David Dooley back doing what he loves after ‘blunt’ Leinster rugby release
GAME HE LOVES: David Dooley of Laois poses for a portrait with the Liam MacCarthy cup. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
The cut was clean. David Dooley started playing rugby with Tullamore and finished with Leinster. He spent two years in the sub-academy before the call came. There would be no contract. Time to go.
“I was hoping to play Under-20s and stuff like that and realistically you would want to be playing Six Nations and World Cups to get a contract out of it,” the Laois hurler explains.
“That didn't materialise for me. It was probably coming for a while, so I wasn't really shocked at the time. It's blunt at the end anyway. That is it. You're in one day and gone the next. But you have to get over it."
At that grade, there is no soft landing or carefully managed exit plan.
Dooley played alongside prospects like Sam Prendergast. He watched the outhalf progress to the Leinster senior side while he left that world behind and went back to hurling.
The game always had a hold of him. He would’ve played for Laois in 2021 under Seamus ‘Cheddar’ Plunkett only for the age eligibility rule change to rule him out.
Dooley is speaking in the aftermath of a Joe McDonagh Cup final loss against Offaly. The group went out together after the decider and returned to training on Wednesday night.
Laois can still ensure it is an extraordinary season if they upset the odds and overcome Wexford in the preliminary quarter-final this Saturday.
The Rosenallis club man has been a key player for Willie Maher’s outfit starting every game except the final-round dead rubber against Westmeath.
"I always enjoyed my rugby. It was probably just the thought of a professional career that was the driving factor. To be perfectly honest, my first love was always hurling and I still had a great interest in it during my rugby career.
"I'd still follow it hugely with the club and the county as well. I'd often go to matches and stuff.
“I always said that if I wasn't playing at the top level, I wouldn't play at all because it is just so taxing on the body. It was an easy enough decision in the end to come back to the hurling.”
The link between the Joe McDonagh Cup and the Liam MacCarthy competition remains a source of debate.
Last year, a motion to abolish this avenue was defeated at Congress. Dooley was there the day the fixture showed its value. Laois have delivered a stunner before when they beat Dublin in 2019.
“There are days like that when it does actually materialise. Even looking at the Leinster Championship this year, there were big results there for Carlow against Kilkenny and Antrim against Wexford. We'd back ourselves to be at that level as well. On our day we could catch them on the hop.”
Nor is he concerned by the possibility of a struggle to bounce back from last weekend’s three-point defeat at Croke Park. He has overcome sporting setbacks before.
"I don't think so. It was obviously a downer coming away with a loss. But what an opportunity we have on Saturday. We're playing Wexford at home in Portlaoise. They're going to bring a big crowd and hopefully, the Laois supporters will come out in force as well.
"There is an All-Ireland quarter-final on the line too. We'll set our minds towards it because it is obviously going to be a tough, but it is one we're looking forward to."
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