Month: September 2021

THE MAYO COUNTY board have handed out three-month suspensions to three members of the senior football backroom team who illegally attended the All-Ireland final in December, contravening Covid-19 protocols. 

According to reports last week, Croke Park officials queried Mayo GAA about the presence of the unaccredited trio inside the stadium for the final after CCTV footage showed them gaining access by a covert method of entry. 

The GAA’s restrictions in response to the pandemic meant 12 members of James Horan’s management team were permitted to attend the game, but the additional three members gained access without completing the relevant Covid-19 checks. 

The government made provisions to allow the extended squads attend both the football and hurling All-Ireland finals, though the backroom teams were to remain at 12-strong.

At a meeting of Mayo’s executive board last Friday, the decision was made to suspend the trio for three months. In a statement, the Mayo county board said that neither they nor manager Horan were aware the three backroom team members managed to attend the game.

“Mayo GAA has examined the issue of the presence of unaccredited backroom team members at last year’s All-Ireland Football Final after it was recently brought to our attention,” the statement said.

“Following a review process, all unaccredited members of the backroom team admitted their mistake, apologised sincerely for their actions and have been suspended for 3 months.

“These individuals attended the game without the knowledge of the county board officers and the team manager.

“Mayo GAA would like to place on record our commitment to the GAA and government’s Covid-19 guidelines, all of which are in place for the safety and well-being of our players, members and wider community.”

JOE CANNING’S NEPHEW has been drafted into the Galway hurling squad for 2021 with manager Shane O’Neill making seven changes as they get ready for the new season.

Jack Canning scored 2-2 and was man of the match when Galway defeated Cork in the 2017 All-Ireland minor final on a day when his uncle Joe finally won a senior medal.

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Jack Canning played with the Galway U-21s in 2018 but then moved to Australia to pursue a rugby career with Northern Suburbs Rugby Club in Sydney, having previously helped Cistercian College, Roscrea, reach the Leinster schools senior cup final.

Canning returned home from Australia last year and featured for Portumna in the Galway senior hurling championship and has been drafted into the county senior squad where he will link up with 33-year old uncle Joe.

Another member of that victorious minor team in 2017, Daniel Loftus from Turloughmore, will join his brother Sean in the squad.

Castlegar’s Sean Neary, who captained Galway to the 2018 All-Ireland minor title at centre-back , has also been drafted along with Liam Mellows defender Stephen Barrett and forward Jack Hastings.

Former Galway U-21 corner-back Declan Cronin has been rewarded for some excellent performances for Cappataggle in the county championship with a call-up, while Athenry forward Cian Burke has also been brought in as O’Neill and his management team prepare for their second year in charge.

Goalkeeper James Skehill has retired while others to depart include Eanna Burke, younger brother of 2017 All-Ireland winning captain David who has committed for another season, Paul Killeen, Jack Grealish, Tadhg Haran, Kevin Hussey and Ronan Burke, brother of full-back Daithi.

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PETER LEAHY HAS stepped down as manager of the Mayo Ladies after being appointed as part of the new backroom team with the Meath U20 footballers.

Leahy steps away after three years in charge, having guided the Connacht outfit to an All-Ireland semi-final in 2019 where they narrowly lost out to Galway.

Mayo reached this feat following a controversial period in 2018, in which 12 players left the squad along with two members of the backroom team.

The news of Leahy’s departure comes after the management team for the Meath U20′s was ratified last night. Bernard Flynn has been appointed as manager of the side with Royals legends Graham Geraghty and the recently retired Graham Reilly coming on board as selectors.

Leahy and Kilmacud Crokes joint-manager Robbie Brennan have also been included as coaches.

“A tinge of sadness leaving such a good group of players, and a county with so much heritage and history,” Leahy told Midwest Radio as he confirmed his decision to step down.

“But an opportunity arose and it’s been in the cards [for] over a week-and-a-half.

