Seán Cavanagh hoping his 13th test will be a lucky one
EVEN AS two of his All-Ireland-winning teammates pull the curtain down on their inter-county careers, Seán Cavanagh is still proudly flying the flag on the other side of the world. Tyrone football will miss the retired duo of Stephen O’Neill and Martin Penrose but Cavanagh (below) shows no signs of slowing down.
No other player in the Ireland International Rules squad has as much experience, the three-time All-Ireland winner now has a decade of playing the hybrid game under his belt. Paul Earley’s team fine-tunes its preparations for the winner-takes-all Test against Australia in Perth next Saturday following a warm-up game this morning in Melbourne against a VFL selection and Cavanagh recalls some contrasting moments during his time in an Ireland jersey.
‘The biggest high was coming out here and captaining Ireland in 2008. It was one of the high points of my career. I stood in Perth as captain of the team.
‘A sell-out. 45,000 packed into Subiaco Oval. It was so competitive. I remember walking off the field at the end and there must have been 10,000 Irish people there. The tricolour was spread out, they were singing songs – it was a massive feeling. One of those things that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
‘The low point was the second Test at Croke Park in 2006 when the game descended into open warfare with Graham Geraghty knocked clean out after a hefty tackle.
‘We had beaten them in Galway and there was the whole thing over Graham Geraghty and a few of the comments he had made. Graham ended up getting slung to the ground.
‘The same game, they talk about “tagging” over here. Well I was tagged. The guy just brutally wrestled me to the ground every time I went to run for the ball. I spent most of the game actually wrestling with him on the ground. I remember thinking to myself, “This is madness”.
‘The off-the-ball stuff wasn’t being picked up back then. It was just a case of “play on” – you were allowed to do what you want. It seemed crazy. It didn’t seem to be a sport.
‘I remember walking away that day and thinking, “You know what, if this is what this sport is going to come out as, I don’t want to be involved with it because you don’t get to play football”.
‘But they tightened things up. And some of the rules they have brought into this game I feel would be beneficial in GAA. The second referee, the video ref – you know you’re going to get caught if you step out of line. If you’re not caught on the field you’ll be caught a few minutes later. That’s in the back of your head. It encourages sportsmanship.’
Next Saturday will be his 13th Test and he gets a chance to close the gap on the game’s all-time record scorer Stevie McDonnell as Ireland look to retain the Cormac McAnallen Cup.
The rules have been tweaked once more to suit the hosts’ strengths after the last two one-sided affairs but, save for injury, Cavanagh’s presence has been a constant.