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the Sunday papers on

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off the ball

0:39

Welcome back to off the ball on this

0:41

Sunday afternoon One of the greatest sporting

0:43

days of the years the all-iron senior hurling final

0:46

this afternoon Stephen doyland for Joe Malloy

0:49

And I'm delighted to be joined on this Sunday

0:51

paper review by the Sun GAA

0:53

reporter Jason Byrne And also

0:56

columnist with the Irish examiner Ciarán Shannon

0:58

welcome to the show today lads And how

1:01

are we feeling first of all about the hurling

1:03

final today excited? Yeah,

1:05

very excited Stephen. I'm giddy

1:08

giddy and all Ireland final day as you should be

1:10

but yeah it's gonna be a cracker wet all

1:12

day here in Dublin, but Yeah,

1:14

I have no idea what's gonna happen everyone's

1:17

I'd say the Kilkenny seems to be tipping limerick,

1:19

but You just

1:21

never know do you yeah absolutely and look

1:23

interesting with yourself Jason. I know you're from Dunegal so

1:26

you're from footballing County, but What

1:29

is it about the hurling final that really gets the

1:31

emotions stirring for you?

1:33

It's just like it

1:35

Some of my best days made probably my best

1:37

day and this job was the all-Ireland hurling final

1:39

in 2018 just

1:41

because the emotion that came with limericks first

1:43

victory I know a lot of people elsewhere

1:46

probably just second and said in them at this stage, but

1:48

you know Watching this team grow and progress

1:51

and turn into such the dominant force that

1:53

they are now and that they're on the brink of history

1:55

Today they've just been phenomenal to

1:57

watch and you

1:59

know I always grew up watching Herlin even though

2:01

there's not much

2:02

Herlin in Donegal but when I went to college in

2:05

Galway that's where my love of it came and I

2:08

was great friends with a lot of the lads on the Fitzgibbon

2:10

team there and a couple of them have managed

2:12

senior entry county team since Dara Egan. I

2:14

went to college with him, Steve Malumphi's managing

2:16

carry of course or was managing carry this year so I

2:19

was close with all those lads so that's kind of where my

2:21

love of the game grew from even though you always get a

2:23

snide remark when you're going into certain

2:26

grounds around the country and your knowledge

2:28

of the game is questioned. I'm

2:30

not singling out Park and Keyve there at all but

2:33

yeah it's just such a wonderful day

2:36

everything about it and there's loads into these papers

2:38

kind of picturing that scene that's

2:40

just so glorious about the whole thing.

2:42

Yeah, Karen, I have to

2:44

admit here that my first trip

2:46

to Croke Park I was three, just gone

2:49

on four years of age, 1983 all-iron

2:52

semifinal it was football, it was Dublin

2:54

against Cork, I was with my dad, my uncle Tony

2:57

so I grew up going to Croke

2:59

Park seeing football matches. I didn't really get

3:01

to see hurling properly

3:03

at Croke Park until I actually, which

3:05

I know something funny, I used to rent a

3:08

house just beside the entrance to Hill 16 there

3:10

and one of the kind sergeants who

3:12

would have been there on crowd control

3:14

used to let us into the back of the hill once the match had thrown

3:17

in. I did a bit of steward work then as well

3:19

actually funny enough at Croke Park and would have seen a

3:21

lot of the good Kilkenny games

3:23

over there throughout the noughties should I say

3:25

and I have to say just

3:29

that's when I really started I suppose

3:31

just to respect and to you know just

3:33

not just respect the players and what they do and we'll

3:36

talk as well in some of the columns today

3:38

about how players are talking about as giant

3:40

Shane McGrath did a good column in the mail but I

3:42

suppose when you see a close-up like that

3:45

on an all-iron championship day there really

3:47

is nothing like it, it's amazing stuff.

3:49

It is I mean just

3:52

even there right I suppose I go to a lot of

3:54

games but a

3:56

great day to bring people to a match.

4:00

is all Ireland's semi-finals,

4:02

right? Because it's in croaker.

4:05

There's going to be a big crowd would out of being in a sellout

4:08

unless it's maybe something like, you

4:10

know, doves against carrier male and

4:12

in

4:13

the football. But this all it's my

4:15

wife and daughter wouldn't be as into it

4:17

as me and my son, but the girls

4:20

have gone to let's say the last

4:22

time they've been in croaker was the 2018 semi-final

4:24

against Galway, which was, which was

4:26

a cracking game. I went to extra time and

4:29

then a replay. And then they went

4:31

to kill Kenny game two weeks ago. And

4:34

while it was very disappointing for the County,

4:37

I'm living here in Claire, the

4:41

actual game itself, they were just like,

4:43

we had good seats in the lower Cusack and they

4:46

were just taken by just the athleticism and the occasion.

4:49

And

4:50

like, no, look, last year, last

4:52

week's football semi-finals were stored my fifth somewhat

4:55

in the game, but they have been an outlier. Whereas

4:57

like this year, just following the monster hurling

4:59

championship in particular, just from the terraces going

5:02

in with my own for that, it's just been enjoy.

5:05

And it is a spectacular

5:08

sport just for, I think if you're

5:10

told a body of work, if you're to

5:12

pick 10 sports

5:14

or sorry, 10 games in any sport,

5:17

you know, I got my huge NBA fan basketball,

5:19

you know, 10 soccer. I

5:22

still love my Gaelic football,

5:24

but it has hurling

5:26

what we've got this year. You know, I saw my colleague

5:29

in the examiner in the McAvoy say

5:31

that there hasn't been an absolute stone

5:33

cold classical,

5:35

whatever about nine and a half out of tens, there's

5:37

been a lot of eight and a half out of tens. I

5:39

don't know if there's another sport that can provide us.

5:41

And you know, so going back to look,

5:43

I haven't gotten up. It's interesting to hear Jason

5:45

talk about breakthroughs.

5:48

I'd say if a Waterford was in the final, I might have

5:50

been scrambling more looking for a ticket

5:52

or accreditation because there is nothing

5:54

like seeing a breakthrough in the night or the hurling

5:56

or the football. I mean, Jason said his

5:58

highlight was 20, 18.

5:59

I see him, Wexford, when

6:02

in 96, seeing, um, our

6:05

man or two, I would say, our mouth or

6:07

two,

6:08

because it was such an epic game against Kerry, the

6:10

old three Tyrone, um,

6:13

wasn't as good a game, you know, but,

6:15

uh,

6:16

but like there is nothing like seeing that,

6:18

but I am still looking very far

6:21

to watching this game because of like James O'Connor

6:23

set it up. Well, and he said,

6:25

anybody who thinks

6:26

it's not going to be as close as last year, you

6:29

know, or that it's not going to be closer than last

6:31

year. There's only fooling themselves. Well, it

6:33

was a two point game last year. So

6:36

he basically said it's a one point game or

6:38

we can, this is the one game where we can

6:40

have a replay. All right. Um,

6:44

that there's, there's allowance for a replay on like

6:46

every other game. Uh, but,

6:48

uh, maybe that's what he's hinting at, but

6:50

yeah, look, it's going to be, it's going to be cracking

6:52

stuff as much as Limerick are

6:54

on the cusp of greatness. And it could be one of the

6:57

greatest teams of all the time.

6:59

Um, they already are actually, but,

7:02

uh, you wouldn't rule out to the

7:04

Chinese, you would not rule out to the Chinese. So it

7:06

will, it'll be fascinating. Again, it'll be great

7:08

stuff. Yeah. And interesting that Karen

7:10

mentions Jason as well, just the, the quality

7:13

of this year's hurting championship. It has been brilliant.

7:15

And I suppose you, that will be focused

7:17

mainly on the monster championship, which is fair enough. Lancer

7:19

championship, not as good. I was

7:21

at a couple of doubling games, but the final,

7:24

the final was absolutely incredible. And

7:26

I think one of the most notable things about that final was

7:29

the way the Kilkenny players celebrated

7:31

beating Galway. Now I know it was in dramatic fashion

7:33

and that always contributes towards a brilliant

7:36

celebration, but to see a Kilkenny team

7:38

celebrating the Lancer final like that, we haven't seen

7:40

that in a long time.

7:42

Yeah. And I think, I think the Derek Linn,

7:44

uh, storyline, it kind of really fell into that as

7:46

well. Obviously like when you get a last minute call

7:49

and any game, it's so euphoric, but I think

7:51

the fact, I think that was the day the mantle

7:54

was officially handed over to Derek for bringing Cody

7:56

because of his championship silverware. And you

7:58

know, we've seen. so many times

8:01

Cody just go over and maybe shake

8:03

the hands of the opposition manager even if it's Henry

8:05

Shefflin. That you know it didn't

8:07

mean that much to him and it was always eyes on the bigger prize

8:10

because all the airlines are the only currency down there.

8:13

But just I think the fact that it was Ling and

8:15

that was the day he stepped out of Cody's shadow

8:18

like you know there was always that question

8:20

of what was going to happen and you know it answered

8:22

a lot of questions and it kind of ushered

8:24

in that new era in that moment,

8:27

that crazy moment when when

8:29

Porrick Mannion tries to kick the ball away and it just

8:31

comes straight into Cillian Buckley. He couldn't have

8:33

caught it any better and just the strike it

8:36

was insane and as you

8:38

said the scenes at the end like by

8:40

all accounts they went and they partied for

8:42

a couple of days and that brings a special bond

8:45

as well and you know that would have really

8:48

glued the grip closer together again

8:50

so yeah it was

8:52

just incredible. You know provincial

8:56

titles mean something

8:58

as well in terms of the fact that you're avoiding

9:00

those all-Ireland quarterfinals which

9:02

have proved so perilous and once again we have

9:05

both provincial champions in the final.

9:07

Ciaran I

9:09

suppose

9:10

all-Ireland final week we do get

9:13

access to players for a change and that's

9:15

something that's been spoken about over the last number of

9:17

weeks is just the lack of access and we'll

9:19

talk to Jason in a moment just about what it's like to be

9:21

in a newsroom around this time of year

9:23

and how your editor kind of puts

9:26

you out there and tries to get something

9:28

different to what everybody else has but when

9:30

you open up the Sunday papers on

9:32

the day of the all-Ireland hurling or football finals

9:35

what is it you're looking for?