“It kind of leaked to the media a little bit that I was going to be involved and it was ratified last night. 

“It’s with a great amount of sadness in one way but a huge adventure for me. Last year was a very tough year. Things changed a lot with a lot of things that happened, obviously with Covid and my own mother passed away. And having no county board — it was a very tough year.

“The last year with Mayo was exceptionally tough but I had a year left on my contract and I was going to honour the last year.”

Commenting on the prospect of working alongside Flynn and the impressive backroom team in Meath, Leahy added:

“I know Bernard very well, he’s from my own home town in Mullingar. The team he’s put together with Graham Geraghty, Graham Reilly, Robbie Brennan and myself, it’s a huge opportunity.

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“I just felt I needed to make a change for me personally with the travelling up and down, and all the things that transpired in Mayo over the last 12 months. At the end of the day, I think it will be healthy for the players to make a change.”

Remarking on his overall experience at the helm with Mayo, Leahy said:

“It was sort of topsy-turvy. I came into a Mayo team that was in transition, and in ways… self-destruct button whether it be my responsibility on that or other people’s, we’ll live to learn.

“The one thing that transpires in any sporting arena is things evolve and move on. There was a huge change in Mayo but I’d be very proud of what we achieved. 

“You mention the player walkout and losing so many players, we also developed so many players who put the Mayo shirt on and performed with great pride. We were a kick of a ball away from an All-Ireland final.”

Listen to the full interview here:

Source: MidWest/SoundCloud

WATERFORD CONFIRMED THE appointment of Shane Ronayne as senior football boss last night, becoming the final football side to name a manager ahead of the 2021 campaign. 

But on the hurling front, 2020 Nicky Rackard semi-finalists Tyrone are still without a boss as the new season looms. 

Granted, the return of inter-county training has been put back to the start of February at the earliest. If the daily case numbers remain at the current levels, the GAA may decide to scrap the Allianz Football and Hurling Leagues, with the championship potentially taking place after a pre-season later in the year. 

But for the moment at least, the league is still going ahead. The majority of county players are working away individually in the hope of returning to collective training at the beginning of next month. 

Tyrone stalwart Damian Casey, who first broke onto the panel in 2012, has grown increasingly frustrated as January rolled around without any movement on a new manager.

Following their Rackard Cup semi-final loss to Donegal on 14 November, boss Mattie Lennon finished up after three years in charge. He has yet to be replaced and Casey believes Tyrone are the only county side without a manager in place.

Tyrone county board have this week blamed the pandemic for the delay in putting a new man in place. But, as far as Casey is aware, the process only started last week. 

“Up until Tuesday night last week they had a meeting and got the ball rolling after that,” he tells The42. ”But I don’t know the ins and outs of it. I sort of left it until Friday to do that [tweet].”

The tweet in question vented his frustration at the county board.

“Are @TyroneGAALive hurlers the only county team in the country who haven’t got a manager, for what was supposed to be one week away from collective training resuming??” he asked.

“Not for the first time, we’ve been let down by a county board who don’t give a f***!!”

Are @TyroneGAALive hurlers the only county team in the country who haven’t got a manager, for what was supposed to be one week away from collective training resuming?? Not for the first time, we’ve been let down by a county board who don’t give a fuck!!

— Damian Casey (@D_Casey_11) January 8, 2021

The Dungannon native’s remarks gained plenty of traction, bringing the issue to the national consciousness – on social media at least.

“Massive reaction,” he says. “It grew arms and legs like I never thought. I wouldn’t be massively active on social media, I’d be on it and take a nose to see what’s going on and all the rest. I have one of them Apple watches and my phone was just dinging flat out on Friday. It was mental. A whole lot of people seen it. 

“It was going through my head all week and I said I’d leave it until Friday because that will be a week out from when we were supposed to be back training [before the GAA put it back to February]. At this point in time, to my knowledge, there’s still nothing in place.

