I HAD TO MAKE SAM DECISIONS
SHANE RYAN admits he knew he was probably leaving an All-ireland medal behind him when he switched codes.
The 2008 football All Star played against Kerry in the 2009 All-ireland quarter-final defeat before joining Anthony Daly’s hurlers.
The dual star described it as ‘medium success’ in the small ball game as he played in the 2011 Leinster final defeat of Kilkenny.
But the Dublin footballers he left behind won a breakthrough All-ireland that same year.
“’Dalo’ was coming in, there was a buzz, there was an atmosphere, there was a lot of potential in the team. When he rang me I agonised over it for a long time,” he said on Dublin GAA’S The Hop Ball programme.
“I wrote out a list of pros and cons for both sides. I’ve never agonised over a decision more in my life. It eventually came down to if
I don’t try this I’m going to regret it forever.
“I knew what I might be giving up, I knew I might be giving up the chance to win an All-ireland. But on the other side I thought, ‘I’m gaining the chance to do something special’, because hurling was my first love when I was a kid.”
Powerful Ryan retired in mid-2012 due to persistent back trouble and will go down as one of Dublin’s key footballers in the 2000s.
The Portmarnock man said he doesn’t get obsessed about his All-star in 2008 when he forged a brilliant midfield partnership with Ciaran Whelan (below). He was renowned for his darting runs into space which allowed goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton to pick him out with his precise kick-outs.
Ryan said: “I probably wouldn’t have lasted at midfield if I didn’t have ‘Clucko’. It wasn’t for him, I think that partnership probably wouldn’t have existed.”