9:37

Yeah you're looking for good reading right

9:39

and I guess it's a balance

9:41

between it all I

9:44

thought it was refreshing to

9:46

pick up the papers today and to see

9:49

clear interviews so obviously

9:52

like I'm not on oath I'm

9:54

a columnist as you say there but I've been that soldier

9:56

like a JSN I would have worked it let's

9:58

say with the Sunday Tribune.

10:00

for 10 years and the Sunday end up for a couple of years before

10:02

that. So what you'd be looking for

10:05

is that balance between you'll be looking to

10:07

at least have one big interview

10:09

or an interview with one of the players and then

10:11

several concept pieces.

10:14

What you would have had today

10:16

in the papers, obviously both.

10:19

Mike Casey from Limerick was put up and then

10:21

Hugh Lawler from Kilkenny. And

10:24

there's there's good pieces around them because it gives you

10:26

some insight into like, I mean,

10:28

I would have been familiar with the names, but I

10:30

wouldn't have known even what they worked at. There's a few

10:32

players and what they worked at. So

10:34

Hugh Lawler has got even just

10:36

a line from Derma Crowe. You know, you're

10:38

taken by why is he spelled H-U-W

10:41

as opposed to H-U-G-H. And

10:44

it's his mother as Welsh. It's just a sub

10:47

sub class, but it just adds a little bit. All right, Welsh mother.

10:49

That's where that comes from. Something you wouldn't have maybe

10:51

got to know otherwise. But just

10:54

like how he's a dietician, how he did sports

10:58

science, but then he he drifted over.

11:00

So he's a dietician beyond just sport.

11:03

And then Mike Casey, how he's

11:05

he does a bit of farming and he's

11:07

a teacher.

11:08

But he's also doing

11:11

his tag of screen search. And

11:14

just a little bit about the background and a little bit about

11:17

their mindset. It was interesting

11:20

how several of the leads, particularly Tommy

11:22

Conlin and Sunday Endo, Zoan

11:24

Dana and how he

11:27

didn't watch, let's say, the semifinals. So

11:29

they played Galway on the Saturday. Carekill,

11:31

Kenninger playing on the Sunday. And how actually

11:33

the discipline now is not to watch

11:36

it because you would think you put the feet up and that it would

11:38

be leisurely. But no, he was pointing

11:40

out that you just wanted to to just

11:42

actually reset and just take the day

11:45

off. Because if you end up watching that game, you'll

11:47

end up in that. And, you

11:48

know, maybe

11:49

going back on the button, you're analyzing

11:52

what does he do? And he said, there'll be time for that. And

11:54

we'll do that enough over the coming

11:56

couple of weeks. So just about and,

11:59

you know, the talk about.

11:59

And

12:02

where Tommy and his piece went strongly

12:04

was just the commitment levels. I mean, that's a cliche

12:06

at this point, but he was just talking about how

12:09

no, like he actually said that, yeah,

12:11

of course you'd want to be professional because if

12:15

you're really doing this proper, you

12:17

have to be doing at a level where you are pro

12:20

essentially. And so therefore

12:22

why would you want to not be anybody?

12:25

He says, who wants to remain amateur probably isn't doing it the

12:27

right way. Well,

12:28

while, you know, there's been that

12:31

discussion before and someone like even though the cock team

12:33

and donalogue, a team of the mid naughties

12:35

would have been talking about pushing the envelope.

12:37

Donalogue himself said that you

12:39

have to bear in mind what will lads be doing? And

12:44

they

12:44

have to like the lads have qualifications

12:46

in jobs that they'll be doing it well into their

12:48

late thirties and forties when they're not playing.

12:52

And that is that wouldn't be maybe feasible

12:54

if it was a pro. But

12:56

I just thought in terms of what it's like to be

12:58

a player, I thought there was good insights. And

13:01

yes, I go back to what

13:04

was interesting also was pizza and Ronan matter who was a

13:06

hurry maker. That's why Ronan matter from tip.

13:08

I thought it was been unusual when I saw it at first. He's

13:11

a hurry maker for and a hurry supplier for the

13:13

likes of Aaron Galan. But

13:16

Sam token, it's that balance

13:19

off. You asked me at the start,

13:21

what are you looking for? You're looking for some insight

13:23

into the players. And we got that. You're looking for

13:25

some analysis for some good stuff from Jim's

13:27

your counters preview in the syndos. And

13:31

yet you're looking also for just that off the feature. And

13:33

so I thought actually

13:36

yesterday Saturday papers now they

13:38

didn't have the player interviews, but there

13:40

were some cracking concept pieces. Dennis

13:43

watch did a fantastic

13:44

piece. I taught on three

13:47

of the limerick 70s team

13:49

that made the breakthrough in 73 M and Krieg and

13:51

Bernie Hardigan and Richie

13:52

Bennis. And there were some great yarns

13:55

in that that helped contextualize where limerick

13:58

have come from. in

14:00

the exam by PMO Sullivan and Pat Henderson.

14:03

So it's that throw, you want to get that balance.

14:06

So I thought it was solid, solid

14:08

reading. And I was glad that there was

14:10

player interviews in the

14:13

paper. And yet I enjoyed some

14:15

of the

14:16

maybe concept pieces or some

14:18

of the pieces with

14:20

the former players yesterday

14:22

class of the evening more, but overall good

14:25

mix in the paper. Yeah, and

14:29

I'd say, and George, your piece on

14:31

Tuesday as well, Karen, just about the situation

14:34

in Clare and where they stand both

14:36

their hurling and football sides after their defeats this

14:38

year. Look, just a few minutes later

14:40

than we normally would. I'll just give you a quick run through the back pages

14:42

then before we get further into these pieces. So the

14:45

Irish made on Sunday on their back page. It's

14:47

all hurling. It's a piece by EAF

14:49

English and she's saying, history in the making immortality

14:52

beckons says treaty hunt for in a

14:54

row, but Kilkenny are a worthy

14:56

foe. So I see Irish man

14:59

on Sunday

14:59

and then moving on to the Sunday

15:01

independent, the front of their sports

15:03

section, it says, define Kilkenny, desperate

15:06

to derail limerick stream. And then

15:08

underneath the big headline, ready to rumble with

15:10

a good piece by Derma Crow, just setting up the

15:13

brilliant coverage inside their sports

15:15

section today. And the Irish sun

15:18

sport. Yes, I should say the sun

15:20

on Sunday. The Irish sun on Sunday, which of

15:22

course Jason Byrne is in

15:24

quite a lot this week, but they're leading with the Abbey

15:27

Road on the back here, of course, reference

15:29

to Abbey Larkin, the Irish international

15:31

had a brilliant appearance off the bench

15:34

in Ireland's defeat to Australia and that World Cup opener.

15:37

And we've got a couple of other stories there. Abuse is

15:39

no harm. And that's just a pun

15:42

on the name of Brian Harmon, of course, is leading the

15:44

Open Championship in golf, going into

15:46

today's final round. Pep, I've no clue

15:48

from Martin Blackburn in Tokyo. Tokyo.

15:51

Pep Guardiola does not have a clue about what his Manchester

15:53

City side will look like this season.

15:55

The Spanish boss has already waved goodbye to Ilkay

15:57

Gundogan and we are at Riyadh

15:59

Maréz. this summer. I'm sure he'd be okay

16:01

though. He's got a big enough squat there. And

16:04

then

16:05

reference then to the All-Ireland final. Cats

16:07

are done for. Babs backing

16:09

King John to rule again and then

16:11

in reference to the Sun Sports. Brilliant

16:13

columnist Babs Keating who says

16:15

he can see only one winner at Croke Park today with Limerick

16:17

completing their 4-0 against Kilkenny

16:20

and today's column Babs writes, I think Limerick

16:22

will add too much to everything they have

16:24

done so far this year and could stroll away to

16:26

win by six or seven points if they want

16:28

to. We'll talk about Babs a little bit more

16:31

in the next few moments. Then moving on to the

16:33

Sunday People's Sports section. The

16:35

lead there of course, the English newspaper

16:37

going with the Line S's. Way

16:40

to go Line S's. They of course are defeating

16:43

in their first match Haiti who are very good. I have to

16:45

say I watched most of that game. Absolutely

16:47

excellent. A player by the name of Dumornay

16:49

is one to watch and that Haiti team has been signed

16:51

up by Leon already.

16:54

Their other headline there is Shaken by the Movers. Pep

16:56

Guardiola just talking again about his squad,

16:59

what it's going to look like in the Premier League next season and

17:01

then Hand on Clara Jug referencing

17:04

their Brian Harmon and his big, big lead. Five

17:06

shot lead he has going into the final round at

17:09

Hoy Lake this afternoon. The

17:11

Sunday Times Sports section headline

17:14

there and it's got a picture of Rory McIlroy

17:16

looking at pretty disappointed after what was

17:18

a disappointing round from Rory McIlroy.

17:20

It looks like that putter has gone ice cold for

17:22

him. He was there. Some of his set

17:25

up play was brilliant yesterday. Shots from the tee. Absolutely

17:27

excellent but once he got onto the greens then he was really

17:29

struggling and even my

17:32

colleague John Malloy who I'm filling in for today had

17:34

a good clip on. He just

17:36

tweeted a clip last night of him on the practice

17:38

greens after the round and again

17:41

he was just failing to find the hole with that putter. Not

17:44

good for McIlroy. He's got a huge amount

17:46

to make up there. Nine shot deficit behind Brian

17:49

Harmon. It's unlikely. Then

17:51

their off lead. Then it's Saudis and Chelsea to lead

17:53

bids for Mbappe Duncan Castle's

17:55

riding Paris Saint-Germain will open negotiations

17:58

over the transfer of Kylian Mbappe this week. week with

18:00

the Qatar owned club expecting to field formal

18:02

offers from a range of suitors including Saudi Arabia

18:05

and Chelsea having failed to persuade

18:07

Mbappe to change his stated stance

18:09

in leaving French football as a free agent

18:11

in the summer of 2024 PSG are attempting to

18:14

force a sale in the present windows. They're obviously

18:16

trying to get as much as they can for a player who

18:19

will be out of contract next summer and he has said

18:21

himself that he is willing to see out

18:23

that contract at PSG. And

18:26

just finishing up with the Irish Sunday

18:28

Mirror on their back page it's leading

18:30

with Peps Fury, it's

18:33

Simon Mulloch in Tokyo with

18:35

the Manchester City team where they are on their pre-season tour.

