacht final.
“If I had the answer to that I may have a couple of All-irelands over the past few years,” says Bradshaw when asked how they’ve managed to finally find that consistency.
“I think the level of competition in the squad has definitely helped us. Everybody has to be on their ‘A’ game when they go out on every given day whether that’s a challenge match or a League game, an FBD game or a Championship match because someone is only waiting in the wings to come in and take your place.
“We have, I think, 32 lads in our squad at the minute and trying to pick a 26 and a 15 out of that is proving a huge challenge, I have no doubt, to Kevin.
“I think having that level of competition. I think Kevin has added, there’s been enough talked about it, Paddy Tally to our coaching set up and that has definitely helped matters as well.
“I know Paddy’s an infectious fella when it comes to football and the level of intensity in training is where it needs to be.”