Mick Galwey: ‘Anthony Foley was a great friend, a great man and a great family man’
Anthony Foley certainly fit into that category and so, too, did his great friend Mick Galwey and yet it is little surprise that the teak tough Kerryman should have been shattered by yesterday’s tragic news.
Apart at all from what they achieved together playing for Shannon, Munster and Ireland, Galwey was best man at Foley’s wedding.
“This won’t sink in for a long time”, said Galwey. “What makes it even worse is that he was down with us in Kilkenny last week and we were telling him that he never looked better.
Distraught at the tragic news of Anthony Foley,great friend,teammate & legend.Super form last weekend at Mick Galwey's 50th.Incomprehensible pic.twitter.com/lpnGMvnN2x
— Frankie Sheahan (@FrankieSheahan) October 16, 2016
“He was just so solid. Solid is the word I would use most about Axel. We all had massive time for him. No words can describe how good Anthony Foley was but look, his record speaks for itself, he was a great friend, a great man and a great family man and that’s very important to remember.
“I was lucky to play with him for 10 years. He came to Shannon in 1993 and he was just fantastic. But apart from the rugby, he was a great man and I had the privilege of being best man at his wedding.
“Anybody who knew Axel and the Munster rugby community appreciated that there was nobody prouder than Axel when we won the Heineken Cup in 2006.”
Ironically, having captained the sides that lost in the finals of 2000 and 2002, Galwey had to play a peripheral role when Anthony Foley finally led the side to victory in 2006.
“I was able to get into the post-match press conference because I was doing a bit for Radio Kerry at the time. When he came in, I shouted ‘Good man Axel’ and he held up the conference and came down wearing a huge smile and gave me a big hug.
“It was one of those special moments. Nothing was said. And when Ireland did the Grand Slam, once again in Cardiff in 2009, Axel and myself were doing some stuff in the same corporate box and were jumping around the place when Rog dropped the goal and we took half the box with us.
“I suppose the day he got the three tries playing for Munster against Biarritz in Thomond Park is one of the outstanding memories. As it so happened, Domino’s were giving out free pizzas for life to any Munster player who scored three tries in the Heineken Cup. We always said he knew about it (the offer) because he spent his time out on the wing all day. It was so typically Axel.
“But now our thoughts are for Olive and the boys and Brendan and Sheila and all the family.”
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