18:37

Pep Guardiola has admitted he has no idea what his

18:39

Manchester City squad would look like so going with the

18:41

same kind of story as the other

18:43

two English newspapers. Pat Nolan writing

18:46

on the back of the Sunday Mirror about

18:49

Limerick and just I suppose teasing

18:51

that interview with Mike Casey. Mike

18:53

Casey part of a Limerick team bidding for a place in the Hurling

18:56

history books today less than two years after

18:58

fearing his career was over. We'll talk a bit more about

19:00

that in the rest of the review. David

19:03

McDonald in New York with the Manchester United team.

19:06

Glazers family row halts United takeover

19:08

Eric Tenhagmet with the Glazers in the US with

19:10

the takeover of Manchester United held up due

19:12

to a family split Tenhagmet Avram

19:15

Glazer at United's New Jersey base despite

19:17

final bids of six billion having been

19:19

submitted from rival ownership candidate Sheikh

19:21

Jassim and Sir Jim Rakhtyff. There's been

19:24

no movement on the takeover so that

19:26

one seems to be dragging on a while. Alright

19:28

Jason Byrne you are as Kieran

19:31

said in the tick of it in all

19:33

our final week so what's it like for

19:36

you dealing with your editor? Is it like kind

19:38

of I suppose John Kylie and Derek

19:40

Ling with their teams trying to keep a calm newsroom

19:44

in the build up to what is a big big weekend for you guys?

19:46

Yeah it's been all gold

19:48

Stephen but it's been brilliant. It's

19:51

a great week to be doing it. I was down

19:53

at the Delimric Press night. I

19:56

think it was on the Tuesday after they

19:59

won the semi for the game. So, you know,

20:01

as we say in the papers today, Mike Casey gave us a very

20:04

in-depth and open and honest interview. Like,

20:06

and, you know, he spoke to us for over 40 minutes

20:09

and we covered everything from David

20:11

to Hay to cartilage injuries to,

20:14

you know, living the professional life

20:16

in an amateur setting. And, you know, he was just fantastic

20:18

to talk to. And we spoke to David Rady

20:20

as well and just as Karen touched on, like,

20:23

you know, just getting a great background into

20:25

the stories of some of these players is always just brilliant.

20:28

You know, the piece with

20:30

David ran during the week, but it was, you know, he

20:33

spoke very brilliantly about his time with

20:36

Kildare and how that set him up to

20:38

kind of make a big comeback with Limerick. And, you know, he's

20:40

named the start in today's team. So, you know, it's

20:42

great to kind of chat and get the background

20:45

with him. And me calling Paul Dollar,

20:47

he went down to the Kilkenny Press night

20:49

the end of the day or two later and they got the stake

20:51

in Langton's and got the full. And I'm wondering about

20:53

it. Was there any food laid on by the Limerick? All

20:56

of them were credit as well. Oh, God, I must have just wondering,

20:58

though,

20:59

because this had been a tradition. I don't know if it was Brian

21:01

Cody that brought it in, but of course, you get into Langton's, you

21:03

get your stake. My feeling on that is that Cody

21:06

felt that give these guys a big chunk of red

21:08

meat. They'd be nice and sleepy by the time

21:10

they get to talk to my players. So they're not going to get any good stuff

21:12

out of them, are they? Well,

21:15

they kept up that tradition anyway. So

21:17

the baton's been passed there in that regard as well.

21:20

But look, we went around the usual bit of

21:22

bringing a few ex players as well. You know, I

21:24

spoke to Mark Foley about John Kelly's,

21:27

you know, playing career and what he was like

21:29

in the dressing room, as opposed to the the

21:31

multiple all-Ireland winning

21:34

manager that he is now. And me calling

21:36

Paul spoke to spoke

21:38

to Brian Hogan as well a lot about Hugh

21:40

Lawler, of course, because they're club mates and Brian

21:42

Hogan would have been his idols when he

21:44

was coming up through the ranks and just no

21:46

more than the pieces with Hugh today. Like it's fascinating

21:49

to think that he never played minor for Kilkenny.

21:52

He's a great soccer background as well. And Shane,

21:54

there's quotes in there from Shane Keegan. He's

21:57

often in this parish about his soccer career

21:59

and Keegan recommend. them the clubs in England and the

22:01

club saying he was too small and he's

22:03

just a cornerstone and a rockin that Kilkenny

22:05

team today and if he plays well today they'll

22:08

go within a big chance of winning it. Yeah

22:11

absolutely. Kieran when you look at the papers

22:13

and how they treated the interviews with the

22:15

two lads what's kind of grabbing you when you look through

22:17

them?

22:19

Yeah Jason

22:21

were you in the room with Mike Casey when he was being interviewed?

22:24

I was Kieran yeah. Yeah yeah yeah because

22:26

and how many of you were there? I

22:28

think there was four of us in total there only

22:30

four that's good that's good yeah because it's

22:33

yeah because what seems to be gone

22:35

now totally what you would ideally like is the

22:37

one-to-one interview right but

22:40

that even

22:41

that's in the heyday of it nearly like in the

22:43

nod he's was rare enough

22:45

I do remember my favorite

22:47

one was I was able to get Owen Mulligan um

22:50

before the 2005 all-island and

22:53

you know it was it was in an hotel in Cookstown

22:56

it was one-to-one I got

22:58

the number back then you would have you'd have got to know I was

23:00

talking to his mother beforehand and Owen

23:02

was

23:03

willing to talk to me because he had had a bit of a

23:05

tumultuous summer that year

23:07

uh before the goal against Dublin

23:09

and like that's dream stuff that you

23:12

just don't get but I do think

23:15

uh like

23:16

how it seems that at

23:18

my case he really engaged with

23:20

the lads like I remember just I suppose the last

23:23

alarm and I would have covered as a Sunday writer would

23:25

have been with the 2010 in the Tribune

23:28

and that was the famous one where Larry

23:30

Corbett

23:31

was put forward and Larry proceeded to get

23:33

a hat trick because you know there

23:35

was always this myth of or whoever was

23:37

put forward for the Sundays ended up having

23:40

a nightmare um uh

23:42

but I while it's not the

23:44

ideal scenario it can still work really well

23:47

for all concern and I think there was good stuff there

23:49

from my Casey so for me that

23:51

was a bit revealing because there's um

23:54

it's it's rare enough that you get an insight into

23:57

these guys in the middle of the season um

24:00

And then I just really liked

24:03

Shane McGrath's piece because he

24:05

was just making the point that while the way he phrased

24:07

it was, while a day like today is presented

24:09

as a national celebration, when

24:12

really it's an exhibition of personal triumphs curated

24:15

on the grand scale, we can muster

24:17

any talks about essentially

24:20

how

24:21

two panels of 26 will bring 52 different

24:24

stories into the dress and was under the whole can stand

24:27

sometime after mid time today. The

24:31

ambition that has brought them all to this point

24:33

may be the same, but no two players will

24:35

have got there by the same route.

24:37

And he talks about how careers are often made secondary,

24:40

if not sacrificed. And

24:42

about think of all the childhood mornings and evenings

24:44

wolloping slitters off the gables, the race home

24:46

to find boots and gear and increasingly

24:49

contorted ballet required to keep

24:52

education work, romance and sport and some

24:54

sort of function alignment. These

24:56

people are simply marvels. And so

24:58

like why sometimes we can see a little bit on,

25:00

you know, the old line, not men, but

25:02

giants. He's making the point that in the same applies

25:05

to

25:06

the 32, the 52 that

25:08

will be going in there next week from Dublin

25:10

and Kerry, or anybody who's who

25:12

makes it to Croke Park or commits to being

25:15

an inter county player at the elite level.

25:18

And it is

25:20

a, we still remember that personal

25:23

journey. And that's why I did, well,

25:25

there weren't stellar pieces. I really liked the

25:28

pieces from the players today on the likes

25:30

of Mike Casey, like Cristio Canner also

25:32

was there obviously as well. And

25:35

he talked about how like someone like Casey, we forget,

25:37

like just, you know, the personal injury

25:39

that he had come back from, you know, he missed

25:41

the two all islands. So yeah,

25:44

those I suppose the interview

25:46

pieces along with Shane's pieces

25:49

were the ones that jumped out at me. Yeah, we go

25:51

into those, into those interview piece, because there

25:53

is some really stuff, I think on on Casey and Lola

25:55

in

25:55

those, in just a moment,

25:57

I have to say he only finds out Jason on

25:59

a dub. He has to mention Muggsy's goal

26:02

back in 2005. Great stuff there, Kieran. Thanks a

26:04

million for that. Listen, we'll be back very

26:06

shortly. Next up, we'll be talking a bit more about those

26:08

interviews with Mike Casey and Hugh Lawler.

26:14

Trying to grab all the groceries in one trip?

26:17

Oof, not how you would have done that. You

26:19

know sometimes less is more, like when you

26:21

drive less and save with the USAA

26:24

annual mileage discount. USAA

26:26

get a quote today.

26:29

Well, you're very welcome back to Sundays

26:32

of the Bowl. Stephen Doyle in here for Joe Malloy

26:35

on this Sunday All Ireland Senior

26:37

Hurling Championship Final Day. I'm joined

26:39

in the studio by Jason Byrne of

26:42

The Sun, the Irish young, I should say. And

26:44

also with us today is the Irish examiner,

26:47

columnist Kieran Shannon. Kieran,

26:49

just I wanted to mention the last paragraph,

26:51

actually in that Shane McGrath piece, which I thought was

26:53

really good. Just talking about the dedication

26:56

that's required from these players that we're gonna see out in the Croke

26:58

Park pitch today. Says their lives have

27:00

been bent towards this overriding ambition

27:02

for as long as they can remember. And the goal

27:04

is in the end of a joyous traipse

27:06

up the steps of the Hogan stand. But given most of the

27:08

players competing at the highest level in their

27:11

game will never get to do that, there is a sharper purpose.

