Funny how things go.
2012 and a whippersnapper Davy Glennon made his Galway debut at Cusack Park against Westmeath, only to be taken off after a 14 minute cameo which he describes as ‘cat.’
Almost a decade on and the Galway man has now switched allegiances to Westmeath, with his debut for the Lake County potentially taking place against none other than the Tribesmen in the first game of the 2021 National Hurling League.
Glennon could conceivably line out earlier for his adopted county, with his transfer and its legitimacy for this year’s Joe McDonagh Cup still being debated in Croke Park.
Deadlines and decisions aside, it’s been a whirlwind couple of months for the 29-year-old. In February, he was dropped by new Galway manager Shane O’Neill and so his mind began to wander.
“An opportunity came about, and with me finishing up in early February, it gave me a chance to see what can I do with my inter-county career being over in Galway. This opportunity came and why not take it while I’m fit and fresh and feeling good, you know,” he says in an interview with Colm Parkinson on Thursday’s GAA Hour Show.
Davy Glennon was fouled for the crucial free in the in the 2012 All-Ireland final, Kilkenny v Galway, Croke Park, Dublin. Picture credit: Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE.
February didn’t exactly spell the end of the road for Glennon’s Galway career with the O’Neill informing him that a strong club season with Mullagh could bring him back into contention. The Limerick man also gave Glennon the feedback that his pace off-the-mark had to improve.
“Every manager has different ideas about different players and I basically met with Shane O’Neill a few weeks later after being dropped and asked the question ‘was my inter-county career under Shane O’Neill over?’ and I was told it wasn’t. Taking that on board, I knew we had club championship coming up before the inter-county and I had the chance to show what I can do. I asked the question ‘what was I weak on and what do I need to improve on as a player?
“I got my feedback that my explosive pace wasn’t good enough. That was the the most that I got out of it, that I needed to improve on that. So I worked on that, got a bit of one-on-one with an S and C myself behind the scenes and hurled away with my club…That was the shop window/shop front and long story short, we got to the preliminary quarter final and I thought I was hurling as good as I could, showing a bit of form, and felt I was fit and improved on what I needed to improve on. Obviously, that wasn’t just good enough, and you have to take time and step back and see what’s the best approach for me going forward.”
With his mother qualifying for a transfer to Westmeath under the parentage rule, the All-Ireland winner is raring for the challenge.
“People look at Westmeath as lesser county than Galway but honesty as a big thing with me and if you can be honest in work, life, sport or whatever it is, you’ll go a long way and I think there’s an honest group there and I think big things can happen there in the next couple of years if lads stick together…”
“I have been very welcomed so far, I’m willing to put my neck on the line for whatever jersey that I put on and I’m willing to go out and give it 110% whenever I can. There’s lots of people who mightn’t get the opportunity, but aren’t I one of the lucky ones who’s injury free both mentally and physically and able to go out and grace between the white lines again…”
You can listen to the Davy Glennon interview here and the rest of Monday’s GAA Hour Show here.
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