“There were fist fights in training.”
Joe Brolly had everyone in the RTE studio in stitches when answering a rather leading question from Patrick Kielty about Mickey Harte.
Brolly was on the Late Late Show as they celebrated the world of the GAA, and despite previous falling outs with the broadcaster, the Derry native made his return.
Following Derry’s Division One title success against Dublin last week, it appears that the Oakleaf county are closer to an All-Ireland than they have been since 1993, a team that Brolly himself was a part of.
However, the Dungiven man was not a fan of Harte’s appointment, claiming that the move was about greed and money above everything else, but now that they are enjoying so much success with the Tyrone native, Kielty couldn’t resist.
The host asked if Harte was the missing piece of the puzzle for Derry to win Sam Maguire, which Brolly responded: “I refuse to answer that question.”
This was met with laughter from the studio and panel, but the former flying forward was more open about his own experiences with the county, and the levels of dedication that they had to reach to climb the Hogan Steps.
“It was a wonderful adventure for Derry and we had that bitter experience last year against Kerry. Derry have been driven on by that Kerry defeat and we are very close now but Dublin are No1 and that is where it all is.
“They have done it so many times and there is that thing which you have to be a pig to go on and win an All-Ireland.
“The year we won it, the training was outrageous. There were fist fights in training. There was no quarter given because it wasn’t about the glamour of an All-Ireland, it was about realising we can win this and if we don’t win this we have let ourselves down.”
