LAST NIGHT LOTS of us GAA fans sat down to watch RTÉ documentary Skin In the Game.
Produced and presented by Jacqui Hurley, the programme followed Tipperary hurler Lar Corbett, Cork camogie’s Anna Geary, Dublin hurler Mikey Carton and the Rebels’ Eoin Cadogan. Here’s what we learned.
1. Lar Corbett’s mam still washes his gear
It’s all about the system for the Tipp forward and ‘it works well for the both of us’ says Corbett.
“Everything has to be in it’s place or else he’s shouting, ma where’s this or ma, where’s that.” Corbett insists he calls up to the home place for the ‘craic and the banter’ rather than the laundry however.
We’re not buying it, Larry.
2. Anna Geary’s yoga skills have made her a YouTube hit
The Cork camogie star stress tested Twitter’s servers in south California last night with this clip:
YouTube: Paddy O’Paddy
3. Being a fireman is serious craic
Apart from the whole fighting fires and delivering babies stuff, this looks like the job for us. Dublin hurler Michael Carton was obviously told to slide down a pole for the camera but he got two buckets of water over him from colleagues. Classic.
4. They should cast Eoin Cadogan as the next James Bond
The name’s Cads…
5. Lar needs to get on Lastminute.com
Tipp, as we know, were dumped out of the championship before they get to Croke Park. The Thurles Sarsfields star is shot up in the pitch pucking around on his own. He admits he feels a bit lost in one of the quotes of the night.
“I was never away for a week’s holidays. You know the way people go to Salou or Alicante or go to Spain or France; I was never away for a week because I never got the opportunity. Since 18, it has always been club or county. So now that I’m at home, I’m looking at Elaine and Elaine is looking at me and I actually don’t really know what to do sometimes. Because I never had the opportunity before. I don’t know what to do.”
6. Everyone should have a friend like Donal Óg
Not only does Cads get to go out for a puck around with a hurley after the football season ends to Dublin, but he gets some top Cusack psychology on the hoof too.
Sample quote from the former Cork goalkeeper as they chat while he hockeys a sliotar at you: “If you were in love with someone and you loved them dearly, and they broke it up with you — threw you out — and you know after a period of time, you find out they’re after falling in love with someone else by getting married. And then you have everybody coming up to you going jeez isn’t it great they’re married. And you’re saying, yeah it’s great of them but I wish I was part of that relationship.”
I would pay for an hour of that after a long week.
This means everything to these players
If you didn’t realise what sport — and the GAA — means to those who keep the show on the road while listening to Anna Geary’s words as she talks about ‘emotional hijack’ and defeat to Kilkenny or how much a run to Croke Park means to her club Milford, you just had to look at her face.
Watch the full film, Skin In the Game here>