“I do think they’ve got the ball rolling from Tuesday last week but even at that…it’s better late than never but in my eyes it’s still very, very late to get the ball rolling.”

Casey in action for Tyrone during the 2019 season.

Source: Rory Cox/Tyrone GAA

Having no manager in place means no conditioning programmes have been supplied for players to work on. With the 2021 season set to be condensed and a quick run-in to competitive games likely when training can resume, it’s far from ideal.

“The county season for the lower tier competitions is always relatively short, but this year it’s even shorter again,” he explains. “The Nicky Rackard is finished up by the end of May, in past years you were talking the end of June.

“I know you can’t collectively train at the minute, but at the same time there can be programmes to do out for lads for gym and running so that when we eventually do hit the pitch that lads are in good physical condition.

“That they’re able to go straight into hurling and get all that tidied up. But that obviously isn’t the case yet. I know it’s only a month but at the same time a month is still a long time. The season has been cut short by a month so it gives us even less time to do what’s needed or what’s necessary.

“That was the reason for it. I’m there since 2012. At this stage I’m probably one of the senior players and you know the different things that went on. It’s not the only issue but preparation…if they’re in any way serious about the senior hurling team doing well you would have had a manager in place before now.”

There have been issues in the past with gear and expenses being paid in time to the county’s hurlers.

And while it took the county board 12 days to appoint Brian Dooher and Fergal Lohan as joint football managers following Mickey Harte’s departure, the hurling squad remain in limbo.

It’s hard not to draw comparison between the county’s hurlers and footballers, who operate in different worlds despite sharing a training base at Garvaghey. 

“The fact there’s no manager in place speaks for itself. I don’t like being compared to the footballers in one sense, but certainly within Tyrone them boys are the benchmark.

“I would never begrudge them boys because I know an awful lot of them, I was in school with an awful lot of them too and they’re all good lads. I get on well with them.

“So I’d never begrudge them lads what they get because they do put in a serious time and effort to it. But at the same time, we don’t want everything [they have]. We just want what we’re entitled to and a small bit of backing.”

Casey has been one of the most prolific forwards in the country in recent seasons, posting 6-169 in the championship since 2013. In 2019 he was named on the ’Champions 15′ team, a side selected of the best 45 players from outside hurling’s top two tiers.

A two-time Tyrone SHC winner with Dungannon Eoghan Ruadh, Casey was named on the Nicky Rackard Cup Champions 15 selection four years in-a-row between 2013 and 2016.

For a few years, he even commuted back and forth from Liverpool to line out with club and county.

Casey lifts the Nicky Rackard Cup in 2014.

Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO

He has lifted four national titles with Tyrone – the Lory Meagher Cup (2012), Rackard Cup (2014) and Divisions 3B (2014) and 3A (2015) – during his career to date.

In recent seasons though, Tyrone have reached and been beaten in four successive Rackard Cup semi-finals. 

The trophies arrived during the early part of his career, when he feels the hurling squad were properly backed by the Tyrone county board. 

“In my eyes it’s no coincidence that we won the Nicky Rackard in 2014. We were promoted out of Division 3B in 2014, won the Rackard and in 2015 we won Division 3A.

“Now we didn’t get promoted because we lost out on a promotion/relegation game to Donegal, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that them couple of years is the most success Tyrone have had, certainly in recent times anyway.

“There was good backing from the county board – we didn’t get everything we wanted – but there was a strong backing and I felt they wanted us to do well.” 

Now, he’s not so sure.

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Updated Jan 12th 2021, 8:05 PM

FORMER DUBLIN HURLER Ryan O’Dwyer opens up about difficult periods in his personal life in this week’s episode of Laochra Gael.

Donegal hero Kevin Cassidy featured in last week’s programme on TG4, and O’Dwyer’s story brings another fascinating instalment to the 19th edition of the series. 

The Tipperary native talks about various aspects of his sporting career, including his years of hurling for the Premier County before later transferring to Dublin where he won a Leinster SHC medal in 2013.

