Joe Brolly

Mattie Donnelly is looking forward to playing in his first senior inter-county knockout championship. Photo: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

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Joe Brolly Opinion No more going through the motions, this will be proper do-or-die football

It was the summer of 2005. I was walking through the tunnel beneath Croke Park, past the dressing rooms and out through the coach exit, exhilarated by what I had just seen, when there he was, standing big in the evening sun, bleached blond hair, looking left and right.

Dublin’s Eoin Murchan gets past Kerry’s David Moran to score his goal in the All-Ireland final replay last year. Photo: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

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Joe Brolly Opinion Like Larry Bird, the Dubs are purveyors of death. To Kerry. To Mayo. To whomever

''And Moses said unto the people, 'Prepare for tomorrow and abstain from sexual relations.' And on the next morning, the third morning, Moses led the people out to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain and trembled as they waited. And God gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God." - Moses, circa 1300 BC

'Donald Trump - who makes the kids on Children Say The Funniest Things sound like Stephen Hawking - announced last week that he had two "tremendous ideas" for coronavirus cures.' Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

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Joe Brolly Opinion Unless injecting Dettol into a vein turns out to be a cure, Mayo will not lose an All-Ireland this year

A beautiful, full-figured sex worker puts her head in the driver's window and says to him, "I can do anything you want honey." He says "any chance of a hair cut?"

West is best: Corofin players celebrate their extra-time victory against Kilcoo at Croke Park yesterday. Photo: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Joe Brolly Opinion Joe Brolly: 'Strong, passionate teams like Kilcoo come and go, but Corofin are a team for the ages'

The Corofin bus arrived late for this game. Very late. I have no idea who it was that took the field for ordinary time, but whoever it was, it wasn't Corofin. Their real team finally arrived onto the Croke Park pitch at around half past five, just in time for the commencement of extra-time.

Jimmy McGuinness and Jim Gavin after Donegal's win over Dublin in the 2014 All-Ireland semi-final. Photo: David Maher / SPORTSFILE

Joe Brolly: 'Immortal day that ruined our beautiful game'

I predicted in my column that Sunday morning that Donegal would beat them. No one else did. It was the ultimate test of Jimmy McGuinness's mantra that "the best system wins" (or wons as they say in Donegal).

Joe Brolly: 'People are saying Kerry have nothing to lose today, but this is not true. It's a day of destiny'

I've been trying to figure out a way to beat Dublin. I asked Johnny Bradley that question last week. Johnny, who does the stats for The Sunday Game, texted back, "World peace easier."

‘Mickey Harte’s autocratic approach to management has been unimaginative and reactive’. Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Joe Brolly: Mickey Harte continues to hold Tyrone back

Mickey Harte's unforgivable error was not to dump Tyrone's zonal defensive system after last year's semi-final. Stubbornness can be a virtue but not when it flies in the face of logic. Failing to learn the lessons from that day puts him into the category of climate change deniers.

Dublin's Stephen Cluxton. Photo: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Joe Brolly: Tyrone's only hope is to be unpredictable and play with the freedom of men who have been given no chance

My old Derry team-mate Eamonn Burns tells a story about going to play football for the weekend in New York in 1995.

Joe Brolly: Jim McGuinness advocates a defensive strategy that would bore us to death

I stopped in Enniscrone for a coffee the other day. Sitting outside in the bright sunshine, a beautiful old lady came over to say hello. She told me she was Maureen Loftus, née Ó Sé, originally from Dingle, and that her brother Tomás Ó Sé had played for the Kingdom in the 1950s. "It's very sad what has happened to the football," she said. "I prefer to watch the hurling now." Maureen is not alone.

