2010_08 Hoganstand Magazine August 2010 by Lynn Group Media

CONTENTS August 2010

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Countrywide

Kevin McStay column

Dan Shanahan

Richard Hayden

Thornton Sports Getting the Best

Val O’Brien

Peter Canavan column

Shane O’Neill

ESB Minor update

Adrian Byrne

Tom Lynam

Barry O’Shea

Greg McLaughlin

Kevin Fitzpatrick

Barry Storey

Pearse O’Connor

Noel Marshall

Northern Gaels

Mark Bailey

Tom Walsh

Joe Byrne

Belmullet GAA

Results

Mulcahy column

Final Word

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26 HOGAN STAND is published by The Lynn Group Kells Business Park, Kells, Co. Meath Telephone: (046) 9241923 Fax. (046) 9241926. ISDN: 046-9280034 E mail: contact@lynnpublications.com

LAOIS FAIL TO WOO O SE

GRIFFIN HINTS AT CLARE COMEBACK Tony Griffin is refusing to rule out a return to the Clare colours in 2011. The former All-Star stunned the Banner County when he announced his retirement from inter-county hurling at the age of 29 earlier this year, but he has continued to play outstanding hurling for his club Ballyhea and admitted that last Sunday's epic All-Ireland SHC quarter-final between Tipperary and Galway has whetted his appetite for a return to the big stage. Stressing that he would be open to a comeback only if manager Ger O'Loughlin wants him, he said: "When you watch a game like that you want to get togged off and go out and start all over again. "The game every year is going to a new level. I'm 30 next year, but who knows?"

An audacious bid by Laois to lure Kerry legend Darragh O Se to the midlands has failed. Reports eminated that O'Moore County officials had approached O Se about becoming their new football manager and had mapped out their plans to the six-time All-Ireland winning midfielder at a meeting. But O Se reportedly told Laois that he has no plans to get involved in management so soon after his retirement from inter-county football. The Gaeltacht stalwart only retired in the wake of last September's All-Ireland final win over Cork.

FITZPATRICK COULDN'T FACE REF Louth boss Peter Fitzpatrick has revealed how he turned down a chance to talk to the referee whose shocking blunder denied the Wee County their first Leinster football title in 53 years. A third party rang Fitzpatrick to ask him would he speak with Tyrone official Martin Sludden, but after initially agreeing, he changed his mind. "I got a phone call last Friday from a man and he asked me would I take a call from the referee and I said I would," he said. "The referee rang me last Monday, I missed the call, he left a message and asked me to give him a ring back. I thought about it, but I just let it go."

Louth manager Peter Fitzpatrick pleads with referee Martin Sludden after the Leinster final

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ONE WILL CONQUER ALL

Follow us on facebook.com/GuinnessHurling The GUINNESS GUINNESS word and associated logos are trade marks. ÂŠ Guinness & Co. 2010.

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29/04/2010 10:34

PLAYERS TO ASSIST IN BID TO TACKLE PITCH The GAA will shortly launch a campaign outlining players' experiences in dealing with pitch invasions. GAA president Christy Cooney wrote in his programme notes to the All-Ireland SHC quarterfinal double bill: "In the coming weeks you will be hearing about our ongoing education campaign from a number of players, both hurlers and GAA President footballers, who will recount Christy Cooney their own first-hand experiences of the challenge of facing thousands of people, in an exhausted state, immediately after games." Cooney reiterated that the: "health and safety of our players and supporters remains the driving force behind our efforts to change this practice". He also paid tribute to Portarlington's Eddie Geoghegan, the steward injured by a bottle at the Louth-Meath Leinster SFC final: "We rely on people like Eddie to assist in the organisation of our events." MASTERS AXING CAUSES ANGER The GAA's decision to axe the Masters (Over 40s) football competition has sparked anger among competing counties. The competition has been officially suspended by the CCCC, under whose remit it falls, and is set to be integrated into a new social and recreational games model soon to be rolled out. All-Ireland champions Mayo won their first game against Galway and were training for their next game against Sligo when they received word that the competition had been axed. "They just don't want it and that has been obvious for some years now," team organiser Ger Butler claimed. "There have been issues with insurance. Dublin players paid their own insurance this year, no problem, when it came up. They were happy to do that. Last year, we paid for our own All-Ireland medals when we won it. Again, no problem." The motive behind the GAA's decision to scrap the Over 40s is they feel it has become too serious. HEAVIN MAY NOT PLAY AGAIN Westmeath stalwart Derek Heavin is facing the prospect of not playing football again after sustaining a horrific knee injury against Louth last month. The Castledaly clubman, who came out of retirement to play in the Leinster semi-final on June 27, was detained in Dublin's Mater Hospital for 12 days after suffering a dislocated knee and cartilage, cruciate medial and lateral knee ligament damage. He also ruptured ligaments in his fibia. "I definitely won't be playing with my club in the county championship this year," said the 2004 Leinster championship winner, who suffered the injury when his right foot got stuck in the ground as he attempted to collect a breaking ball. "And I don't know if I will be Derek Heavin suffered horrific knee every able to play football injury in the Leinster semi-final again. If I did manage to make a comeback, the fear factor that I might have similar problems with my knee would be very strong. A lot will depend on how my rehab goes, and I will be in the dark really until a good bit down the road." 4 August 2010 www.hoganstand.com