He also recalls his recovery from a serious brain injury following an unprovoked assault in 2015. O’Dwyer was in Birmingham on the night of the incident, along with Dublin team-mate Maurice O’Brien.

The pair separated briefly, with O’Brien going to buy chips while O’Dwyer inquired about getting them into a nightclub.

“I didn’t even see the punch coming, I got hit in the side of the head,” O’Dwyer begins about his memory of the attack.

“I fractured my skull, broke my jaw and I had a cut in the back of my head as well from when I hit the ground.”

O’Dwyer was rushed to hospital where it was discovered that there was bleeding on the brain. 

O’Dwyer says that the recovery was the most difficult aspect of it all, and goes on to explain how his character changed in the aftermath with his family and wife, Clíodhna.

“I became aggressive, very irritable. I was a horrible person to Clíodhna. I never physically abused Clíodhna and never would, but emotionally, I abused Clíodhna.

“I can vaguely remember there were times I’d get angry with her and I’d be in her face giving out. I didn’t know what I was doing. A lot of it, I can’t even remember. It was a tough time for Clíodhna. 

“It’s now that I appreciate Clíodhna.”

Recalling her perspective of that difficult time in their lives, Clíodhna wife added:

“Everything irritated him, he was so agitated. He would be really critical of myself, our son Oisín. [He was] critical of everything and anything, really short fuse.

“We were due to get married the following year and I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, what’s gonna happen here?’

“There were still glimmers of him there, so in sickness and in health and all that. I wasn’t going to leave him in his hour of need. I love him and I wanted to see him through.”

In another segment of the programme, O’Dwyer talks about his parents’ encounter with ill-health in 2012. His mother was very close to kidney failure in hospital while his father suffered a stroke.

“That was the worst moment of my life. The year finished hurling-wise, Mammy came out of hospital and my father came out of hospital. I went out to hurl in New York. I used to go into Times Square and sit on the steps where they sell the tickets for all the Broadway shows.

“I was walking in one day and rang home. I was talking to the mother and that was grand. She put me on the phone to my father and my father was a typical country man and he said, ‘Oh where are ya?’ I said I was out in New York and he said, ‘What are you doing out in New York?’

O’Dwyer rang home again the following day and spoke to his father who asked the same question as the previous day, and sounded surprised to hear his son was in New York.

“It was the same conversation and that was probably the hardest moment of my life. The man that I’d looked up to all my life, the man that was a hero [to me], I was having the same conversation two days in-a-row with him.”

Ryan O’Dwyer’s Laochra Gael will be aired this Thursday, 14 January at 9.30pm

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TWO-TIME ALL-Ireland winner Anne Dalton has announced her inter-county retirement from Kilkenny camogie.

One of the greatest players of her generation, Dalton has called time on an impressive career in which she picked up six All-Stars and two Player of the Year awards in 2009 and 2018.

News of her departure from Brian Dowling’s squad was first reported by RTÉ Sport this morning, with Dalton confirming the news to The42.

The St Lachtain’s star was instrumental to Kilkenny’s All-Ireland victory last month, hitting one point in a thrilling victory over Galway at Croke Park. She also helped inspire her side to a comeback win against Cork in the semi-final.

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Kilkenny’s 2020 All-Ireland triumph was their first since 2016 where Dalton played a key role once again in helping her county end a 22-year wait for the O’Duffy Cup.

The 32-year-old encountered plenty of heartache in a Kilkenny jersey as well. Following that 2016 triumph, Kilkenny went on an unfortunate run of losing three All-Ireland finals in-a-row before becoming champions again in 2020.

LIMERICK STAR GEARÓID Hegarty and Dublin’s All-Ireland final goalscorer Con O’Callaghan have been named winners of the PWC GAA/GPA Players of the Month Finals award.

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Hegarty scored seven points as the Treaty County defeated Waterford and claimed hurling’s biggest prize, the Liam MacCarthy Cup.