Tyrone manager Mickey Harte has a number of big decisions to make ahead of the All-Ireland SFC final against Dublin in two weeks’ time. Photo: Sportsfile

Joe Brolly: Change of Harte may have come too late for final

It is a long time since I felt excitement watching a Tyrone team playing football. I was at the Emyvale club in Monaghan a few days before last Sunday's semi-final. The club sponsor from Silverhill Ducks presented me with a duck down duvet and pillow set. He said: "You can use these to sleep in the studio during Tyrone matches." Which got a big laugh.

'Jack McCaffrey put in another electrifying performance, coming off in
the 65th minute to be plugged into his charging capsule.'

Joe Brolly: Come back Mayo, all is forgiven - Galway's self-defeating system could never trouble Dublin

Somebody forgot to tell Galway this was an All-Ireland semi-final. Sean Cavanagh said on RTE radio beforehand he "totally believed Galway will put it up to them." Like that was going to happen. Oul sugary nonsense.

Galway manager Kevin Walsh. Photo: Sportsfile

Tribesmen left powerless as their factory football malfunctions

I've been saying all year that Galway are a mirage. A dull regime and a dull system of play inevitably create a dull team. As predicted, they were entirely predictable, and Monaghan made short work of them.

Niall Sludden should be used by Tyrone as the quarterback, in the pocket occupied by Con O’Callaghan for Dublin. Photo: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

Joe Brolly: The physical impossibility of excitement in the mind of a Gaelic football supporter

It is no surprise that Tyrone's manager for life was upset last week when some journalists at the pre-match press conference had the gall to ask him actual questions. The problem arose when journalist Michael Clifford asked Mickey about Sky flatly denying Mickey's allegation that it was they who had narrowed the Omagh pitch for the Dublin match.

Pádraic Cunningham of Galway in action against Dan O'Donoghue of Kerry during the GAA Football All-Ireland Junior Championship Final match between Kerry and Galway at Cusack Park in Ennis, Co. Clare. Photo by Diarmuid Greene/Sportsfile

Joe Brolly: Fans around us were leaving in droves, taking their bored kids with them

The referee should have stopped the game halfway through Kerry versus Galway last Sunday (I write 'game' for want of a better word) so that a public announcement could be made: "Attention, attention. This is an announcement on behalf of all GAA members. Could the players on both teams and their managements bear in mind that there are people watching."

Con O'Callaghan of Dublin in action against Michael McKernan of Tyrone

Joe Brolly: If I were Jim Gavin, I would send Con O'Callaghan on holiday for a fortnight

The striking feature of the game was how silent the crowd was. Dublin are so aware of everything that is happening on the field that they do not relinquish control, and a sense of inevitability soon descends upon the audience.

Galway manager Kevin Walsh celebrates with his captain Damien Comer after their Connacht GAA Football Senior Championship victory. Photo: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Joe Brolly: Until they ditch the comfort blanket, Galway will stay in twilight zone

A hurling friend of mine from Dungiven was in Kilkenny recently and went to see their senior hurlers training. When hurling was revived in the town in the late 1960s, we were given huge support by the Kilkenny County Board, who supplied us with jerseys, sliotars and hurls, probably the first weapons smuggled across the border during the Troubles. Some of the boys on those early Dungiven team were bad enough unarmed.

Donegal hammered Fermanagh to win the Ulster title

Joe Brolly: The b******t of science simply can't handle quality football

Pat Spillane said an interesting thing to me last week. We were talking about Kerry and he said "the last time Kerry had this number of championship debutants was 1975". For the younger reader, that was the start of the Kerry Golden Years team, and eight All-Ireland titles.

This Galway team has excellent, powerful forwards, such as Damien Comer, who are capable of beating anyone if they are instructed to play as forwards. Photo: Sportsfile

Joe Brolly: Losing ugly can never be defined as a success story

My son and some of his schoolmates were giving a concert in Belfast during the week when Prince Charles dropped in, something that wouldn't have happened in my day.