27:13

This is an impulse with stand, with

27:16

this is an impulse with that withstands rejection

27:18

and disappointment and the screaming logic that says enough,

27:21

few enough have it. Fewer still

27:23

fully under standard. So we stand removed,

27:26

reduced to cheers and gulping admiration

27:28

as yes, the contention that at its

27:31

best a day like this feels like a theater

27:33

for giants. And I suppose a bit

27:35

like what we were saying earlier on, Jason, when you kind of get

27:37

to see these guys in the flesh. And

27:40

I suppose for kids, especially who are gonna be

27:42

at this game today, they almost seem like other

27:44

early

27:45

or giants as Shay mentions there as well.

27:47

Yeah, it's a brilliant, brilliant piece from Shane.

27:50

And

27:51

Shane's a male man, so he's probably at his own fair

27:53

share of heartbreak following them. But it's

27:55

a brilliantly written piece. And we're

27:57

talking about all those stories in the dressing room as well.

28:00

And, you know, some of those inter-country

28:02

stories might even end today. They might

28:04

end next weekend after Dublin carry as

28:06

well. And, you know, that

28:09

bust will be parked for some of these players. Like, you

28:12

know, if TJ reads

28:14

probably, then everyone will be thinking of after today, regardless

28:17

of the result, but you would hope that he sticks around. But it

28:19

was a very poignant photograph of Conor

28:22

McManus, obviously, with his parents after

28:24

the Dublin Monaghan game. And, you know, we

28:27

can expect to see pictures like that today again between

28:29

the joy and the heartbreak. And like,

28:31

just the way these

28:33

players put their lives on hold, you know, we

28:36

really probably don't talk about it enough and credit it

28:38

enough, because everything is put on hold

28:40

from weddings and social gatherings

28:43

and just this bubble comes first.

28:45

And you often hear the players talk about it when they step

28:47

away from the bubble, they think, God, what was I doing? Or that

28:50

was a bit drastic, or, you know, I

28:52

put too much into it, but like it can

28:55

kind of massive effects on personal lives. I

28:58

was thinking about Sean Cavanagh's autobiography

29:00

during the week as well, when he was wandering

29:02

around the roads at Tyrone after they'd asked him

29:04

to go to the other in the quarterfinal. That's

29:06

the kind of- I found that. Yeah, sorry, can you- I

29:09

found that, yeah, I just remember that book, that

29:11

passage

29:13

from that book. I

29:16

couldn't believe that a player of

29:19

Cavanagh, who has got up those

29:21

steps that you talked about three times. Now,

29:24

obviously they saw themselves that year, that was a de facto

29:27

while Ireland suddenly final that year. But

29:30

it was just an astonishing piece of writing, I

29:32

thought, I think it was Demi Lahde who posted that book. I

29:34

remember that

29:37

opening chapter just being struck by

29:39

the devastation. Like,

29:41

we're talking about a guy,

29:43

Jason, you can still vividly

29:45

remember it. Like, at half 11 at night, he's

29:47

still just in a

29:49

days out in rural Tyrone, isn't

29:51

that right? He's never getting knocked off. Yeah, he hadn't eaten,

29:54

he'd left his phone in as well, in a

29:56

mate's car, and a taxi man came on him

29:58

who'd been out watching the game. earlier

30:00

in the day. You have Sean Cavanaugh wandering

30:02

around in a polo shirt and

30:05

training shorts and he had to be brought home like, but

30:07

that was the impact it had on him. Like, and you know,

30:09

he was the type of player like, I remember after one of the all-Ireland

30:11

finals after they won, he was beating himself

30:14

up at the banquet, a bit of gold chance that he must,

30:16

you know, that's just typical of the thoughts that are going through

30:19

all these players' heads all the time. And just

30:20

the sheer devastation of defeat

30:22

can last for days. And you

30:24

know, that's the impact that it had on Sean's mental

30:26

health that time. And it was supposed to have been terrifying for his family

30:29

as well. But it kind of all feeds into Shane's

30:31

piece in terms of the sacrifices that

30:34

these players made, even though they're just idolized

30:36

and put on a pedestal today as these giants,

30:39

you know, they do have all these

30:41

huge emotion and feelings underneath

30:43

it that goes into it all. And you know, we have

30:45

to always remember that as well. Well, just on that,

30:47

because it kind of sets us up nicely for the Christi O'Connor

30:50

piece, which you were mentioning, Ciaran. And this

30:53

is the interview with Mike Casey. And it's been

30:55

a brilliant treatment here from Christi.

30:57

We all know he's an absolutely fantastic writer. And

31:00

he sets up the 2021 holiday, the team

31:03

holiday, and

31:05

they're in Sandy Lane in Barbados. And

31:08

he's talking about Mike Casey. He says, found himself

31:10

in an emotional and psychological torture chamber.

31:13

Casey had missed Limerick's two previous All-Iron

31:15

final wins with a knee injury. After tearing

31:17

his ACL in 2020, he

31:19

ripped the cartilage around his knee on his first night back

31:22

in training in July, 2021. That

31:24

required more surgery, but there was so little

31:26

blood flow around his knee at the time that the cartilage

31:29

was slow to stitch back together. When

31:31

Casey was in a swimming pool in Sandy Lane a few months

31:33

later, the cartilage ripped away from the joint.

31:36

He says himself, I was looking at myself in this unbelievable

31:38

resort, but I was so down, says Casey. I

31:41

was thinking that when I get home, it's all going to

31:43

be over and done with. And this is the last time

31:45

I'm going to be with this group. There were definitely

31:47

some dark times, 100%. Multiple

31:50

visible scars across Casey's right knee paint, an

31:52

illustrative history of his struggles that

31:55

required four surgeries across four

31:57

years. MCL, ACL,

31:59

and two cartilage. operations when Casey

32:01

spent 18 months rehabbing injuries in 2020-21 the challenges during

32:05

the recovery were as much psychological

32:08

as physical. He says himself when

32:10

you're out for that long and you see the levels of

32:12

performance the boys who you're thinking there's

32:15

no room for a fellow with one good knee on this team

32:17

says Casey it was extremely tough. There

32:20

was a time when I did think that my career was over I

32:22

had a horrible couple of years but it changed your perspective

32:24

every time I put on a limerick jersey now whether

32:26

it's training or a match I'm so

32:29

grateful. That's Paul McGrath

32:31

levels of knee issues there for

32:33

my Casey and here he is about to he

32:35

will be hoping to help limerick to a four in a row

32:38

all-arland championships Karen and I suppose

32:40

it gives us an insight as well because these guys

32:42

again we can't labour the point but they're

32:44

amateurs they've got day jobs and

32:47

I can't imagine what he was going through

32:50

during all that time he's trying to rehab those

32:52

four really serious operations.

32:55

Yeah but I suppose the one thing was like

32:57

I mean he had won his first all-arland like he was there

32:59

in 18 so the point

33:01

is like Jason's pointed out about

33:04

the devastation that'll be for whoever loses and

33:08

that is true but by

33:10

the way they wanted to keep going either way

33:13

you know you'll go you'll keep going

33:15

back like my Casey had his all-arland he was there because

33:17

they had won an all-arland but

33:20

he wanted just to be back with that group he's talking

33:23

about every time he puts on the jersey or he's in

33:25

a train it's the old friend the journey

33:27

they don't want to stop the journey because it is so precious

33:30

and like

33:33

so it's that what will be fascinating

33:35

today is

33:36

like we've to remember here that and

33:39

it's pointed out in some of the pieces

33:41

and even I was doing a piece on Kilkenny

33:43

and how they've recognised that

33:46

they're taking the eye of the ball they

33:48

had taken their eye off the ball a bit and their structures

33:52

and I was telling daddy Brennan

33:54

and he made the point that far and he would call some of those

33:56

guys

33:57

who got to another 21. Ireland

34:00

in 17 against Limerick.

34:03

He was making the find about how there's boys

34:05

there in Kiltenney who have yet to win their All-Ireland medal.

34:08

They will bring that huge determination. Someone

34:11

like TJ Reed has

34:13

won, is it 7 or 8 with him, Jason?

34:18

7, yes. 7, 7. Yeah,

34:21

but it's been 8 years since that last one.

34:24

It could be TJ's last

34:26

go. The other thing that you'll

34:28

have is

34:30

it'll be TJ's idea whenever

34:33

he calls. The same way it'll be Conor McManus.

34:35

The only thing is the body might be

34:37

telling them, but it won't be a manager. But you will

34:39

have fringe players who will

34:41

be moved on too. You're

34:43

on about there, that

34:46

bus, Jason. I always remember I

34:48

mentioned how Wexford 96 was a special

34:51

moment. But on the Monday

34:54

after

34:57

they had one,

34:58

they talked about how Liam Griffin all called them

35:00

in and said, just take in this moment because this will be

35:02

the last time all of us will be

35:05

in our own. There will

35:07

be guys who will

35:08

move on, like there will be guys who will be dropped.

35:11

So it always keeps moving. But

35:14

by the same token, what is being an exception about the Slimmer

35:17

team is they have retained so many

35:19

of these. The age profile is team. They're probably going

35:21

to be the

35:22

core of them are going to be together for another three

35:25

to four years. But I thought

35:28

just to tie it in with the KCPs,

35:31

it's that when you have it and you see

35:33

it going,

35:34

you really want to fight for as long

35:36

as it wasn't even just to get back to a day

35:38

like today. It was just to put on

35:40

that green shirt again and still be with this group because

35:43

they know

35:44

they have something extremely

35:46

precious and while

35:49

they have played the Vinjuli,

35:53

I suppose obliging and given good insights here,

35:56

there is there

35:59

is a real study to be done eventually on just

36:02

how they've turned this around. Like we often

36:04

hear about Paul Canoe, but you

36:07

get really what way it has worked.

36:09

Because to me, like,

36:11

and this is for a lot of people, I

36:15

just thought we'd never see anything like Kilkenny

36:17

again, never.

36:19

I like to think, like, because we

36:21

thought we wouldn't even see anything like Kilkenny

36:24

where, you know, I haven't seen the witness

36:26

the revolution years and how you'd

36:28

prowl counties, you know, so

36:30

many counties like Waterford being competitive.

36:33

And I think that they haven't got up there yet. And

36:35

like, I remember talking, you're out about devastation. I

36:38

remember interviewing Tony Brown in 2017.

36:42

He gave a real honest interview.

36:44

I mean, Tony, you're talking about

36:47

loving the process and doing whatever

36:49

it takes to, like

36:52

Tony obviously played, had the longest inter-county

36:54

career since Ring. But

36:57

he talked about

36:59

going to a game in

37:01

Nolan Park, Westford and Kilkenny with Ken

37:03

McGrath, and they bumped into Jackie

37:05

Turrell.

