Tomás Ó Sé – 80 not out By John Fogarty

“Personal pride is a good thing. The team is number one but you’re out there on the field and you’ve a job to do. I’ve to mark a fella and he’s my business. Sometimes when we win games and I play terribly I feel like it’s a loss. You go out the next day and try to buck up your performance.” — Tomás Ó Sé, 2008

Might there be a reason why Tomás Ó Sé scored just 1-1 of his 3-31 championship tally in his first six seasons? His uncle Páidí, and manager for that period, intimates there may have been one.

“I would never have been an advocate of fellas going up and scoring from defence,” he says when asked of his nephew’s attacking attributes. “As a defender, I’d always preferred to be remembered for stopping people from scoring than doing it myself.”