Dublin manager Jim Gavin with Diarmuid Connolly

Joe Brolly: Jim Gavin better pray that the four in a row is not blown while Diarmuid Connolly is in America

Paraic Farrelly from Cavan is obsessed with Gaelic football and for some time, we have kept up a lively WhatsApp correspondence. I could be sitting in a packed court 11, waiting to rise to my feet to cross-examine a flummoxed detective, when I feel the buzz in my pocket: 'Greg Blaney was a better number 11 than Brian McGuigan, what do you think?' Or, 'What is your best ever half-back line?' Or, 'I know you revere Geraghty, but Paul Curran always marked him out of it'.

‘I have watched the game three times and the absence of any method of moving the ball from defence to attack is striking’. Photo: Sportsfile

Joe Brolly: Tyrone's manager for life is blinded by his own system

Mickey Harte, manager for life, said after the game last Sunday that Tyrone lost because of the Monaghan goal just before half-time. It was "the critical moment," he said. "Ultimately, the goal and point before half-time was the winning of the game."

If things don’t change soon for Derry football, selling Celtic Park for social housing will be the only humane thing to do. Photo: Sportsfile

Joe Brolly: Abandoning our principles has left Derry in tatters

Horse goes into a pub and falls into conversation with a donkey. Says to the donkey, "What do you do for a living?" Donkey says, "I take kids on my back at the beach. What about yourself?" Horse says, "I'm retired now, just taking it handy." "What did you do?" asks the donkey. Horse says, "I don't want to blow my own trumpet but I used to be a champion racehorse." "No way," says the donkey. "I ran on the flat and over the jumps. Won the Derby, the St Leger and, in the twilight of my career, I won the Grand National." "Wow," says the donkey.

Joe Brolly: Galway will only succeed if they ditch defensive system

We were only a few miles from MacHale Park last Sunday morning, but life is too short for optional Tyrone watching. Instead, we drove to Salthill to see the Dubs. I have been in Norway in the winter and Salthill was colder. A freezing gale drove up the pitch, the tricolour clinging to its pole for dear life.

‘Development squads are counter-productive. John Horan (above) is right about this’

Joe Brolly: Without our principles, we are nothing - and the GAA leadership needs to understand that

John Horan's various contributions at Congress last weekend suggest that he can be a useful ally for the next director general. It is important, though, that he articulate the deep-seated problems we face honestly.

Joe Brolly: Codology to taxidermy... never a dull moment with Gerry Donnelly

I arrived into the hall on Saturday for the Foreglen's gala night and bumped into Gerry Donnelly.

The National GAA Coaching plan is a total mess. The Super Games Centres make no sense whatsoever. They are drop-in centres for people curious about our games’. Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Joe Brolly: We must not let GAA follow rugby down the elitist path to destruction

The new GAA director-general's first meeting around the conference table on Level 5 in Croke Park will be like the meeting of the heads of the five families in The Godfather. They take their seats, Don Corleone shakes his head sadly and says, "How did things ever get so bad?"

Dublin players in a huddle before the annual Dub Stars Football Challenge at St Vincent’s club grounds in Dublin yesterday. Photo: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Joe Brolly: The GAA could do so much more to help the marginalised in our society

As Jim Dennison from the Simon Community outlined the extent of the poverty and homelessness in Belfast, the younger players were clearly taken aback. Jim had joined the street sleepers at Cornmarket in the city to thank the group. I asked him to talk about the scale of the problem.

Sean McManus, wearing a blue hoodie, shorts and blue trainers, is alive and well today only because his mother gave him a kidney a decade ago this week. Photo: Mary K Burke

Joe Brolly: Altruism will always trump elitism

The lad on his arse in the photograph, wearing the blue hoodie, shorts and blue trainers, is Sean McManus. The final whistle of the 2014 Féile has just been blown. Sean's Rossa team have just won it, the Belfast side beating the Cork champions after a nine-point turnaround in the final 90 seconds. It is one of the most emotional things I ever experienced.

