2013 could mark final year for Irish sporting giants
When this columnist sat down yesterday to look at the year ahead, we can’t say it was all done in that festive spirit of optimism.
The news that Paul O’Connell is to undergo back surgery has brought home the very real prospect that 2013 could mark the final year in the playing careers for some of the giants that have bestrode the Irish sporting landmark for over a decade.
Over the last 18 months he’s only played 10 games. He’s now 33. Keith Wood was 31 when he accepted his body was telling him it could only take so much.
Which is why it’s very likely Brian O’Driscoll’s last year too. Wood hung in until he was able to squeeze out a last World Cup. Ten years on, O’Driscoll and O’Connell might be able to squeeze out another Lions tour at best. Do they really need another season playing RaboDirect, Heineken or even Six Nations after that? Not to prove their greatness, not to seal their legacy. Irish sport has never had better ambassadors for any sport.
They’ve walked and mixed with kings but never lost that common touch. A friend tells the story of seeing O’Connell queuing outside a popular establishment in Limerick. The doormen recognised him and invited him to breeze right in but O’Connell declined; he wanted to wait in line like everyone else, because for him he was no different to anyone else.
Another friend who had previously been in his company saw O’Connell walk past in a restaurant. O’Connell stopped in his tracks, walked back, shook him by the hand and asked how he and his friends were doing. He didn’t have to make time for them but he did. Class isn’t confined to the field.
But now he might be confined to the stands, away from that field, and soon the same will be said about Henry Shefflin. For the fourth time in six years he’s facing into another daunting winter of rehab and though his mental toughness and resilience may be rewarded again with another All-Ireland, he too may accept by the year’s end that at 34 the body can only take so much.
Last Saturday we heard someone on 2FM say that everyone in hurling would want Henry Shefflin to win a 10th All-Ireland medal. That’s hardly the reality, not when there’s only one other current hurler outside of Kilkenny with more than two All-Ireland senior medals to his name. In truth, everyone outside of Kilkenny wants to see anyone but Kilkenny win this year’s All-Ireland, but no one would begrudge Shefflin it either, and everyone wants to see him back in action so they can treasure the sight for one last summer.
The year is also likely to be Trap’s and Robbie’s last stand. We can only hope they go out with the dignity they deserve. It would not be a shame to lose out to Sweden for a World Cup spot.
What would be a shame is if we go out playing sterile, safe football. All people want is more of the spirit and even expansiveness shown in Torshavn, not Kazakhstan.
On a more upbeat, less bittersweet, note, we can see this being an exceptional year for gaelic football. Just think about this for the moment – the top seven teams in the country will all be better in 2013.
Donegal will, though it may or may not be enough to retain Sam. Kerry will be better, with new management and knowing they’ll have no better chance this next five years to win it again. Cork likewise have upskilled their backroom and have a real urgency; Kildare too, with the inspired coaching appointment of Jason Ryan.
Mayo will be more seasoned. Dublin will be more rampant than they were in 2012, though their year may more resemble 2010 than 2011. And Tyrone will benefit hugely from being back in Division 1.
Then there are the teams outside of Division 1. Meath, Galway and Derry are ready to rise again. Laois could make a real push for a Leinster title and an All-Ireland semi-final spot. No team outside Division 1 will win the All-Ireland but for the first time in a few years one of the top sides could be tripped up by one of the pack.
Other wishes, more than predictions, for 2013. That Gráinne Murphy returns to the pool and Sycerika McMahon continues her progress in it. That Irish basketball finally restores a full national senior team to international competition. That Mark English shows just why he should have gone to London 2012 and why he will very likely final in Rio 2016.
And that your own team get what they want, obviously.
