‘KEEPING UP APPEARANCES
Mason learning from goalden generation at club, county & college
That was the way I had to learn. It’s not just the shots and whatever. It’s their movement..
Ballyhale Shamrocks (Kilk) v St Thomas’ (Gal) Tomorrow, Thurles, 3.30pm
BY Karl O’kane
DEAN MASON has faced the bullets and is learning from the best.
If it’s not TJ Reid, Colin Fennelly and young stars Eoin Cody and Adrian Mullen in the firing squad at Ballyhale Shamrocks training, it’s Anthony Nash in with the University of Limerick.
Or it could be one Henry Shefflin or Richie O’neill, who is with Shefflin in Galway.
Sometimes it’s Richie Reid, who played in goals for Ballyhale, but is now outfield for club and county, with little pieces of advice.
Other times it was former Kilkenny goalie, David Herity – the current Kildare boss – taking an odd session. It’s an astonishing array of influences to call on for a young player on their journey up.
Mason (below) was in goals as current Galway manager, Shefflin led the club to back to back All-irelands (2019/20) before the Tribe looked east for a messiah. The club have powered on though.
Tomorrow, Ballyhale bid to make their 10th All-ireland final. It’s the ultimate winning environment, with eight Allirelands claimed in their last eight final appearances, after losing their first national final.
Mason was an outfield player as a kid, but found his place in the goals and hasn’t looked back since. “When I was younger there was a lad missing one day,” he said. “I stood in goal, made a save and kind of stayed there since.
“I was probably 10 or 11. My father was actually manager of one of the teams. He didn’t really want me in goal so he played me out the field.
“It came to (Kilkenny) development squads at under-14 and I realised I probably wouldn’t make it out the field so I just went in the goal and thankfully I made it.”
It’s some step up now to playing with some of the greatest forwards of the last decade at club level in Colin Fennelly and TJ Reid. “When you approach senior level with your club you always need to be ready for the kind of power, the strength that everyone has,” says Mason. “These are fully grown men and you just need to adapt. The more you leave in, the more you learn, and that was kind of the way
I had to eliminate that as much as possible.
“You kind of learn looking at them and you bring that to your own backs then as well so if they are moving and criss crossing or whatever, you want to think of a way for a lad to hold, or a back to go with him.
“On the breaks you need to realise, ‘What do they do? Where is the man going?
“The loose men, where are they moving too and you need to try and close them down, or close the space down.
“You need to kind of keep looking out for them kind of things.
“I feel that just having them lads around brings it on for you.”