With what appeared to be the last rage against the dying of the dual player, Podge Collins was this time last year declaring his plans to play both championship football and hurling with Clare. As long as the summer schedule allowed it.
That probably turned out to be a little longer than expected. While there was disappointment as the Clare hurlers exited in their All-Ireland quarter-final, the footballers also made it that far, and Collins featured in all their games in both codes. Six in football, four in hurling – either starting or else coming off the bench.
Only now that he’s declared his plans to play championship hurling this summer, and lay down his football, Collins admits that schedule took its toll. It’s not that he didn’t enjoy playing both codes, but the crux was that neither game was able to properly flourish.
“I suppose I was kind of stubborn,” he says, “wanting to do both, and trying to prove you can do it. Because you’d love to see young lads doing it, love it to be a thing. Because I do love playing hurling and football. But obviously I wasn’t successful, so.
“I think when games are clashing it’s very hard. If it was structured differently, maybe, but that would be very hard, to make it possible. So I’d say it’s probably done, yeah.
“I suppose coming back from the cruciate as well [he missed all of 2015], it was a bit mad, the work load was a bit heavy. Even with the club, I was playing both up along, week in, week out, club league or club championship. So just to have the one to focus on now definitely gives the body more time to recover.”
Still that decision to concentrate solely on his hurling wasn’t easy; his father Colm is manager of the Clare footballers, but he also felt some obligation to show some loyalty to the new Clare managers Donal Moloney and Gerry O’Connor.
“Look, I love playing hurling and football. If anyone asks me what I prefer, I still don’t have one. But Donal and Gerry have given a lot of time to Clare hurling, from under-14 up, so when they got the job, I had a chat with Colm, thinking about just doing the one, and felt I’d give hurling a rattle for a year.
“Now, you wouldn’t be worried about where you’re going at the weekend, making calls. The way it’s gone matches are clashing so much, and to not have that headache is definitely an advantage. I suppose anyone looking on would say yeah, as well.”
Few positives
Not that Collins has any regrets about trying it. Clare’s football run last summer (beating Limerick in Munster, then losing to Kerry; beating Laois, Sligo and Roscommon in the qualifiers, before losing to Kerry again in the quarter-final) was their best in years, rewarded by their first championship game in Croke Park since 1992.
“Yeah, and if I wasn’t involved, the day Clare beat Kildare in Croke Park, in the (2016) Division Three final, watching from the stand I’d have been gutted. And I know we got hammered by Kerry, but again to get to play with Clare in Croke Park, on two different occasions, was nearly a dream come true.
“Growing up with your father, who played for Clare back in the day, going back years, now manager for Clare, that was something I always wanted to do. So I would have missed that if I didn’t give it a go. So there are a few positives like that.”
Two of those games were played within 24 hours of each other – the Clare footballers beating Roscommon on Saturday July 23rd, the hurlers then losing to Galway on the Sunday.
“Yeah, and after Roscommon there was such hype, that even if we’d gone out against Galway, and we’d won, even though I was poor, it would have been great. But we lost, so that kind of put a dampener on it. After you lose a game you’re very quick to forget the one you won, so overall it was a bad weekend.”
For now then, all roads lead the Thurles for the Munster championship semi-final against Limerick on Sunday, June 4th: “I suppose ourselves and Limerick, when we saw the draw, it’s a real big game. When we saw the draw, and they saw the draw, we were both going to target that game, naturally. It’s a massive game for both of us, both being a bit disappointed with the way the league finished. So it will be one tough game, sparks flying in Thurles.”
* Former Dublin hurler Danny Sutcliffe is set to line out for New York in Sunday’s Connacht football championship preliminary round against Sligo at Gaelic Park.
The 2013 All Star – who opted out of the Dublin squad before the start of 2016, citing work commitments – had his transfer from St Judes to New York Kerry club approved earlier this year, and becomes the latest former county star to make his presence felt in New York.
Last year after Galway hurler Johnny Glynn lined out for New York in their narrow defeat to Roscommon, although he’s now back with his native county, while former Mayo defender Tom Cunniffe is also part of the New York squad, who recently played a couple of couple of challenge matches against Donegal.
