There’s something special about the thought of Steven McDonnell and Ronan Clarke tucking into tubs of Ambrosia Rice in the Armagh changing room.
A pre-match meal is an essential that scares the bejaysus out of the toughest of men but it’s a simple must to get right if you want to perform to your optimum.
What to eat, how much to eat, when to eat it haunts all of us and you’d often hear of nervous players forcing food down their throats because they feel like they just need to get something on board.
Steven McDonnell had a more relaxed approach.
The former footballer of the year spoke during a fascinating chat on The GAA Hour about why he thinks 7 o’clock starts are better for players because their bodies are used to it from training.
He also revealed what he usually went for before games and it’s safe to say that Ambrosia missed a trick.
“Every player’s different,” the Orchard legend said.
“Before a match, I couldn’t eat – I absolutely could not eat. I used to eat Ambrosia Rice before games because I couldn’t eat anything else – it was the nervous tension building up inside me.
“Ronan Clarke was the same – he was a player who, believe it or not, before nearly every match he was vomiting and at half time he was getting sick.”
Heavy eating before a match is a pain that host Colm Parkinson knows all too well.
“You really have to force that food into you,” Wooly said.
“I remember sitting with Laois before a game at 2 o’clock and you might have a big dish of pasta at 11.
“Number one, your nerves are all over the place. When you’re nervous, you’re not hungry and you’re also not in the mood to eat a meal at 11 o’clock.
“It’s horrible.”
You don’t need to tell McDonnell that.
“That’s exactly why I couldn’t eat a big feed before a game,” the Armagh man continued.
“I ate what I could eat – I ate Ambrosia Rice. Maybe on the coach ride into the pitch we were playing at, I would have an apple or an orange but I was never hungry going into a game.
“That worked for me.”
Listen to the full diet chat from 1:07:00 below.
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