‘Patsy Bradley (above) mightn’t win a skills competition in the other facets of the game, but as a catcher he is a thing of beauty. And as a man? We were shaking our heads at his courage’

Joe Brolly - Slaughtneil's man-to-man commitment lifts the heart

I was chatting with two old fellows from the Moy after the final whistle in the Ulster intermediate club final last Sunday.

Henry Shefflin: ‘I can’t imagine what it must be like for a professional sportsman or woman to retire and adjust to life after sport’. Photo: Matt Browne/Sportsfile

Joe Brolly: You are unlikely to fall off a cliff if you stay grounded

Paul McGinley has been helping me with a fundraising project for a hospice. He texted me from California on Friday morning with stunning pictures of Cypress Point golf course as he played it, each image more beautiful than the last. "Amazing place Joe. I've played it before but was so caught up in preparing for my game and playing that I never really saw it. Never drank in the sheer beauty."

Sean McGuigan, chairman of Slaughtneil, who set the standard on and off the field in Derry. Photo: Jonathan Porter/Press Eye

Joe Brolly: We do things differently up North - just ask Henry Shefflin

Slaughtneil Robert Emmets held their gala dinner last Saturday night. There were over 800 people there. "It's like the Third Reich," said Gerry Donnelly.

July 2020

Joe Brolly Opinion No more going through the motions, this will be proper do-or-die football

Joe Brolly Opinion Like Larry Bird, the Dubs are purveyors of death. To Kerry. To Mayo. To whomever

April 2020

Joe Brolly Opinion Unless injecting Dettol into a vein turns out to be a cure, Mayo will not lose an All-Ireland this year

January 2020

Joe Brolly Opinion Joe Brolly: 'Strong, passionate teams like Kilcoo come and go, but Corofin are a team for the ages'

December 2019

Joe Brolly: 'Immortal day that ruined our beautiful game'

September 2019

Joe Brolly: 'People are saying Kerry have nothing to lose today, but this is not true. It's a day of destiny'

September 2018

Joe Brolly: Mickey Harte continues to hold Tyrone back

Joe Brolly: Tyrone's only hope is to be unpredictable and play with the freedom of men who have been given no chance

August 2018

Joe Brolly: Jim McGuinness advocates a defensive strategy that would bore us to death

Joe Brolly: Change of Harte may have come too late for final

Joe Brolly: Come back Mayo, all is forgiven - Galway's self-defeating system could never trouble Dublin

Tribesmen left powerless as their factory football malfunctions

Joe Brolly: The physical impossibility of excitement in the mind of a Gaelic football supporter

July 2018

Joe Brolly: Fans around us were leaving in droves, taking their bored kids with them

Joe Brolly: If I were Jim Gavin, I would send Con O'Callaghan on holiday for a fortnight

Joe Brolly: Until they ditch the comfort blanket, Galway will stay in twilight zone

Joe Brolly: The b******t of science simply can't handle quality football

June 2018

Joe Brolly: Losing ugly can never be defined as a success story

Joe Brolly: Jim Gavin better pray that the four in a row is not blown while Diarmuid Connolly is in America

May 2018

Joe Brolly: Tyrone's manager for life is blinded by his own system

April 2018

Joe Brolly: Abandoning our principles has left Derry in tatters

March 2018

Joe Brolly: Galway will only succeed if they ditch defensive system

Joe Brolly: Without our principles, we are nothing - and the GAA leadership needs to understand that

February 2018

Joe Brolly: Codology to taxidermy... never a dull moment with Gerry Donnelly

January 2018

Joe Brolly: We must not let GAA follow rugby down the elitist path to destruction

December 2017

Joe Brolly: The GAA could do so much more to help the marginalised in our society

Joe Brolly: Altruism will always trump elitism

Joe Brolly - Slaughtneil's man-to-man commitment lifts the heart

November 2017

Joe Brolly: You are unlikely to fall off a cliff if you stay grounded

Joe Brolly: We do things differently up North - just ask Henry Shefflin

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