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Augher’s Aidan Mc Elroy Takes On The Loughtec Q And A

Wednesday 10.06.2020
Team Talk Mag
Club


 

1. Earliest GAA memory. – As a player my earliest memories would be of PJ Treanor, Wishie Hackett and Paddy McMeel coaching us. Going to training with 5 or 6 other lads in the back of PJ or Wishie’s vans. I have a vivid memory of drinking water out of a massive steel saucepan with Tyrone Times mugs. I also remember landing to training, all proud of myself because I had mastered the right foot solo, but was quickly told by Paddy Mac to come back to him when I could do it with my left! I was getting no easy praise there, but it worked out grand as I am now equally as bad on both feet.


2. Was your family a traditional GAA family? Both of my 2 brothers played, my sister is the club physio and Mum and Dad are great Augher supporters and wouldn’t miss a game, so I suppose that would be as traditional as it gets! Dad didn’t play himself but I have a few uncles who played and are involved in the club. They would have taken me to plenty of Tyrone games growing up also.


3. The best GAA venue you have been to? Croke Park would be the obvious answer, but I always have a soft spot for Clones.


4. School participation and/or success. I was lucky enough to be involved in a great St Ciaran’s team that won the all-Ireland at U16 and U18 – I mostly warmed the bench so can’t claim too much credit but was a great experience to be involved in.


5. Club/ County role models that you looked up to as a youth – Within the club Colm McCaughey, Fergal McCann and Tony Donnelly had a massive impact on my playing career.


6. Other sports that you played or had an interest in. Would sometimes play a bit of soccer in the off season but never really got into it and would prefer the time off. Have taken up a bit of running and cycling during lockdown but that will likely have to be stopped once we get up and running again.


7. Most difficult opponent you have faced in club football and why? It would have to be Matty Donnelly – he gave me a bit of a lesson in a league game in Augher one day.


8. Best player you have ever seen play Gaelic football – is there not a default answer for this in Tyrone?.. Peter Canavan


9. Are you a fan of the recent rule changes? Not really, we haven’t got a proper chance to see them in action this year but I think it will bring a lot of controversy and add even more pressure to refereeing, which is never a good thing at club level. I actually think, if anything, the advanced mark will make football more negative as it encourages a more defensive set up where teams will feel they need to drop extra men back in front of a full forward. (Though if we could get big Cass back out I’m all for the advanced mark!!)


10. The best GAA match that you ever saw. The Tyrone V Kerry All Ireland Semi Final in 2003 would be up there – last year’s All Ireland final between Kerry and Dublin has to be the best Neutral game I was ever at.


11. Are you a fan of academies/development squads? Why – I definitely see benefits of them – I was involved in U15 & U16 development squads and looking back they are fond memories and were a great experience. They offer players a chance to play with the best in the county from a young age which can have a great impact on the development of a player. I do feel though, that sometimes too much weight can be put on them and players who don’t make development squads are often overlooked in county set ups in later years. Players develop at different rates and deciding if a player is “county standard” or not at 14/15 years old can be counterproductive in some cases.


12. Your own involvement around the club. I am currently children’s officer in the club and would be involved in the coaching of fundamentals. I would find myself involved in most things that go on through the year, I enjoy being part of it and helping out.


13. How important is the GAA in your community? I’m sure it’s the same in every club in Tyrone but for me the GAA and the community are the same thing, one can’t operate without the other.


14. Favourite county jersey (not Tyrone) Would have to be Kerry


15. Are you a fan of penalties to decide the outcome of championship games? No, but I think the main issue here is a fixtures issue. I find it hard to fathom that as a club player, we could sit with our feet up for so many weeks throughout the year and still find ourselves in a situation that a game needs to be decided by a kick of a ball and the responsibility fall on one individual player, just because there isn’t time for a replay. If we had a better fixtures calendar I wouldn’t think there would be a need to decide games by penalties.

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