Seán Cavanagh questions and answers

BRENDAN O’BRIEN: My worst Injury...

SEÁN CAVANAGH: “It would have been the middle of 2007. I came back against Cork and I was only back two weeks and I started to get a niggle in my right knee. I actually had a history with jarring it.

“I went to a specialist who told me there was bone rubbing against bone in my knee and he actually looked at me and told me I should be limiting the amount of games I was playing to five or six a year.

“To hear that when you are only 23, 24 years of age is quite scary, but I have been lucky enough to have good physios ever since and I have been able to build up the muscles in my leg to alleviate some of the pressure on my knee.”

BO’B: I Wish I’d Scored …

SC: “The obvious one from GAA that stands out is probably the one Maurice Fitzgerald scored for Kerry against Dublin a few years back in Thurles, the sideline from around 50 yards out with the outside of the boot. That was a real pressure situation.

“I’ve always been a big basketball fan too and some of the pressure situations that Michael Jordan was in, taking the ball with a second to go and getting the basket to win. Some of them were in NBA finals.”

BO’B: Is wearing the county jersey as important as ever?

SC: “People talk about players being only club or inter-county players but there is room for both in the present game. Whenever you first pulled on the county jersey you thought there was nothing like it.

“You can maybe underestimate it sometimes. You get used to it but Mickey Harte doesn’t allow you pull on the jersey for a single game without giving you some sort of a summary on it.

“The words he uses really hit home. Then there is the Cormac McAnallen thing and some of the heartbreaking injuries some Tyrone players have had in recent years and you realise the privileged position you are in.”

BO’B: The most important qualities an inter-county player needs are . . .

SC: “Probably commitment, drive and energy.

“It is a bit of a cliché but some of the most talented players in our Tyrone squad are sitting on the bench at the moment and probably won’t get within five places of the team.

“You look at Brian Dooher there, training night in and night out, sometimes at home on his own, and that shows you how strong and determined he is. He is the epitome of a GAA player or any sportsman.”

BO’B: The one thing you would change about Gaelic football...

SC: “The likes of the square ball rules and maybe the stop-start attitude to the game some referees have. When we play International Rules the ball can be moved from your hand or foot from a free.

“It just makes the game so much more exciting and fast and players aren’t being pulled back. There is no cynical play because the game just flows. I would be in favour of two referees also.”

BO’B: How do you bring up an issue/problem with your manager?

SC: “You’d imagine he would be an approachable kind of guy, but he can be a hard enough fella to speak to.

“In Tyrone we have the whole Jekyll and Hyde management because Mickey is very much into psychology.

“He can be a hard man at times because he keeps players at a distance. We have another guy, Tony Donnelly, who works with Mickey and is a massive players’ guy.

“A lot of guys would go to him before Mickey Harte.”

BO’B: Least favourite venue...

SC: “Ballybofey up in Donegal. I never seem to play well up there and it always seems to be windy and very cold.

“It is usually in February or March wet and no fun.”

BO’B: Why do corner backs get a bad name?

SC: “Do corner backs get a bad name? I don’t know. I suppose when you look at a guy like Ryan McMenamin you do have to give them a bad name, don’t you?”

BO’B: How does football help you prepare for life outside the game?

SC: “Sport in general, that sort of commitment and association with team sports is massive. I know when we are interviewing for accountancy it is the first thing we will look for, those qualities that would be involved with football.

“Leadership, commitment and dedication. Whenever you understand that from a football point of view you can certainly bring it into any aspect of life and probably the workplace in particular.”

BO’B: Is Pat Spillane better as a pundit than presenter?

SC: “He is certainly a better pundit than he was anchor.

“He didn’t seem as happy as the anchor but I am sure that Pat is happy enough now back calling Francie Bellew a granny or whatever.”