Gaelic games the loser when players can’t express personality

When it comes to interviewing Gaelic footballers, the face-to-face conversation always delivers the best results.

The telephone is okay, and can sometimes be excellent. But the phone has its limitations, particularly if the journalist has never met the player before.

There is nothing like seeing the whites of someone’s eyes. Once trust is established, a player will usually relax and that’s when the journalist can delve beyond the clichés.