The Forde focus
FOR a man reportedly bed-ridden with the flu, Mattie Forde is looking remarkably healthy in the midst of Wednesday’s lunchtime rush at Gorey’s Ashdown Park Hotel.
Forde shrugs off the media’s latest update on his wellbeing. It is part of the territory in weeks such as this. If he coughs too loudly, its pneumonia. If he plays badly, it’s a bust-up. Any titbit from Wexford featuring the surname Forde ahead of Sunday’s Leinster showdown is gobbled whole.
“I started getting calls about it yesterday,” he says, “and by the last call it seemed as if I was at death’s door. All it is a throat infection. I went to the doctor on Monday. I am on a course of antibiotics and I will be fine for Sunday. Coming into a game like this, things are often blown out of proportion.”
His visit to the doctor was a necessity. Not for health reasons but for peace of mind. Medical advice is now as important to the GAA player as kit bag and boots in this age of the random drugs test.
“Definitely,” the Kilanerin club man agrees. “A couple of years ago the first thing you would go for was a Lemsip. That is a no-go now, along with a lot of other things that you can buy over the counter.
“If any of the lads are sick, even with minor head colds, the first thing they do is ring the doctor to see what they can or cannot take.
“Guys are not on performance-enhancing drugs but it is very difficult for players to treat the simple things. None of us have been tested but the threat is always there. It is a good idea to keep drugs out of GAA but you’d be worried that someone will be caught for something very innocent and will be made an example of. It’s different for professional sports people who are being paid 40 or 50 grand a week. But we go to the drug test of free will and could suffer enormous consequences for something simple.”
Forde knows all about consequences. The poster boy of Wexford football carries some weight on his shoulders. When things are good they’re great but when the scoring machine doesn’t produce the high-performance goods, things turn a little nasty.
“Things took off over the last year-and-a-half or two years. Things are great at the moment, you are recognised everywhere you go. Sure it can be a bit of a curse at times but I always look on it as a team game - and you win as a team and you lose as a team. Yet I get flak if I don’t perform.
“Take the League Final - I think I only scored a point from play. I didn’t get much criticism here in Wexford but in the national media I got a fair bit. It is all part of the territory. I take the bad with the good.”
The latter is a more plentiful commodity in Wexford these days. Pat Roe’s side enjoyed a tremendous league, including wins against Laois and Tyrone, with Forde hitting a whopping 4-53.
Still he is unsatisfied. The loss to Armagh in their first NFL decider since 1946 is one source of his malaise.
“The League final defeat was very, very hard to take. It was frustrating more than anything. We did well at centre field for the first day all year and to be honest I got a roasting. It is not something that sits well with me. But I just have to take it on the chin and try and learn from it.”
In the background, a replay of the Lions win over Wellington catches Forde’s attention. For the winter months, he spends cold Sunday afternoons as out-half or full back for Gorey’s junior side.
He has more than a passing interest in this Tour. Gordon D’Arcy is a good pal who spontaneously produces tickets for Heineken Cup games at Donnybrook. He loves the code, especially how rugby’s rules are so structured and so defined. Something he feels his own code is lacking.
“The one thing in Gaelic football that is completely undefined is the tackle and players don’t know where they stand on it. One week a fellow can be sent off for an incident and the next week, the same incident will go unpunished. That is really annoying.”
As Forde’s profile has developed, so too has the attention of opposing defences to negate his impact by any means possible. Not that he makes it too hard for them. On occasions, he stamps on his own self-destruct button - or at least he used to.
“I certainly get a bit of attention - most of it isn’t too bad, it is what you come to expect in inter-county football. You will obviously get players who will try to wind you up. I have been sent off four times playing for Wexford and maybe players will target that. They will probably go out thinking ‘wind him up and get him sent off’ but I would like to believe that I have overcome that and wouldn’t let it affect me.”
Forde’s on-field temperament highlights how his life is consumed by the game. “Is there a Mrs Forde,” I enquire nervously. “You must be joking,” he laughs. “Three nights a week are spent training, two nights in the gym, the other two nights you just want to crash and do nothing. The lads at work (Timber-frame housing company Ramstown Development) have been brilliant with all the time off for the training and the trips abroad to the likes of Thailand, Paris and Hong Kong. Otherwise it would be impossible.”
Yet for all that, he gave serious consideration to joining that elite, and some would say, dying band of brothers that is the dual star.
“Down here, Redmond Barry is doing it successfully. I contemplated both at the start of the year but realistically felt that I couldn’t manage it. I was always going to be playing football and Pat Roe to his credit left the decision entirely up to me. I wouldn’t mind giving hurling a go in the future but for the moment I will stick to the football as it is my first love.”
Mention of Roe is matched with a genuine feeling of admiration by Forde. The manager seems to have a PhD in man management, sports psychology and football strategy.
“His enthusiasm is incredible and it spread among the lads from the first night. His will to win is unbelievable and that is something which he has drilled into us.
“He said from the first night that: ‘we will win the Leinster Final’ and lads are now starting to believe him. His training methods are fantastic as we work with the football in nearly every routine. He has turned us from a crowd of wannabes into a team that can succeed.”
Forde bristles at the suggestion that this is a one man team - with him at the epicentre. He’s heard it a thousand times before. And his answer is always the same.
“Any of the big scores that I rack up are on the back of brilliant team performances. John Hudson our captain scored seven goals in our first seven League games. He will be a massive loss if he can’t play on Sunday. Diarmuid Kinsella, Redmond and all the forwards share the workload. When I am not getting big scores we are still winning and I think that proves my point.”
Last year, Wexford got to the semi-finals of the Leinster Championship - with Forde hitting 3-38 to become the competition’s top scorer. But the record is meaningless without a provincial medal. Tomorrow, Dublin are the next obstacle in the way of that dream.
“They are a fine team and I think new management always brings a buzz to a side. A lot of the lads have been there for three or four years. Bryan Cullen has a few U21 medals behind him and lads like Alan Brogan, Stephen Cluxton, Ciaran Whelan have experience playing for Ireland.
“Three years ago, I had a shot towards the end in front of goal. I turned and pulled and Paul Casey blocked it and who knows where it would have ended up. That day, we came from nine points to one down to be within two points with ten minutes to go and I think that is when the self-belief caught us.
“We were consumed with this fear that we couldn’t finish the job. But I think we are in a healthier position on Sunday. Since Pat came in, there is no comparison in terms of self-belief. And I genuinely feel that if we get into a winning position on Sunday, we can go on to win the game.”
Dublin v Wexford, Croke Park, 4.05pm, RTÉ 2 (Deferred showing 6pm)
: Home 1/3 Draw 15/2 Away 3/1
: J Cooper; C Morris, P Wallace, N Murphy; P Curtis, D Murphy, K Kennedy; N Lambert, D Fogarty; R Barry, D Kinsella, S Cullen; PJ Banville, P Colfer, M Forde.
: S Cluxton; P Griffin, P Christie, S O’Shaughnessy; P Casey, B Cahill, C Goggins; C Whelan, S Ryan; C Moran, A Brogan, B Cullen; M Vaughan, C Keaney, T Quinn.
: (B Crowe, Cavan)
Mitsubishi Pajero(Company).
The Royle Family.
The Small One (Gabrielle Solis).
Guinness.
Steak.
Peter Canavan and Maurice Fitzgerald.
Paul Collins (Today FM).
Jonny Wilkinson.
New Zealand to win 3-0.
Win a Leinster title.
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