Conor Cleary captained the Clare senior hurlers against Wexford the day after winning his first Fitzgibbon Cup.
The Kilmaley club man was one of Clare’s best players on Sunday. He held his man, David Dunne, scoreless and turned in a solid overall performance in a defeat that won’t hurt the Division One table toppers too much in the grand scheme of things.
On Saturday, the former NUIG student was similarly impressive for UL, limiting the lively DCU forward Peter Hogan to just a point from play.
It was his tight defensive play around the house that laid the foundations for Gary Kirby’s side’s victory. Cleary will have been delighted with that.
Five @DCUGAAAcademy men, four @ul_gaa men, two @ITCarlowGAA, two @MaryImmaculateS men, one @UCDGAA man and one @DITGAA man. https://t.co/4FMiDnM27F
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) February 26, 2018
All past participants, but even more so, all past winners of the cream of the college competition speak highly of their experiences. That bond, the team spirit, the social aspect of it all, that’s what they remember.
Cleary will look back on Saturday proudly and fondly for years to come. It might just have been more memorable if he got to celebrate it with the rest of his teammates.
Two other Clare seniors and Fitzgibbon winners, in Tony Kelly and David Fitzgerald didn’t line out for Clare the next day which suggests that they may have been given a decision on what they wanted to do.
Tipperary seniors John McGrath and Jason Forde were his teammates – they were given the next day off by their manager Michael Ryan. As was Padraig Walsh, who won the Ryan Cup with Maynooth by his boss Brian Cody.
Congrats to Clare's Tony Kelly, David Fitzgerald, Aidan McGuane, Ian Galvin, Conor Cleary and Colin Crehan who were part of the UL Fitzgibbon Cup winning team today. pic.twitter.com/c2S9fq7dBW
— Clare Gaa (@GaaClare) February 24, 2018
Former All-Ireland winner with Clare, Brendan Bugler knows that the Clare management didn’t force Cleary to play, his issue was that they didn’t force him not to.
“In Clare, I think the management left it up to the boys to make the decision – but I don’t think they should have done that, I think they should have just said lads, look, play your Fitzgibbon final. We’ll see you Tuesday night. Enjoy the nights.”
The Whitegate club man went on to criticise the abolishing of the Fitzgibbon weekend. The abolishing of the social aspects of it.
“The sad thing about the Fitzgibbon now is that the social aspect is probably fading away because of county commitments… I think getting rid of the weekend is a joke as well.
“It was some craic, there was some pride, but now it seems like the best team will win rather than the best panel – Fitzgibbon was always about your panel and using your 22 guys or whatever. That’s what created that bond. It was all about the weekend,” he said.
“What is the Fitzgibbon Cup all about? It’s all about the social aspect to it, you know the training before Christmas, the bonding sessions. It’s really all about the nights out, the stories, the characters you’ll meet.
“From Conor’s point of view, he was made captain yesterday, so it’s very hard for him. I can see why Conor would have jumped at the opportunity to line out for Clare, I think he should have gone out, he should have been with the UL boys and had the craic…Cleary likes a beverage from time to time.”
He feels Maloney and O’Connor should have followed Brian Cody and Michael Ryan’s lead.
“He probably made up for it last night, alright. I think the managers should just have done it like they did in Kilkenny and Tipp, ‘Look boys, we don’t want to see you until Tuesday or Wednesday night.
JJ Delaney agreed with Bugler, referencing how Brian Cody treated him and other Kilkenny Fitzgibbon players back in his time.
“At the start of the week, they should be fully focused on playing the Fitzgibbon final and trying to win that for their team. There are only a certain amount of years you can do that. When we were hurling Fitzgibbon with Kilkenny, Brian Cody was in favour of, ‘you go hurl with your college and do your best for them. A Fitzgibbon final is what it’s all about.
The legendary Kilkenny defender believes Cleary would have struggled to focus on his county duties, while all of his teammates were out celebrating.
“I’d be under the impression that, after a match like that, you should go celebrate with your teammates. Why are you doing all the training? Why are you putting out a lot of hardship. That’d break my heart, after winning a Fitzgibbon, to go home, you’d be wondering what the lads are doing, you wouldn’t be focused on the next match, like. You’re never going to get back that night.”
In the grand scheme of things, it might have worked out better for everyone.
“We’d give more back to the Kilkenny set-up, then, because we had our fun, now it’s time to focus back down again.”
JJ, Wooly and Brendan Bugler discussing the weekend’s action and much more from Thursday’s GAA Hour Show.
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