Great to see.
Battle commences when players cross the four white lines. Friendship is forgotten about immediately because the only thing that matters is the ball, your teammates and beating the opposition. GAA players’ lives revolve around the game nowadays.
They make so many sacrifices and commit so much to their sport that when the big games roll around, they’ll be desperate to win, and they’ll do anything in their power to be the best they can be to make those sacrifices worthwhile.
The best thing about the GAA, however and the best thing about sport is that it’s so rare that those on-field grudges or the tetchiness that builds up during games will hold sway after the final whistle is blown.
Most players respect that all is fair in love and war, unless an opponent is unreasonably or outrageously out of line during the hour and whatever of play, because from their own experiences, they are well aware just how much this game means to each other.
GAA players are similar characters. They’re all supremely dedicated athletes, most of them are up for a bit of craic. The beauty of the Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cups and college GAA competitions is that they bring players from different counties and backgrounds together.
They often become the best of friends, living together, hanging out together, going out on the town together.
It’s rare enough that players still live together when their playing after college, but that’s exactly the case in Dublin with county hurlers from Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny all living under the one roof.
“Philip Mahony, Tadhg De Búrca and Darragh Fives (all Waterford) and Matthew O’Hanlon (Wexford) and Cillian Buckley (Kilkenny) all live together in Dublin. I just thought it was a weird one that you’ve got Wexford, Kilkenny and Waterford fellas together,” said host Wooly on Thursday’s GAA Hour Hurling Show.
Parkinson put it to guest on the show, Diarmuid ‘The Rock’ O’Sullivan that the legendary Cork team he was a part of in the early 2000s wouldn’t have been so close to their rivals.
“You were like a closed book who didn’t socialise with anyone outside your own group,” reasoned Wooly.
Rock was having none of it, but the Cork selector of last year feels that the living arrangements will be of huge benefit to the five players involved.
“You have to be from the people’s republic to get into the people’s republic, Wooly, I’m sick of telling you.
“It’s an interesting one, but do you know what, isn’t it great? You’re obviously not going to be giving away any of the information that goes on inside in your own camp but over chats over time, you will find out about fellas and how they do things differently. You’ll gather information chatting to your friends like that more so than you will sitting down and watching it for ten years.”
Former Laois hurling manager Seamus ‘Cheddar’ Plunkett believes the lads would have great craic in the house, but feels they’d all be holding their cards close to their chest in the build-up to big games.
“It’s certainly a very good learning area for them. Having said that, I’d say there must be fair craic in that house when Wexford and Kilkenny are hurling. There might be a red line drawn in the kitchen or something like that.”
He also added that arrangements like this are hugely advantageous for players from weaker counties, who get to learn from the best.
“I suppose college sets the template for it really, in that players get to know one another and that. I think it is fantastic really. It’s a great help to the weaker counties. They know what the standard is in the top counties and they can bring it back to their own counties and that. I think we’ve benefited from that, say with players playing Fitzgibbon.”
You can listen to this sideline chat, more dark arts talk from The Rock and much more on Thursday’s GAA Hour Hurling Show right here.
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