37:06

And the three of them were talking away and having the ball happen.

37:08

And like between them, I think they each had won three

37:11

All-Stars. And then

37:14

Tony says to Ken, he says, Jesus,

37:16

Ken, that faker has nine

37:18

hours. So he had no idea. And

37:21

there is that, but

37:26

it is funny because I remember I was listening to David Erudy

37:28

speaking to Joe during the week, and he was talking

37:30

about the likes of TJ and Richie when

37:33

they were young lads, kind of collecting their first

37:35

few All-Arnans and kind of saying they were

37:37

pretty confident they would make double figures in All-Arnans

37:39

medals. And, you know, the lone ball,

37:42

we would have never thought that there would have been, I

37:44

suppose, the

37:46

downturn in Kilkenny Hurling.

37:47

And it was good that you referenced as well, just

37:49

the structures, because David Erudy

37:52

spoke as well about how they had probably taken early off

37:54

the ball with regard to underage in

37:56

Kilkenny. And that is being addressed now. So

37:59

that's a warning, I think, for now. for everybody going into the

38:01

future. I just want to mention, I think one

38:03

of the big things that a lot of people have spoken about

38:05

with this Limerick team as well, lads, is

38:07

the physicality and how they changed the strength

38:09

and conditioning side of the game as well. And

38:12

it's imagine in this Christie piece, Casey

38:14

goes on saying, you know, slagging

38:16

Shawnee Finn, he's getting even bigger

38:19

up top, says Casey. He promises to wear a sleeveless

38:21

top to the All-Iron final just to get a picture.

38:23

It's a bit of a crack, but it comes back to that competitiveness

38:27

in the gym. Everyone wants to outdo

38:29

each other to live more than the next person. It's

38:31

a vital part of the game. You have to be able to run harder,

38:34

be more powerful than every other team. There

38:36

are a few lads all right that don't mind taking

38:38

the tops off in the dressing room. Now, he adds

38:40

as well that Casey might have a bit of an advantage

38:42

because of his farming background. Growing up on a

38:44

farm on the outskirts of Limerick City, honed

38:47

and developed that natural strength. If you're

38:49

ever down there, he says, if

38:52

you were ever down there with the lads, dehorning or

38:54

tagging calves, Peter, his brother, would

38:56

be writing down the tag numbers, says Shane Dowling,

38:59

they're in a Pearson teammate. Mike

39:01

would be inside tackling and wrestling with the

39:03

cows and calves trying to get

39:05

them out. So I think that probably will tell us that the Dubs

39:07

really won't, will have no hope over

39:09

the next decade or so because they're not doing

39:11

any of that kind of training, Jason. But

39:14

it is really a big part

39:16

of the game now, isn't it? That has totally been

39:18

changed by Limerick over this last six, seven years.

39:20

Yeah, they're just absolutely enormous. That

39:25

conversation kind of sparked my famous photograph

39:27

of the lads in the dressing room after

39:29

one of the all-airlands. It was like a poster for WWE

39:32

or something. We

39:35

were joking then that maybe the journalists in the room should

39:37

recreate it. And I was saying, Christie,

39:39

it'd probably be in the best shape of any of us, but

39:42

yeah, they're absolutely massive. And people

39:44

are always talking about Limerick's half-backline,

39:47

which is going to be man be, well, I don't know who

39:49

today, but like the Giants are over the pitch.

39:51

Like, Gerold Hegerdy, you know, like

39:55

the way of Kean Lynch, like you see photographic

39:57

Kean Lynch when he was playing under 21. He's

39:59

just like... kid, do you know what I mean? He's this absolute

40:02

monster now and you can't go too

40:04

overboard with it as well, you have to find that balance,

40:06

but you know this was all started for

40:08

Limerick in terms of their academy as well and you

40:11

know they really got things right from underage

40:13

level and you know that's what David Herdy was

40:15

referencing when he was talking news during

40:18

the week as well that that's maybe

40:20

where Kilkenny didn't kind

40:22

of hit the nail in the head in years gone by and maybe

40:24

why they've had this eight year famine now because

40:26

eight years is such a famine for them, but

40:29

I think Limerick's Academy, you look through

40:31

you know those underage teams,

40:33

they've all come through together you

40:36

know they all have that perfect age

40:38

profile as Kieran mentioned as well and they're just

40:40

all absolute animals and that

40:43

Galway team in 2017 were

40:45

massive as well but you know Limerick came on

40:48

and they just they just seemed to have it at a different level

40:50

again when they got that breakthrough title in

40:52

Beat Galway in that 2018 final because it started

40:54

that season everyone was saying all Galway or search

40:56

for back-to-back but Limerick have just come

40:58

along and literally bulldozed all

41:00

in their paths since then like and you know they're

41:03

a remarkable team and regardless of what happens today

41:06

they are one of the all-time great sides.

41:11

I remember as a reporter covering Dublin

41:14

as they went on to win the six in a row and every year

41:16

you'd be asked about the three in a row four in a row and

41:19

Tommy Conlon mentions in his piece

41:21

in the Sunday Independent at the end of that piece

41:24

with my Casey says Casey has supported

41:26

Manchester United man and boy the end of the Alex

41:29

Ferguson era has been a salutary lesson in how

41:31

empires rise and fall he repeats the

41:33

warning he uttered earlier the wheel always turns

41:36

nothing lasts forever but he and his teammates

41:38

his best friends have seen Coley determined to

41:40

squeeze all the juice from the orange before

41:42

it begins to decay therefore naturally any

41:44

reflections on their place in history as the

41:46

legitimate errors to Mick Mackey's legacy from the 1930s

41:49

will have to wait until their work is done for

41:51

now it's about high performance preparation and execution

41:54

but surely at the back of their minds they must be conscious

41:57

of what they're achieving of course we are he

41:59

replies We're human beings,

42:01

we understand what's going on, but when

42:03

you sit back and start thinking about that, that's when you're

42:05

done. If we dwelled on what we did in the past, we

42:07

wouldn't be here now. Yeah, there is history involved,

42:10

but that is for us to sit back and reflect on in 20

42:12

years' time. Do you, like, were you there with him?

42:14

Jason, are you buying that? Does the, is the

42:16

four in a row, is it a motivation today, do you

42:18

think?

42:19

Ah, it has to be underneath it all. When you,

42:22

you know, you... Sorry, to match only Cork and Kilkenny?

42:24

Yeah. The other two counties that are done. Yeah,

42:26

like Cork done it in 44 and Kilkenny

42:28

don't have no name. And, you know, they'll want to be

42:30

up on that pedestal with those sides, absolutely.

42:33

Like John Kelly was obviously playing it down as well, and

42:35

it's what you'd absolutely expect them to do, but

42:37

it has to be there underneath the

42:40

surface somewhere as a driver. Don't, don't, don't, don't,

42:42

don't, don't, don't, don't know. I, I,

42:45

I think the fact is,

42:46

Kilkenny ended up winning a four in a row, and the,

42:49

and the dubs went on to win a six in a row. I, I,

42:51

I, I don't think...

42:54

It's a bit like, you know, when the dubs won their four in a row,

42:57

like, was it, was it Tyrone? It was all towards

42:59

the five, you know, that kind of way. And like,

43:02

even early on, it felt like that. Now, obviously this year

43:04

has been way more competitive than

43:06

Hurling. And so I just think it's, I don't

43:08

think the four in a row has been,

43:10

is as big a thing as, albeit,

43:14

there's a good piece by Mick Foley today about how

43:16

it has been a separator,

43:18

how the, how there basically has been, is it

43:20

nine teams that have done a three in a row, but

43:25

only two other teams before and Hurling have

43:27

done four in a row. But I don't

43:30

think it's anything like if they were to get

43:32

through today,

43:34

if they were going for a five, in

43:36

light of Kilkenny not doing

43:38

it, you know? But it does separate

43:40

them,

43:42

yeah, from, let's say, that Great

43:44

Cork team of the late 70s, you know,

43:46

that, that, that, that Limerick.

43:50

So, you know, but I don't think they're

43:52

obsessed with it. I don't think this current team are

43:54

looking at it. Well, this separates us from

43:56

the Cork team of the late 70s and go back.

43:59

to what Jason said, I think, and

44:03

my case is called references that they

44:05

have, they've had little truck with history,

44:07

you know, they didn't want going into 2018. They

44:10

made it

44:14

clear like, you know, we're not

44:16

the limit team of 2007, not that they were

44:18

disown in those teams, they would be aware that even

44:21

some of them like Seamus Icky were involved around then

44:24

was that those defeats

44:26

weren't their defeats, they weren't going to be burdened by history

44:28

and it's it goes it goes the other way too.

44:30

It's something

44:32

they like to hear after

44:34

the fact, you know, like, I think they enjoyed

44:37

hearing all this that five monsters in our all that's,

44:39

I think john Kylie had that I didn't know that we were there

44:41

with cock 80 to 86. It's

44:44

after a kind of thing. It's a cute thing to hear, you

44:46

know, but,

44:48

you know, they're just in the business of winning this one

44:50

and it's boring as is it's game

44:52

by game for them. And

44:55

so yeah, but it's, but

44:58

it goes back to I know Tommy well and Tommy

45:00

lives in limerick and he would have met some of those players

45:03

out because this is beyond the wildest

45:05

dreams of the supporters.

45:07

But if anybody told you, could

45:10

you imagine being a limerick person being told it started 2018?

45:13

Not only are we going to end the 45 years, we're going to

45:15

win five the next six. Like,

45:18

it would have just been like Kilkenny

45:20

person, you know, a Dublin football

45:24

in 2011. If someone told you what was going to happen, you

45:26

would have struggled even for a limerick person

45:28

to hear this.

45:29

It's remarkable what they

45:31

what they've done. And so these

45:34

guys are it's not a lot. It's not that long

45:36

ago, Karen, like I can remember watching the

45:38

limerick team maybe was a 10 12 years ago, they

45:40

were hopeless.

45:41

I looked at were way off. I mean, look, there's a county

45:44

there was that's

45:45

been well documented. But how

45:47

it's gone from,

45:49

you know, unlimited heartbreak, as the book was

45:51

called to unlimited success.