• in brief • FARRELL CALLS FOR VIDEO TECHNOLOGY GPA chief executive Dessie Farrell has called for the introduction of video technology in the wake of this year’s Leinster football final debacle. He also wants pitch invasions to be outlawed as a criminal offence and has called on Croke Park to address the standard of refereeing. "It's time we explored and debated the whole concept of video refereeing," he said. "To use that argument that you cannot introduce that technology for club matches or first round games, that it cannot filter through the system, doesn't necessarily mean we shouldn't do it. Because at the end of the day, what went on was a PR disaster for us all. "It's a multi-million euro industry now in terms of sponsors, TV and supporters paying in at the gate. We need to be getting our house in order, to satisfy all those stakeholders. "I believe in that context, if we could come up with a simple system where the referee had recourse to a video referee who was able to look at the footage; if there was a 30-second break in the game - the same amount of time it takes to take a kick-out - we'd be better off." While Farrell said he was "bitterly disappointed" for the vanquished Louth team, he also expressed sympathy for the Meath players who were "placed in a very unenviable position" of having to decide if their neighbours should be offered a replay after Joe Sheridan's illegal last-gasp goal was allowed to stand.

TYRONE AND PROUD

You can take the man out of Tyrone but not the Tyrone out of the man. Tyrone native Paddy Donaghy is based in London these days but is still an ardent O’Neill supporter. His young son Tadhg (pictured above) carries on the tradition of showing his support for Mickey Harte’s charges

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14/06/2010 16:21

Kevin PUT IT ON THE GROUND AND STICK IT OVER THE BAR No doubt this column has touched on the matter of elite free-takers in the modern inter-county game but is anybody out there listening? Let’s be frank about this: if you want to be remembered as one of the greats in this particular department then scrap the idea of taking frees from your hands. Indeed, if I was managing or coaching at any serious level it might well be one of the first matters I attended to and insisted upon. Proof, if further proof was really needed, arrived on the day of the 2010 Connacht football final when Roscommon’s Donie Shine shot the lights out with freetaking off the floor and ensured the Ros’ won out in the province. The proposal to have frees taken from the hands came into the inter-county scene just as I was going out of it. But a few years spent at club level before retirement was long enough to figure out frees taken from the hand will never provide the accuracy that those taken off the ground will. The NFL of 1989-90 trialed a brave new rule whereby frees could be taken from the hands and GAA Congress in Easter 1990 voted in favour of it. A new era had begun. It was designed to speed up the game dramatically and by and large, without any empirical evidence to hand, I imagine it did just that. But 20 years on we have a new generation of free takers and the rule has meant we no longer immediately identify the specialist free taker. Way back then every team had to carry one: remember Tony McTeague, Jimmy Keaveny, Mikey Sheehy, Matt Connor, Mickey Kerins, Dermot Earley, Larry Tompkins, Barney Rock, Colin Corkery, Maurice Fitzgerald, Charlie Redmond, Maurice Sheridan? They would put the ball into your eye when striking off the ground and if they contributed beyond their speciality (and they most certainly did!), then all the better. But the change in rule led to a new approach and suddenly each team had a few free-takers on board, no longer specialists and no longer spending hours practising the skill, but still confident of hitting the target when the pressure came on. You must realise elite skills are rarely learned without endless practice and I’m not convinced the modern practitioners are putting in the requisite work. Perhaps Peter Canavan, Bernard Brogan, Colm Cooper and Padraic Joyce can boast of making a successful transition. They have all recorded high success percentages. And that success rate must be around 80% to merit a second glance for that is the type of numbers the old timers could amass in each and every season. The reason the kicks off the floor remain the best option is pretty obvious: fewer moving parts provide a more stable platform in which to execute this high-pressured skill. The modern kicker has a line or mark he must run to, the ball 6 August 2010 www.hoganstand.com