In Football, Dublin’s Con O’Callaghan earned recognition after he netted his side’s second goal as they beat Mayo to seal a sixth consecutive Sam Maguire.

“Gearóid capped off a fantastic year for Limerick and himself personally by claiming his second award of the year. Limerick’s unbeaten run through league and championship this year is a magnificent achievement,” said president John Horan.

He added: “Con again showed his class in scoring 1-1 for Dublin against Mayo and in doing so, collected his fifth All-Ireland medal personally as his team surpassed their own records to win an unprecedented six in-a-row.”

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CORK GAA HAS confirmed Sports Direct as their new sponsor but has also expressed “regret” that news of the deal was leaked to the public before the official launch.

The sportswear company owned by Mike Ashley was reported to be coming on board with the Rebel county earlier this month, and the deal was officially announced at the first county committee meeting of 2021 yesterday.

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Chairman Marc Sheehan made the official announcement at the meeting.

“The Chairman confirmed that a Sponsorship agreement had been concluded with Sports Direct in early December 2020 and the board looks forward to the formal launch of this arrangement in the near future,” a statement on the Cork GAA website reads.

“It is a matter of regret to the Board that information had come into the public domain prior to the intended launch of this arrangement. The Chairman acknowledged the generous sponsorship and support of Chill Insurance over the past number of years.

“The board looks forward to providing the detail of our Sponsorship arrangements at our next meeting.”

The Sunday Times recently reported that the Sports Direct deal is worth €2 million over five years, with performance bonuses of up to €2 million. This arrangement is also set to include a boot deal as well as €200,000 for winning an All-Ireland.

News of the deal broke just a few days after the company was in the Irish sports headlines following the FAI’s AGM, where it was revealed that the Association will be paying Sports Direct €100,000 per month in loan repayments until October 2025.

This is Sports Direct’s first involvement with an inter-county GAA team, though they have been a sponsor of Rebel club outfit Glen Rovers of late.

Ashley is also the owner of Premier League club Newcastle United and department stores House of Fraser.

At the meeting, it was also revealed that the completion of the 2020 competitions must be pushed back to June at the earliest this year. Cork GAA previously announced that they intended to play their senior and intermediate football final fixtures in March, but that is no longer possible.

“In relation to the completion of the 2020 competitions, it is clear that the dates previously advised for early March cannot be achieved and it is hoped these games in late June or early July, prior to the 2021 competitions commence but a bigger window is needed to complete the Junior competitions.”

LEITRIM STAR ÁINE TIGHE’S cruel run of injuries and extended period on the sidelines is set to continue, with confirmation from her Aussie Rules club that she is “unlikely” to play in 2021.

Fremantle have confirmed that the ruck will be out for an extended period of the 2021 Australian Football League Women’s [AFLW] season, after an arthroscopy — or keyhole surgery — last week revealed a significant medial meniscal tear in her left knee.

This comes as the latest injury setback for Tighe, who ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament [ACL] on the same knee in Freo’s final pre-season fixture last January ahead of her debut season.

As a result, she missed the entire 2020 campaign, but stayed in Australia to rehabilitate.

Just like she did last pre-season, the 28-year-old had been catching the eye upon her return to action this time around and has long been tipped to make a big impact in the Australian league. But the wait now goes on.

Tighe’s torrid injury luck has been constant since 2018, when she tore her ACL for the first time.

Tighe is facing into another season on the sidelines in Oz.

Source: Fremantle Dockers AFLW.

The Kiltubrid star underwent surgery that June and had made a full recovery by the following May, where she impressed at a CrossCoders training camp and signed for Fremantle alongside Louth’s Kate Flood.

While Flood enjoyed a stunning debut season, she is not returning for 2021, and it looks like the Dockers will also be without the services of towering, high-scoring Leitrim forward Tighe.

General manager of football and performance, Joe Brierty, says the recent setback is beyond disappointing.