45:54

It's just it's just remarkable. And I know they've been paired

45:57

a lot with mail, but mail right mail would love

45:59

that closure when it's.

45:59

in Ireland, but Mayo have been so

46:02

competitive and consistent over the last 25 years,

46:04

but particularly obviously for

46:07

a 10, 12 year period there, like

46:09

Glimerick, as you said, had awful

46:12

beatings, you

46:14

know? And that's

46:16

one thing that would happen. And even in Dublin

46:19

and where a clock didn't even come back in, they would

46:21

remind the

46:22

Brian Fenton's off.

46:25

You know, I was beaten by 17 points by Kerry in

46:27

an Ireland quarterfinal. Like, you know, I was

46:29

beaten by Westmead, you know, a Declan

46:32

Hannon,

46:33

you know, some of those guys were there

46:35

on very low days where they were. What

46:38

I'm going back to one thing about Kilkenny, while

46:40

they haven't been, it's an eight year famine for them,

46:42

they've always been relevant,

46:44

always relevant. Even in a year like 2017, where

46:47

it was, I think their

46:49

first year not getting to play in Croke Park,

46:51

they brought Waterford to the brink in

46:53

Turliss and the qualifiers to extra time and

46:56

Waterford got to in all Ireland. They've always

46:58

been relevant for years there, but the Glimerick were

47:00

irrelevant.

47:01

And the consistency of this group,

47:04

it's just phenomenal. Even a year like 2019,

47:06

they didn't, they were beaten in the semi-final, but to win a league,

47:09

to win Munster the way they did, it's,

47:13

I just still find

47:15

this Delimerick story just remarkable.

47:18

And I still think it'll be another

47:20

while before we really get it. There's been obviously

47:22

good pieces and there was a great book there by

47:25

Arthur Odey last year that contextualized

47:27

it well. But in terms of what happened within the group,

47:30

and we could be waiting a long time

47:32

for it, you know, the way that it took really only Jackie

47:35

Turtle's book, I felt, was that came

47:37

out at the end of 2017 for

47:40

us to get a real insight as much

47:42

as we had drip drip and the gas thing is, is the Kilkenny

47:44

players

47:45

are now they're doing road shows

47:47

with your likes of yourselves and they're great.

47:50

They're great to pick up a phone out,

47:52

you know, and they'll talk away to us, but

47:55

she at the time, outside of the day, the

47:57

Jason otherwise would get a stake.

47:59

You're fairly reticent now, you know? Yeah,

48:02

well it's interesting you mentioned Tommy

48:04

Walsh who we'll have on, of course, today from

48:07

live from Crow Park doing his usual

48:09

brilliant stuff from the All-Ireland final,

48:12

and he is mentioning Derma Crow's piece, Derma

48:14

Crow speaking to Hugh Lawler, and

48:17

it says here, one of the pieces I liked, because it's

48:19

always nice to hear about current players talking about their

48:22

heroes. He says, of the players who

48:24

inspired him in his impressionable years, Tommy

48:26

Walsh gains special favour. I

48:29

just loved him as a hurler, he says, no fear,

48:31

he attacked the ball the whole time. As I got

48:33

a bit older then, obviously playing for O'Loughlin's,

48:35

I was learning an awful lot of Brian

48:38

Hogan because I was playing in the backs at the time

48:40

as well, and I ended up with Martin Comerford there at

48:42

the same time. They were two influences.

48:44

It's the same for the O'Loughlin's lads on the panel

48:46

now, they were huge role models for us growing up, and

48:49

then you had the likes of Mark Kelly and Mark Bergen who

48:51

were there as well, they were a huge impression on us. I

48:53

actually moved from Dublin to a place down

48:55

in Kildare called Kale, which wasn't

48:57

really a big hurling hotbed,

49:00

but there was a guy who lived down the road once, he was a big,

49:02

his family were Kalkenny hurrying, big, big Kalkenny fan.

49:05

I think it was 2000 or 2001, I remember

49:07

him scarpering down the road to the bus stop, and

49:10

I was like, jeez, where are you off to?

49:12

And he says, I'm off down to see Kalkenny

49:14

Miners, it might have been 98, actually 97, 98. I

49:17

said, all right, she said, does this fellow call Tommy Walsh?

49:20

I'll tell you, he's going to be a hero, this fellow, he's the new,

49:22

he's the new, the big,

49:24

big player for Kalkenny, watch out for this fellow.

49:26

I was like, little did I know, Tommy

49:28

Walsh, what do you go on to do? And here

49:31

I've only heard from some local

49:33

neighbour in a village in Kildare, but anyway,

49:35

Stig Wicklkenny, you've picked out a couple of bits as well,

49:38

Jason, I think, looking at, was it Mick Foley's

49:40

interview there with them?

49:41

Yeah. Mick Foley's done it for

49:43

the Sunday Times? Yeah, Mick, well, first,

49:46

I wanted to talk about Mick's piece that

49:48

Ciaran briefly mentioned there, like, kind of, you know,

49:50

when he's talking about how hard it is to do the foreign

49:52

role, like, and he takes us to, he

49:54

takes us to Dennis Coughlin's bedside

49:58

in 1979, and Kristy Ring comes in to see him.

49:59

and

50:00

they're going for the 4 in a row and they

50:03

ask the great man and his quote is

50:05

something always happens, ring replayed and

50:07

then the next phone call they

50:09

got was that ring had passed away and

50:13

he weaves into all the near misses

50:15

and all the 3 in a row stories down through the years

50:17

and he just finishes up the piece locally

50:20

saying that in time maybe Limerick Sprettel's

50:22

victory over Claire in the monster final will be

50:24

preserved as the moment that opened the way to immortality

50:27

maybe that moment is yet to come something

50:29

always happens and it just sort of was a fantastic piece

50:31

from Mick and you know it kind of

50:33

ties in as well lovely to the

50:35

way that Limerick have

50:37

gone through some of these all-earnings with such

50:39

adversity you know they missed Kean

50:42

Lynch last year Declan Hannon's missing

50:44

today but they always seem to

50:46

just be able to churn out the results and you know rich

50:48

English isn't in the 26th today either so they

50:50

have very little cover in terms of defenders

50:54

but they keep coming back and you know

50:56

they have this unbreakable bond that seems

50:58

to be massive for them as well and we've seen

51:00

the pictures of them at this stage drinking pitchside

51:03

at the Gaelic Rounds toasting monster

51:05

titles and digging through that monster campaign as

51:07

well just backs against the wall especially

51:09

after they lost against Claire that night

51:11

in the Gaelic Rounds I was there and it was just a

51:14

phenomenal occasion but you

51:16

know people were writing them off and the question

51:18

marks were there but why they're writing them off were

51:21

they right Jason were they writing them off I

51:23

mean I remember writing a piece I write that

51:25

there were signs of slippage and I suppose

51:27

in a dresser I don't know if it was done they might have

51:29

taken that old people writing us off but don't

51:31

get anybody wrote Limerick off I just think that

51:34

people were surprised by how far they came to back and

51:36

they realized this isn't going to be a procession like this

51:38

is going which we thought it was we just thought like

51:41

I remember Dennis Walsh who's obviously one of the

51:43

greatest writers on the sport

51:44

that it's ever had and

51:48

writing about you know it's their ball you

51:50

know nothing's going to stop them after the league final

51:52

where these two counties but

51:54

how not just Kid Kenny I'll always see

51:56

today how everyone was so close

51:58

but I don't think anybody

51:59

wrote them off. But I think your point still valid, Jason,

52:02

your point about the bond they have

52:04

and how it's got them through those games, you know, because

52:06

that's what was unique about

52:08

like there was years like in 2021, 2020, they

52:11

were just blowing teams off the field. Again,

52:14

which was I wrote at a time, you

52:17

could never envisage a limerick team doing

52:19

because on each area

52:22

office, like you take the great Claire team

52:24

and there were a great team, like with only you could

52:26

argue now, there are two all irons, three monsters, but there were

52:29

a great team that land team, but

52:31

either one only close games, essentially.

52:34

And you

52:35

couldn't say that they were the best hurling team,

52:37

you know, like, like they,

52:39

they introduced power hurling. They were kind of the first

52:41

team to make a quantum leap

52:44

on the SNC front, the physicality, although

52:46

it wasn't SNC then like Mac wouldn't be as scientific

52:49

as the likes of Joe Cana. But the

52:51

point being that they were, that was what separated

52:53

them. You couldn't say they were the best hurlers

52:56

as such, particularly upfront,

52:58

like this, this, this limerick hurling team,

53:01

I haven't just been ahead on

53:04

SNC like between, you know,

53:06

game awareness, intelligence and just sheer technique,

53:08

they're being the best hurlers. They've

53:11

been better hurlers than name

53:13

whichever county like Carc would have played in

53:15

them. And Carc wouldn't have, a county like Carc has

53:17

only, I started, started

53:20

to get to that. Whereas all we have the hurlers

53:22

and that other stuff, it's nearly like, as if that's

53:24

for guys who can't hurl. No, the Carc

53:26

great team of the mid-naught, he's understood that. And they were

53:28

a separator. But the point

53:31

is this limerick team hit the box in every

53:33

category between physical conditioning,

53:36

the mental,

53:38

and the technical stroke tactical.

53:41

And,

53:42

and, you know, again, it's, it's

53:44

remarkable. But, you know, the, going

53:47

back to the point about something always happens,

53:49

will we be here Jason, after

53:52

tonight saying something did happen with

53:54

the likes of losing Hannon, you know, so that

53:57

caught up with them the same

53:59

way.

53:59

Kenny, you know, in 2010,

54:02

as good as that tip team were coming, it

54:04

was another back to back, I learned and we were looking at

54:06

it. Um,

54:08

no, obviously there was the whole thing about Henry, uh,

54:11

going into that game. But the point

54:13

is, as a group, they still looked like they could overcome it

54:15

because they just had seen, looked so

54:17

imperious and how they're dismissed car in the semi-final.

54:20

So it's, um, yeah.

54:23

Um, we, we'll see if they do the four

54:25

in a row. It probably does like it puts them in the, in

54:28

the top three. Um, so history

54:30

beckons as all the headlines there. Indeed.

