Galvin can handle the controversy, says Young
Galvin faces the prospect of two months cooling his heels on the sidelines this summer after an altercation with Cork’s Eoin Cadogan during last Sunday’s Munster football semi-final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
It is, of course, just the latest in a long line of disciplinary black marks against the former Kerry captain and, if his proposed ban stands, the Kingdom will have to reach the All-Ireland semi-final before he is eligible to play again.
Jack O’Connor rubbished reports the 2009 Footballer of the Year was considering his future in the game when he was slapped with another eight-week layoff after an earlier incident involving Cadogan during a league game last February and Young is of a similar mind this time.
“He will be fine,” said the Renard defender. “Paul is well able. He has had worse times and is well able to handle it. We would be hoping he’d be back in sooner rather than later.”
It was Young’s minor misfortune that he had already committed to attending an Under Armour skills camp in Dublin yesterday long before last weekend’s controversy erupted but he was well equipped to handle the grilling.
There has been a groundswell of opinion in Kerry that The Sunday Game has been the judge and jury on Galvin’s latest case, despite Colm O’Rourke’s protestations that the CCCC should follow its own path on such issues.
Young doesn’t seem overly concerned by the furore over the so-called trial-by-TV issue. Asked what he thought of RTÉ’s highlights show four days ago, he laughed and claimed he was “out having a good time that night”.
If he is to be believed, such matters simply don’t register on the Richter scale like they do for the rest of us. TV analysts, he added, are more than entitled to voice their opinions.
His own are remarkably balanced, considering the effect which any ban Galvin might receive would have on Kerry’s hopes of reaching a seventh straight All-Ireland final and of retaining the Sam Maguire.
Is Galvin a victim of reputation, as many in Kerry have claimed? Hard to say, said Young. Should the CCCC be allowed ask referees to revisit incidents on DVD long after battle has ceased? Maybe, maybe, not.
“It is cleaning up the sport itself,” he reasoned. “If something serious does happen, it’s good to rectify those things. It is hard to say. It is an amateur sport and you could say should it be there or shouldn’t it.
“It is debatable but we will get on with it. We will get on with focusing on the Munster final for the next three weeks. It is not the players who worry about these things at all.”
His opinions on ‘Galvin: The Player’ are as definitive as his views on ‘Galvin: The Controversy’ are guarded. If the ban stands, Young is in no doubt but that Kerry will have to do without the best player in Ireland as things stand.
“Yeah, he is,” he agreed. “In the dressing room as well he is a fantastic leader and you can see on the pitch what difference he can make and the way he goes in for breaking ball.
“It’s one of the most important things and you could see the first day in Cork.
“We were outfought in the middle of the field and that’s what brought Cork on. It is possession that rules and that’s what Paul can bring.”
With men like Diarmuid Murphy, Darragh O Sé and Tadhg Kennelly already marked absent this season, Galvin’s absence would be another significant loss to a team increasingly devoid of its core leadership.
Young doesn’t agree. He wouldn’t be expected to but it remains to be seen if Kerry can recalibrate themselves for their next appointment against Limerick given the intensity and scrutiny that surrounded their back-to-back tussles with Cork.
“It is a very dangerous fixture and you have to give credit to Limerick for what they did to Cork last year. They should have won it only for that ball into Goulding so you don’t want to be complacent.
“We want to treat it just as important as the Cork game. Anything could happen and it is whoever is hungrier and works harder.”
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