How much Deep Heat would you use in over 200 appearances for your county?
Tyrone face Derry in the quarter-finals of the Ulster senior football championship this weekend, and for the 14th time since 2003, Sean Cavanagh will start a Championship campaign.
The Moy club man has been the beating heart of Mickey Harte side since the last decade and at 33 shows no signs of slowing down.
He may now operate as an orthodox full-forward, but his powerful runs, and that shimmy, have made him not only an icon of Tyrone football, but a legend in the GAA.
Ahead of Sunday’s encounter, the Tyrone team named includes a championship debutant in Niall Sludden at centre-back.
He might be nervous, but if he is looking for some advice, perhaps he should look towards Cavanagh, who has already bagged 79 championships appearances, and will play for the 221st time in his career for the Red Hand on Sunday afternoon.
Cavanagh’s stats compare well to other GAA legends, with Andy Moran making history for Mayo in the spring.
Congratulations @andypmoran who became Mayo's joint all time record appearance holder after making his 132nd appearance today. #longevity
— Mayo GAA (@MayoGAA) April 3, 2016
Tomas O Sé of Kerry made a record 199 appearances for the Kingdom, while Tony Browne of Waterford must have picked up over 100, but as there is no database, we can only guess as to the legendary longevity of the Deise man.
A discussion from last year, when Cavanagh made his 200th appearance, would seem to lend weight to the argument that he is now easily the country’s most experienced ever Gaelic footballer.
I'm pretty sure Sean Cavanagh couldn't be the first but who else has 200 inter county appearances? @McCoyNiall @DeclanBogue @MalachyClerkin
— Eunan L (@eunanjack) March 15, 2015
Sean Cavanagh – 200 games and a scoring average of 2.3 points per game in that time. #GAA
— Niall McCoy (@McCoyNiall) March 15, 2015
@DeclanBogue @McCoyNiall @MalachyClerkin @eunanjack @tomas5ky John Doyle played every champ match for club and county between 2000 and 2013.
— Kieran Cunningham (@KCsixtyseven) March 15, 2015
And we suspect, that he will only add to his total over the coming weeks and months.
God bless the backdoor system and its many games.
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