54:36

Well, look, I think as well, it

54:38

was probably a bit of a struggle for, for editors

54:41

on this Sunday afternoon or this Sunday for

54:43

doing papers. I, I mentioned off

54:45

air to, to Karen about, um, how

54:48

much of a big week it's been for Irish

54:50

women in sport.

54:52

Um,

54:53

we've had Rashid Attalecki making

54:55

her professional debut of the 200 meters.

54:57

Then she ran the 400 meters on Friday.

55:00

Um,

55:01

you know, the 400 is our main event. Um,

55:04

not our best run, but

55:05

it was still a really, really good run 200 meters.

55:08

Um, she was second just to the world champion, Shariq

55:10

Jackson. Brilliant. I can't see

55:13

any coverage of it in any of the newspapers. Um,

55:16

Karen McGain broke the mile record as

55:18

well on, on Friday. And,

55:21

um, unfortunately, just now

55:23

look, as Karen was saying to me, look, you know, what's

55:25

so much going on with the hurting and that kind of stuff. It probably

55:28

was hard. You know, I suppose it is good to see

55:30

coverage of the women's world cup. There's

55:33

about maybe two pages in, in both the

55:35

Sunday times and Sunday in those sports

55:37

sections.

55:39

I would argue maybe you can have a bit more in

55:41

there. If it was a men's world cup, we'd

55:44

probably see a lot more coverage. Sorry,

55:46

Karen. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, wanting

55:48

to be fair to the

55:50

writers, I'm thinking of him, Nick Foley, who's the

55:52

chief sports writer, obviously a

55:55

huge, um, speciality in

55:57

J as well, but a good, I'll wonder like I would

55:59

have seen.

55:59

him write about

56:02

the athletes in the previous last

56:04

couple of weeks as well. So

56:07

to be fair, so there'd be other times to

56:09

write about them, you know, but

56:11

by the same token, we have to remember and actually

56:14

just as you were talking there, Steven, it made me

56:16

think back to

56:18

Donalogue's reference if you remember to the

56:20

timing

56:21

and he was talking essentially about the Sunday Times coverage

56:23

that we picked up a Sunday paper if you remember

56:26

and he was on about

56:27

the coverage we were

56:29

getting because this is the busiest week of the year.

56:32

Even if you took out a woman's World Cup, I mean, the

56:34

Tour de France, I don't think we're going to get talking

56:36

about it. Right. And

56:39

obviously the British Open is

56:41

on as well. It's one of the this

56:43

is on a

56:45

non-Olympic year about

56:49

as big as you can

56:51

get, you know, between like let's say the cycling

56:53

and the British Open. So to be fair on that,

56:55

but I am cognizant of what you're saying

56:58

about, and I think it's just to note,

57:01

we're talking about breakthroughs and we've been talking about hurling.

57:03

I think it's important to reference and there's a couple

57:06

of match reports, particularly in the single.

57:09

I talked about how much I love breakthroughs and I

57:11

would feel for a country like Waterford. It wasn't a brilliant

57:13

just to see their Kamoagi team beat Tip yesterday, nothing

57:16

against Tip, but to get to an All-Ireland final, like

57:19

you could see them last year. Remember watching last year's quarter

57:21

final against Cork and they were just caught by

57:23

a team that were more experienced going down

57:25

the finishing line, the likes of Ashley and Thomas and Kemelan

57:27

and they were beaten by eight or nine in the end when it

57:29

was a closer game than that. But now they're going

57:31

up against that great Cork team. It's been referenced

57:34

that this is the first time since Wexford 2012 that

57:36

we've had someone outside the big three

57:38

of Kiltenney, Cork

57:39

and Galway

57:40

want to be contesting the women's Kamoagi final

57:42

in two weeks time. So I think that's important to

57:44

know, but I'm particularly cognizant of

57:47

that. We've been speaking for an early an hour now about the Sunday

57:49

papers. And I do think there's quite

57:51

a bit on the women's script World Cup. Like this is a

57:55

huge moment

57:59

in

58:00

Irish sport, particularly obviously Irish

58:02

women's sport. And there's some very

58:04

good stuff in the papers on this. But

58:07

like there's been quite a bit of talk about

58:11

how much coverage is it getting and what's the

58:13

mood and how it's hardly, you

58:16

know, Euro 2012 even, but I

58:19

would just say the girls were to

58:21

win the next game. The

58:23

team were to win the next game, it goes to another

58:25

level. And like I was trying to reference, I remember

58:28

in the 88 before the England game,

58:31

which was our opening game of the Euro 88 men's

58:34

tournament. And it

58:36

was England and I remember

58:38

the buildup and I was totally into it.

58:42

But by virtue

58:44

of them winning that game, it went to another

58:46

level. And by 1990, it was just, it

58:48

was another leap

58:50

again. So

58:52

it took over the country. But

58:54

my point is if this team were to win

58:57

a game and get through,

58:59

it will go to another

59:01

level. But in itself, and I thought

59:04

there was some great... Well, let's see, we

59:06

have a look at the two pieces there that we picked

59:08

out, Ciaran, because there's

59:11

a great piece in the Sunday Times, Paul Rhone speaking

59:13

to Denise O'Sullivan, who I

59:15

think will go down as one of the greatest Irish players

59:18

made or female. She is an absolute

59:20

superstar. And

59:22

then we've got Abi Larkin, who is having

59:25

a breakthrough with the international team.

59:27

She's only 18. This is a

59:30

massive, massive occasion for her. She came off the bench

59:33

against Australia in the opening game. And

59:36

she absolutely, she just ripped

59:38

it up. She was absolutely unbelievable. And we get some

59:40

great insight to her here, thanks to David

59:42

Kelly and the Sunday Independent, who was a brilliant writer. And Dave's

59:44

got a lovely, lovely way of words. He starts off

59:46

his opening paragraph, nothing is as wonderful

59:49

as a youthful mind open to the wonder

59:52

of endless possibilities. And that was

59:54

a great intro. And just moving on, he talks

59:56

about comparing her to the

59:58

superstar that was dead.

59:59

Damian Duff managing Shelburne.

1:00:03

When he broke through the Irish underage system with

1:00:05

Brian Kerr, Brian Kerr always knew that there

1:00:08

was little need in filling his mind with anything

1:00:11

when there was enough in the boots and the heart to sustain him

1:00:13

from the first whistle to the last. So

1:00:16

when he had him as a teenager, Kerr excluded

1:00:18

him from his final brief reminders to the defenders

1:00:20

and the midfielders about their roles and responsibilities.

1:00:26

Airey

1:00:54

in Dublin City and the inner city. We

1:00:56

get a bit of insight here. She

1:00:59

only turned 18 in April. She

1:01:02

is already back-to-back league champion with Shelburne,

1:01:04

multiple international underage appearances,

1:01:06

under 19 captain, second youngest international

1:01:09

debut in the senior team,

1:01:11

youngest goalscorer in World Cup qualification. Now

1:01:15

she is the Republic of Ireland's youngest World

1:01:17

Cup player, male or female, beating the record

1:01:19

set by Gary Kelly, who was 19 when

1:01:21

he came on against Norway at USA 94.

1:01:25

Abi says, I never knew that. I

1:01:27

got told after the match by the girls, they said something

1:01:29

about Gary and I hadn't a clue who Gary was. How

1:01:32

depressing. I was like, I don't

1:01:34

know who this is. I don't know if that was a bad

1:01:36

thing or not. It was amazing hearing that from the girls.

1:01:39

And Dave says, we might as well have asked her about Glenro

1:01:41

or extravision. But

1:01:44

some other pieces here from Abi, she says, I

1:01:47

didn't even know there was that many people

1:01:49

in Ring's End. When I left, there was only one flag

1:01:51

on my balcony. It's crazy. It's so overwhelming

1:01:53

in a good way. The amount of people that actually support

1:01:56

me, some people I haven't a clue who they are and

1:01:58

they're just there supporting me. It's amazing. it's cool.

1:02:00

And for someone from Ringsend, obviously there's no one else

1:02:03

from Ringsend that's gone to World Cup, even

1:02:05

thinking about it in that way. And obviously I'm a girl

1:02:07

as well. It makes it so special for

1:02:09

me. We then get a bit of insight into

1:02:12

what it was like for her coming on on Thursday

1:02:14

morning. I was actually really nervous coming out alongside

1:02:17

Lucy Quinn, who was her other fellow substitute

1:02:19

at the time. You just heard the fans screaming

1:02:21

and I'm thinking, Oh my God, the biggest I've played

1:02:23

in is at Tala Stadium. Nevermind 75,000 people.

1:02:27

That's 10 times the grouch you would have seen at Tala.

1:02:29

It was mad when I came on. The pitch was like

1:02:32

white noise. Really? You could hear all the players and

1:02:34

I was kind of in the moment then. I think it took

1:02:36

me about five minutes to get the nerves out and it was more

1:02:38

excitement, really. Yeah. Just kind of playing football.

1:02:41

I could hear Katie, that's McCabe, screaming.

1:02:43

I was going down and I just heard, let it go, Abby.

1:02:46

And I looked and she was there and I said, I have to play

1:02:48

it or because she was in such a good position. And

1:02:50

I thought this could be it. And obviously Katie

1:02:53

McCabe didn't score, but 18

1:02:55

years of age. And even though she's a chief, what she

1:02:57

achieved when she says there, Karen,

1:03:00

but the white noise that she heard coming onto the pitch

1:03:02

and to play the way she did was just incredible.

1:03:04

No, I think it was great that she was put

1:03:06

forward because what a story, you know, like

1:03:09

there's no protecting her or the hype. Like

1:03:11

she's embracing it. She talks about the nervousness, but then

1:03:14

transparently excitement. There's some great

1:03:16

stuff about her. And in

1:03:19

both, as you said, David's piece, I think

1:03:22

I see enough lead in the single as well. And there's

1:03:24

there's actually a really good

1:03:27

piece by Ellie Dunley in

1:03:29

the Business Post magazine. And

1:03:31

it's the cover story. And

1:03:34

it starts with Ellie and she

1:03:37

actually with sorry, with Abby and

1:03:39

Ellie Dunley gets talking to her aunt and

1:03:42

it's about the hype and

1:03:44

color there is and rings end. Others,

1:03:47

a local band have the

1:03:49

pullovers of lunch to sons about their sport

1:03:51

and hero and the Irish team's rings and

1:03:53

Abby is is one of them and

1:03:55

on the way down under and it

1:03:58

gets I really like

1:03:59

this piece by Ellie Dany,

1:04:02

because it brings us into Avi

1:04:05

Larkin and In Rings End and the colour,

1:04:07

and then it broadens out to the growth

1:04:10

of the women's game here. So I

1:04:12

was talking about how Maeve

1:04:15

De Burka, who made her debut for Ireland

1:04:17

at an underage level in 2006,

1:04:20

was talking about how when

1:04:22

she started out playing, there were no underage girls

1:04:24

clubs in Galway.

