Something doesn’t seem right when the best player in a provincial club football championship isn’t part of a county team. Mossy Quinn can easily explain it by the fact he retired from the Dublin team, over a year ago, although that’s not saying his current form with St Vincent’s wouldn’t be good enough to earn him a recall.
Quinn, however, is perfectly content with this separation of club and county. If anything, in giving up on his Dublin career, he’s been able to give so much more to St Vincent’s. And now Quinn is looking forward to his second AIB All-Ireland club final on St Patrick’s Day.
“I’m still very comfortable with the decision I made,” says Quinn, speaking in Croke Park at the annual AIB provincial club player awards.
"And to be honest, I'm still very happy with the way it worked out from both perspectives. I was delighted to see Dublin win the All-Ireland last year, and delighted that things are going well for me now with the club campaign. I still love watching Dublin play. They play a brilliant style of football, very exciting, and I'm happy to watch that as a fan now.
Same level
"And I suppose during my last two years on the Dublin panel, I didn't play to this same level with the club. So there obviously is some difference. Maybe this year I am that bit fresher, not having another year of intercounty training under my belt as well. It also meant I was around the Vincent's squad a lot more, particularly the younger guys, and that's certainly been a benefit in this campaign.
“But it’s not too dissimilar, in terms of commitment. There would still be a step up to intercounty, in terms of speed, and overall football level. But I think in terms of what is required from the players they’d be quite similar. That’s certainly reflected in how tough the Dublin championship is to win.”
He’s still only 32, and Quinn has looked effortlessly comfortable playing alongside far younger team-mates throughout St Vincent’s campaign.
Indeed St Vincent’s team -mate Eamonn Fennell recently described Quinn as “the Benjamin Button” of the club, and there is a similarity with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fictional character, who is somehow aging backwards.
Quinn is playing his club football like he is getting younger. His 1-8 in the All-Ireland semi-final win over Ballinderry last Saturday week (not forgetting his brilliant goal-making pass to Ciarán Dorney) maintained his great scoring feats of the Dublin and Leinster championship, which also included 1-8 in the Leinster semi-final win over Summerhill.
Similar guys
Now, just six years after Quinn helped end a 32-year gap since St Vincent's won their first and only other All-Ireland club title, he's just 60 minutes away from winning another.
“There would be some comparisons, in that there are some similar guys involved. That gives us some things to reflect on, in terms of the build up, and the game itself. But the nucleus of the squad is new, quite young, so this will be something different for them. But I think they’re strong-minded enough already that they’ll be okay about it too.
“But there is a fair gap, going back to 2008. And I think that team will always stand out on its own merit, achieving what it did, when it did.”
Quinn never gave any great thought to the idea of getting back into another All-Ireland club final: “Well you never think that far ahead. There was an ambition to win another Dublin football championship. Like I’d only won the one, in 2007, and I’d have felt that wasn’t really enough, and I think this team needed more than one championship, and throughout my career I did think that.
“So that was always the goal, at the start of the year. Like anything else once you’ve achieved that you look at what’s coming next . . . . And I still think winning that club campaign in 2008 was one of the best things I’ve done in my career. But it’s hard to make any comparisons now, when you’re so caught up in this campaign. . . .”
Their opponents on March 17th, Castlebar Mitchels, who pulled off a surprise win over Dr Croke’s in their All-Ireland semi-final, saw Richie Feeney honoured as Connacht club player of the year.
For the first time, AIB also presented provincial camogie awards: Munster recipient, Marie O’Neill, from Milford and Connacht winner, Aoife Lynskey, from Ardrahan, will meet in Croke Park this Sunday, when Milford seek to secure back-to-back All-Ireland club camogie titles.
