Aidan O’Shea – GAA should introduce independent doctor to assess concussions

Mayo man feels GAA need to wake up to head injuries

If we're lucky some of us will never experience the sensation of being knocked-out cold or suffering a concussion in our lives. Unfortunately for Mayo's Aidan O'Shea he has already suffered, by his own reckoning '6 or 7 concussions' since the age of 16 through football. The Breaffy man was involved in a sickening collision during last year's All Ireland football semi final replay with Kerry after a clash of heads with Cillian O'Connor and believes it's now time for the GAA to act. He feels an independent medical assessor should be on the sideline to decide whether players are able to play on after suffering a head injury, 'There probably should be an independent doctor maybe on the sideline, to dictate what happens. It's very difficult when you're in the heat of the game like that and you think you can make a difference regardless of what state you're in to be objective and make a call like that.' O'Shea admits that the incident affected Mayo's performance that day and that his impatience to get back on the pitch may have been a mistake, 'I wanted to get back on the pitch when they had just scored a penalty I think and I suppose you're thinking you can make a difference. I thought I was ok but when I came out for the second half I definitely wasn't ok and that's why James left me on the sideline ' Worryingly O'Shea has a history of suffering concussion and if he was in any other sport it hard to believe that he wouldn't be treated with almost kidgloves considering his past, 'I've been concussed a lot. The first time I got it was when I was 16. I didn't even know what it was back then. I've been concussed in Connacht finals. It happens quite easily to me. I'm not a doctor but I think the more you get concussed the easier is to happen.' The 24-year-old is well aware of studies in the US on the effects of concussion on NFL players but is hoping  to follow the example of another Irish sportsman who suffered regular concussion during his career, 'I think I'm alright, if someone like Brian O'Driscoll can walk through as many concussions as he has I think I'll be alright It's very hard to know what kind of effect it has on the body and hopefully I won't have any long term effects(knocks his knuckle on the table). O'Shea is just getting back into training under a new regime in Mayo as Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes take the reigns following the departure of James Horan. O'Shea admits the way the process was handled, and especially in relation to Kevin McStay, left a lot to be desired, 'Obviously the way it went out was very disappointing for everybody involved. As an outsider I would have said he (McStay) had a great chance. Whatever decision was made there was no player involvement in it and it was very unfortunate the way the thing was handled.' O'Shea is hopeful that the new management team can drive on from the success and standards set by Horan over the last number of years, 'I'd like to think we grew up a lot under James and it became very player driven on and off the pitch. I would expect it stays the same and we'd continue that standard we set ourselves. If Pat and Noel did something then that's great. Our level has been quite consistent over the last number of years and we just need to maintain that and find something else.'  O'Shea is also happy to see Keith Higgins rewarded with the Mayo captaincy and the midfielder feels that the honour is only befitting of man he regards as the county's greatest ever footballer, "Keith's obviously a three-time All Star in a row now and probably one of the most consistent players in the country now and our most decorated footballer. He's Mayo's best footballer of all time in my opinion. It has become very player driven in Mayo and his job probably easier because he's a lot of good lads around him.'  However O'Shea does feel that the Connacht champions have a key area to work on and that is their game management. He reflects that the one game he would like to play again would be the 2013 All-Ireland final against Dublin, 'I talked to the Dublin backroom team members after that game and they were probably at a loss what to do, we were playing so well, but we couldn't kick the ball over the bar. At the moment when we put ourselves six or seven points up, which we have done, it's still not seen as a dead game for the opposition, that can be turned around in too short a period.' The rancour from Joe Brolly's comments is still fresh in the air and the Mayo man is diplomatic when asked his thoughts on whether the Derry native was right to call GAA players 'indentured slaves', 'To a point, like, there's some middle ground there and he's probably gone a little bit over the top. I see Bernard (Brogan) talking about players putting their careers on hold for Gaelic Football and I would definitely agree with that.' O'Shea can see within his own family the difficulty that trying to maintain a life outside of football has posed, 'Obviously the career thing, I can see from my own brother, he’s probably stood still from his career point of view, because he wants to play football for Mayo. So it’s probably getting to a level where it’s very difficult to maintain both.'