“We are devastated for Áine after the ACL injury she sustained last year. Everyone was excited about what Áine would have contributed to our 2021 campaign.

“Áine is very resilient and dedicated, which was evident last year when she remained in Australia post-season to use the club’s facilities to ensure she completed the best possible ACL rehabilitation.

“Unfortunately for Áine and the club, the timing of the injury means it is unlikely that we’ll see her play in 2021.

Steph Cain and Aine Tighe are eyeing off spots in Freo's best 22 as they both return from ACL injuries 💪 #foreverfreo@joshuadawe9 | @9NewsPerth pic.twitter.com/zU4nqsmu4M

— Fremantle Dockers AFLW (@freodockersAFLW) January 2, 2021

“The club will continue to support Áine through her rehabilitation and we know that she will do everything to recover as quickly as possible.”

Tighe is one of 14 Irish players on the books of AFLW clubs for the 2021 season, which kicks off on 28 January.

Dublin’s All-Ireland winning trio Sinéad Goldrick, Niamh McEvoy and Lauren Magee were the last to make the journey Down Under, and are currently completing the mandatory two-week hotel quarantine before linking up with their Melbourne side.

All of the others are immersed in pre-season training with their respective clubs.

The 14 Irish players confirmed for the 2021 season are as follows:

• Lauren Magee (Melbourne FC / Dublin)
• Sinéad Goldrick (Melbourne FC / Dublin)
• Niamh McEvoy (Melbourne FC / Dublin)
• Cora Staunton (GWS Giants / Mayo)
• Brid Stack (GWS Giants / Cork)
• Sarah Rowe (Collingwood / Mayo)
• Aishling Sheridan (Collingwood / Cavan)
• Aisling McCarthy (West Coast Eagles / Tipperary)
• Niamh Kelly (West Coast Eagles / Mayo)
• Grace Kelly (West Coast Eagles / Mayo)
• Áine Tighe (Fremantle / Leitrim)
• Aileen Gilroy (North Melbourne / Mayo)
• Ailish Considine (Adelaide Crows / Clare)
• Orla O’Dwyer (Brisbane Lions / Tipperary).

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Updated Jan 13th 2021, 5:00 PM

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FORMER TIPPERARY HURLING manager Eamon O’Shea explores the power of imagination and visualisation as we kick off the second season of How To Win At Dominoes, The42‘s coaching podcast.

Fresh from his Europa League excursions with Dundalk, host Shane Keegan is once again digging into his little black book to dial up some of Ireland’s sharpest coaching minds for a weekly podcast exclusive to members of The42.

Former Tipperary manager Eamon O’Shea.

Widely regarded as one of the best hurling coaches in the country, O’Shea was an influential member of Liam Sheedy’s 2010 All-Ireland winning management team in Tipperary. He later took over as manager of the seniors between 2013 and 2015, reaching an All-Ireland final in 2014 and achieving Munster glory in 2015.

O’Shea returned to Tipperary’s backroom team in 2019 where he worked under Sheedy once again as they helped guide the county to Liam MacCarthy glory at the end of that campaign.

“The power of the senses and the power of the imagination is something that really interests me,” he tells Keegan on the podcast.

“They are people who can allow players to visualise better than I can. I don’t have [the] skillsets but at a very simple level, you can use your imagination.

“You can take it up levels to allow people more formally use visualisation techniques. But to me, they have to see the gameplan and they have to see the structure of the pitch.

“If you take a player out, whether it’s a football pitch or a soccer pitch or a rugby pitch, and stand your players on the side of that pitch, and have them look at that pitch, and have them absorb and embed themselves in that environment, and see the blade of grass 31 or 30 metres from the goals [and] align their thinking; they have to be at one with the game, to embed themselves in the game so that they are lost in the game.

“And when they’re lost in the game, you’re on a winner. It’s when they’re distracted [that] you have problems.

“When it happens, it’s a great day.”

You can listen to this episode and the entire archive by becoming a member of The42. 

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