Micko, the RTÉ documentary chronicling the life and career of legendary Kerry manager Mick O’Dwyer, earned rave reviews when it aired on Monday night.
Its depiction of the man as a football romantic who’s been hopelessly addicted to the game for 70 years undeniably tugged on the nation’s heartstrings.
There were poignant moments, like Micko saying he would be a happy man if he died watching football in the stands at Croke Park. There were lighthearted revelations, too, like finding out that, when he was a child, he charged other lads his age a penny to play with the ball so they would eventually have enough money to buy their own.
It was a lovely piece of television, and one thoroughly enjoyed by the panel on this week’s GAA Hour. One bone of contention that Wooly had, however, was the documentary’s portrayal of Micko’s time at Laois. More specifically, Wooly takes exception with the picture being painted of the Laois players. Offering an impassioned defence, he said:
“Micko is hurt by the way his management tenure ended with us and the picture that’s been painted of Laois is not the reality.
“That period in Laois’ football history is almost the greatest ever and for people to look at that period – one we’re really proud of – and to think ‘aww, they were only whippersnappers and they weren’t committed.’ That’s bullshit – we were absolutely committed to Mick O’Dwyer.”
Continuing his staunch rebuttal of the perception of Laois players, Wooly pointed out how they adhered to his famously draining training sessions, doing a punishing amount of laps around the field.
“He’d send you for seven [laps], now they weren’t full laps so you’d do a circle of the lap. You’d come back and he’d tell you a story, build your confidence up and everyone would be hanging on his word.
“Then he might tell you do four, then another eight, and another three. By the time it ended you’d be up around 35-40 laps. For the first two years, we did absolutely everything, won a Leinster title in his first year.”
However, at the end of Micko’s second year, things turned rather sour when the coach suddenly sprung a training session during the off-season.
“Micko decides to fix a training session for Saturday night at 7 o’clock. So, only 12, 14 maybe 16 people showed up because it was last-minute and the others had plans.
“Micko lost the head, said Laois players weren’t committed and walked out on Laois. We trained like dogs for two years under him and didn’t come to one training session, when the chairman of the county board told me he was sore over something financial. So he used the Laois players to fight his battle with the county board. The Laois players were being painted as these up-starts who weren’t committed when that wasn’t the reality.”
If you want to check out the rest of the discussion on Micko, as well as an interview with retired Tipperary hurler Kieran Bergin, who offers an interesting take on what it’s like being in an inter-county squad, the full podcast is available below.
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