must be dropped to a kicking foot from a height and so we have introduced hand-eye-foot co-ordination where as the hand had no part to play other than balance previously. And the modern free takers must know that some day soon a referee is going to pull up a free taker who has over stepped the mark and stolen a few yards. It’s happened with sideline kicks and kick outs and sooner rather than later a controversial call will be made. In a game where close on 50% of scores can come from frees if maximum advantage is taken, the importance of nailing all the kickable opportunities is vital. And if you employ a poor kicker, expect to start losing the close games. The margins are that tight and reliable kickers are worth so much to any team. In fact, even if the contribution from general play is more or less non-existent, managers will still consider your inclusion! But back to the 2010 Connacht final again: it was the clinching argument in this long-running saga. Frees taken

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from the ground provide a more reliable return than those taken from the hand. Roscommon’s Donie Shine gave a master class and finished up with 10 terrific points in his sides 14 point haul. Of the 10 points Shine amassed, six came from frees and he tapped over a ‘45’ for good measure. So, 50% of his team’s total came from frees and he was able to recover from missing a handful of frees he might have expected to convert. In truth, Shine might well have contributed 15 points if he was really on his game. That’s how good his kicking generally is. The scoring kicks were from serious distance, various angles and both with, and against, a slight breeze. The pressure was serious at all times-in a tight contest every ball counts. If he attempted these kicks from the hand the strike rate would have meant defeat for Roscommon. This championship season has produced somewhat inconclusive data as we’ve witnessed their performances:

Paddy Kelly (Cork-from the floor) has been poor; Johnny Doyle (Kildare-from the hands) has struggled for top level consistency; Bryan Sheehan (Kerry-from the floor) has been outstanding; Bernard Brogan (Dublin-from the hands) is registering very good results and Padraic Joyce (Galwayfrom the hands) has also been terrific. But I remain convinced of my opening position: if you want to convert the frees that many see as a bonus, the frees that are awarded way out he field and at awkward angles, then the only method to employ is the old-fashioned but hugely successful method of placing the ball on the floor. Get into your zone, take the requisite steps back, deep breath, eyes on goal, eyes on ball, approach and kick and keep eyes firmly on ball and concentrate on the follow through. The rest tends to look after itself. You’ll know you have it cracked when you notice the point umpire bending for the flag as you go begin your routine.

Donie Shine kicks the winner against Sligo in the Connacht SFC final

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The sliothar is in the Cork net and Dan Shanahan is a happy man to have put it there

SHANAHAN IS PACING HIMSELF 2010 has brought a new vision for Dan Shanahan, one which has seen the Waterford hurler pace himself, and banish the whirlwind and excitement, which he concedes he got caught up in, in the past as he told C贸il铆n Duffy.

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Dan Shanahan readies himself for the Munster clash with Clare

hanahan is mirroring the Guinness 'Pace Yourself' campaign he has been promoting of late - keen not to rush into things anymore and work his hurling in moderation - so he can maximise his impact for the Deise. "Yeah no pressure on me to be honest with you. That's the way I look at it now," Shanahan proclaims. "Maybe I was getting too wound up at the start of the year. Even for the Clare game when I started I was too wound up

Dan has a quick word with John Mullane

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going into it. “I said 'I'd just relax, I've done it all before what is the point of getting wound up?' Not any more to be honest. I see every game now as my last game, and I just enjoy it.” Shanahan isn’t stuck in a bubble anymore, and he fully realises that years are catching up with him – and that means less and less game time in a Waterford jersey. He says that nothing can compare to Tony Browne – the teak-tough Deise defender, who is still going strong at 37 years of age and at the start of this month picked up the GAA Vodafone Hurler of the Month award for July. "I'm 33 years of age and everyone knows that more than I do, because they are saying that to me. It's very hard to keep going and keep going. Tony is a one off to be honest with you. He is a great man and there is no way that I will go on like that,” Shanahan proclaimed. Browne may be just four years Shanahan’s elder, but he hugely excites ‘Dan the Man’. "He is unbelievable because he is in the dressing room and togs out alongside me. I know what he is like, I know what he does. He looks after himself, comes back in late. He is just outstanding. He is an outstanding person on and off the field." As he nears the end of his career