1:04:27

In 2000, she was fortunate enough that

1:04:29

Sol till Devon started a girl section. And

1:04:33

now 23 years later, there are 23

1:04:35

underage girls team teams. And

1:04:38

we have to remember how there's only been

1:04:40

a national league since 2011. So only 2011, since there was nationally,

1:04:44

like I come from a sport league basketball, which

1:04:46

has had a women's national league since 1979, only

1:04:50

seven years after the men's league started.

1:04:52

Like,

1:04:55

it was only in 2011, we had a national

1:04:57

league in Galway, one of our

1:04:59

biggest, obviously,

1:05:02

population centers, there was no women's team.

1:05:05

But like, what the growth of the

1:05:07

sport, like it's

1:05:09

it's an end, it took so long. But

1:05:12

I think we have to contextualize just the achievement.

1:05:16

And the

1:05:18

how it's how it's just brilliant that there is

1:05:20

no it's the old, you

1:05:22

know, the 20 by 20 campaign,

1:05:24

which started in something like was a 2017. But it's so true.

1:05:27

No, there is

1:05:29

heroes to be

1:05:32

seen. And I'm glad that they

1:05:34

have put up for the nabi lack.

1:05:36

And because what a story. And she's talking

1:05:39

about going back to your point, Stephen, about,

1:05:41

you know, a lot of looking up to a Tommy Walsh.

1:05:44

And you

1:05:46

talk about Gary Kelly, we're old enough

1:05:48

to remember Gary Kelly. I am anyway. Oh,

1:05:50

yeah. And just the famous there's the famous story

1:05:53

of Paul of Paul McGrath

1:05:55

talking about

1:05:56

Gary Kelly looking at

1:05:59

him weird in the dress And he says, What's the story with

1:06:01

that young fellow? He keeps looking at me weird. Jesus.

1:06:04

And Gary Kelly said he was looking at Paul McGrath.

1:06:06

He says, I can't believe I'm playing with

1:06:08

Paul McGrath. That's Paul McGrath over there. And

1:06:11

she looks up and likes a Katie McCabe.

1:06:13

And there's a lovely line just that's that's that's

1:06:16

that's mentioned in Dave's piece.

1:06:18

It's hard to forget, but it's important to remember

1:06:21

that in Hamden Park, she watched from the stands with

1:06:24

a bag of schoolbooks, you know, as

1:06:26

Ireland made history. She's the Gary. She is

1:06:28

the Gary Kelly. He's the Gary Kelly. Exactly.

1:06:32

Well, listen, time is against. We'll have

1:06:34

to breeze through a couple more pieces here. I just

1:06:36

I thought that the Lisa Sullivan with Paul Rohn

1:06:39

was excellent. It gives a bit of insight what happened in

1:06:41

that that match against Colombia, which

1:06:43

left her on the brink of missing out in that

1:06:45

first game, but she didn't thankfully. And

1:06:48

she says in here

1:06:48

was playing the match itself. It was a

1:06:50

dream or was everything I dreamed of since

1:06:53

I was a kid. So I was really proud to go out there during

1:06:55

night and just standing in that tunnel. The Irish took

1:06:57

over the stadium, to be honest. The minute we ran

1:06:59

out, they were unbelievable singing songs and

1:07:01

an unbelievable experience to play in front of seventy

1:07:03

five thousand. Gives us great insight into the

1:07:06

so sort of growing up in not being

1:07:09

down in Cork, which was what

1:07:11

an atmosphere it was down there during the game and her

1:07:13

family and all her friends and neighbors out there was. It

1:07:15

was brilliant scenes. And that's the kind of thing as

1:07:18

well. And he goes go under inspire

1:07:20

young girls into playing the game. And

1:07:23

more of it, hopefully Jason

1:07:26

just to touch them on the Gulf. I

1:07:28

know there was some pieces

1:07:30

there in the Sunday Times, obviously talking about

1:07:32

the disappointment for Rory McElroy.

1:07:36

Paul Kimmidge has done a piece though as well. A

1:07:38

couple of a lot of Beatles references

1:07:41

in there, which I wasn't expecting to see. But it's

1:07:43

it's done really well by Paul Kimmidge in there.

1:07:46

Yeah, it's a it's a great piece, Stephen. You

1:07:48

just kind of Paul loves quoting

1:07:50

Michael Bamberger, the great golf writer

1:07:53

for the intros to a lot of his pieces. So he mentions

1:07:55

he starts off with a bit of writing from him, saying

1:07:57

how when Nick Faldo found out to Paul

1:07:59

McArt He was simply aware of him, that

1:08:02

it meant the world to him. And then it kind of, it flows

1:08:04

into how Rory's kind of golfs beatle

1:08:07

now at the minute. And he takes us back

1:08:09

to when he sat down with Rory, when he was just 14 years

1:08:12

of age. And you know, he was over

1:08:14

in San Francisco in 2000,

1:08:17

or Los Angeles, sorry, in 2004. And

1:08:20

he heads 130 miles up the road to

1:08:22

Shadow Ridge Golf Club in Palm Springs. And

1:08:25

he writes, I was there to spend time with Nick Faldo,

1:08:27

Europe's most successful golfer. And

1:08:30

make plans for a success series of columns that would appear in this

1:08:32

so many times. Nick had company that week, his

1:08:34

then wife Valerie Burch, her, his daughter, Emma

1:08:37

Skarlath, manager Ian Forsythe, his

1:08:39

coach Jeremy Bennett, and a dozen teenage

1:08:41

golfers who were being nurtured by his

1:08:43

foundation. And then that's how he ends

1:08:45

up meeting Rory. And one of the great,

1:08:48

one of the rising stars, who was only

1:08:51

a girl at the time, Henny Koyak, she's

1:08:53

gone into TV presenting since. And Paul

1:08:55

kind of weaves into a good yarn about him, texting

1:08:58

her that he wants to write a small feature about her

1:09:00

and Rory to kind of go back to that day when

1:09:02

he met them as teens, but she doesn't get back

1:09:04

to them. But yeah, and

1:09:06

like he tells Faldo then that he still has

1:09:09

the tape from when Rory was just

1:09:11

that age. And, you know,

1:09:13

he's grown into this, you

1:09:16

know,

1:09:16

worldwide name despite his disappointment

1:09:19

this weekend. Disappointment this weekend. And he quotes

1:09:21

that great Beatles song, I Am the Walrus,

1:09:23

which was brilliantly covered by OS as well, as

1:09:26

well, of course. Good piece, though, Karen,

1:09:28

you, I know you were looking at that as well. Oh, yeah,

1:09:30

I thought,

1:09:31

look, Paul is obviously, you

1:09:34

know, one of the greatest writers we've ever had. And

1:09:37

obviously, his interviews, the Q&A

1:09:39

format, he's made it his own. But

1:09:43

he can really, really good column. And

1:09:45

when he's focused, I thought his piece last week on

1:09:48

the Tour de France

1:09:50

was beautifully personal,

1:09:53

how he weaved it in. He

1:09:55

himself and Kevin, his brother, an

1:09:57

old friend of mine.

1:09:59

were back on the bike, going

1:10:02

up the Pyrenees, and how

1:10:04

he weaved it in about his mother and

1:10:06

father. I

1:10:09

thought it was just a beautiful piece. And this column, I

1:10:11

like this column, I really liked today's column

1:10:14

as well, because I

1:10:16

knew that we'd be coming out and talking about

1:10:19

possibly Rory again, and here he is not

1:10:21

winning a major again, and the

1:10:24

disappointment early. But the fact he

1:10:26

ties it back into Feldo, and I think the most

1:10:28

important thing early about it is the last

1:10:31

four pairs,

1:10:32

he said, he

1:10:35

says, Cripe, that's almost 20 years ago, Sis Feldo.

1:10:37

Would you have called it? What?

1:10:39

How good he was going to be?

1:10:41

No, Sis Feldo. I thought Ali Fish

1:10:43

and James Heath were the stars. I

1:10:46

don't know who those two boys are. I

1:10:48

know who Rory McElroy, and the word knows them. As

1:10:51

Paul says, there was three hours there,

1:10:54

and they're playing with Ram and

1:10:56

Rose, but everyone just is only one known by their first

1:10:58

name, and McElroy is super clueless.

1:11:01

And the point being is that we

1:11:03

think he's failing at the moment, but really,

1:11:06

he has succeeded, and anybody

1:11:09

else's definition bear, Tiger Woods. We

1:11:13

have to sometimes remind ourselves

1:11:15

of that. I thought it was just a good reminder,

1:11:17

and it was just a really nice piece. Sometimes

1:11:19

you're going back to Feldo,

1:11:22

but there's great insights in there

1:11:24

behind that. I thought a bigger picture too

1:11:27

of just his cool jets, like this guy

1:11:29

has bloody ones. Yeah,

1:11:31

well, look, there's so much good stuff in

1:11:34

the papers today. We unfortunately didn't get to cover it all. There's

1:11:36

a good piece by Riat Al-Samaray

1:11:38

in The Irishman on Sunday just around Jordan

1:11:40

Henderson, and his possible move to Saudi

1:11:43

Arabia, which seems to be dragging on a while. It's a really good column

1:11:45

about the issues around that, but there's loads of good

1:11:47

stuff. It is all-Ireland burning day,

1:11:49

though. We had to go heavy on that. I

1:11:52

really

1:11:52

hope you enjoyed it. Stephen Doyle in for Joe Malloy

1:11:54

this afternoon. It's been an absolute pleasure having

1:11:57

Jason Byrne from The Irishman alongside me today,

1:11:59

and yourself as well.

1:11:59

Karen Shannon from the Irish Examiner.

1:12:02

Thanks a million lads and look, enjoy the match. Cheers

1:12:04

David. Enjoy it Jason. All right bud. Cheers

1:12:07

lads.