Shanahan says it is all about managing his time more Seamus Callanan made scoring contributions for Tipperary strategically. in that quarter-final win over the Tribesmen. "There is no point in going out racing 20 year olds - you Shanahan knows just how much the modern game is as are not going to beat them. The Noel Connor's, the Thomas about the strength of your bench as it is the starting 15. Ryan's - they are all going to be faster. "Every substitute when he gets a chance is trying to stake "They are a different build, they are a different everything his claim. to you. You just improve what you can improve yourself "That's what makes the team and makes the players. We when you are there. have 30 players below in Waterford fighting for a place, "If it is catching a break off a ball well and good. I don't believe you me. care who scores it once Waterford wins.â&#x20AC;? "It would be the same every night in training. It would be The Lismore clubman who made his Championship debut dogged, rough training and it would be tough training, but in 1998 against Kerry says that the competitive nature of that's what it's for. It's for the benefit of the team." the hurling Championship this year, sees the SHC return to And despite Shanahan's status as an almost ever present the glory days of the '90s and the mouthwatering hurling of on the Deise full-forward line, having bagged 26-58 (136 that decade. points) in his Championship career to date; the 33-year old "There is nothing between the teams (now). Galway says that berth is no longer his to lose, but rather a place to losing by a point to Tipp. Last year we beat Galway by a win back. point, there's nothing between the teams. "To be honest those younger players have my place, so it "The top six or seven teams in the country. Of course is me who is looking to them to try and get it off them," he Kilkenny are the ultimate aim, but there are something said. exceptional at the moment. "If I can come on and just contribute (something) "They aren't our side of the draw yet, so we won't talk whether that is giving the winning hand-pass to Seamus specifically about them, but overall hurling is something Prendergast to kick the ball into the net, or one to Maurice unbelievable at present." (Shanahan) to get a goal - that would do me. However, despite not willing to be drawn too much about "Once Waterford me, and believe me when I say it - once talking about the Cats; Shanahan concedes that Brian we win I am a happy man and that is the main thing." Cody's charges have the system worked to a tee - always There is one medal missing from Shanahan's impressive benefiting from the long lay-off between a provincial final haul - a celtic cross, following an All-Ireland Senior win and a semi-final tie. triumph. "Kilkenny, that's the way they go. We have the chance to The Deise have come close in recent years, most notably go the Kilkenny way now (having won the Munster final). in 2008; but succumbed to Kilkenny in the decider. We'll see against Tipperary whether it works or not, but we But Shanahan has been hearted by his sides strong resolve will certainly be training hard for that game. which has seen Waterford continue to show great "When you pass that white line, all you need is a bit of determination, to try and claim Liam MacCarthy success luck on the day, and just hopefully - hopefully we'll get it." for the first time since 1959. "To be honest, other teams would have folded, but we Waterford's character has certainly been tested in the 2010 haven't. We have come back probably and definitely a Championship to date. better team than '08. A poor start against Clare in their semi-final clash was "That's down to the management that are there and the overcome, as the Deise dug deep in the closing stages to people who are with Davy. carve out a win. "I think it is fantastic the way that we came back and there "In the Clare game we were four points down at half-time, is a great mix of youth and experience there at the moment. and we won by four; so there was a good turn-around there. "Between the players on the field and the players that are "No disrespect (to Clare) but I thought we were always on the bench, but who knows (what could happen). We'll going to beat Clare. In a couple of years it will be a different just take the Tipp game the next day and see how that goes." story - they are very young; and we saw that when they were beaten by Dublin." But fellow Munster outfit Tipperary will pose a huge step up for the Deise, who Shanahan feels need to totally up their game from a less than spectacular Munster final replay performance, which saw them edge victory in extra-time against Cork. "We'll never approach any team that way (as we did against Cork), because every team is different. "Tipp are exceptional. One thing I noticed was that they had 20 good players who played in the game against Galway. "They are going to be wicked hard to beat." John O'Brien and Davy Fitzgerald has a final word with his charges 12 August 2010 www.hoganstand.com