ON MONDAY 19 June, two days after Kildare’s impressive win over Meath in the Leinster SFC semi-final, the Lilywhites featured on Dara Ó Cinnéide’s GAA Nua programme.
Cian O’Neill was relieved the RTÉ documentary aired on a week they weren’t in action, but felt the timing of the show only added to the scrutiny placed on inter-county players mid-season.
“I always had a thought in my head, I called it ‘The curse of Thank GAA it’s Friday,’” the Kildare boss said at a pre-Leinster final media event on Saturday.
“Being serious, 90% – I didn’t do the exact stats on this – but I’d say 90% of people who appeared on that show lost at the weekend (after it was aired).
“I thought it would have been better placed outside the season. I really felt for anyone who was in the show and then loses at the weekend.
“And that’s not the fault of the show. But I just think that players don’t need that in championship. Because there’s enough pressure on them at the moment.
“It’s a brilliant programme – but I would have preferred if it was (shown) outside the season. There was no breach of trust or anything. Everybody signed up to it. I just thought it could have been seen as a distraction.
“Because in a TV show like that, where they’re only showing snippets of what’s going on, people take a story and bring it somewhere.”
The show drew criticism from some quarters and Kildare’s need for the use of occlusion goggles during a training session was questioned.
Dr O’Neill has a PhD in Sport & Exercise Science and is currently head of the Department of Sport, Leisure & Childhood Studies in CIT, while he has also helped coach Kerry and Tipperary to All-Ireland titles as well as winning senior county titles in Kildare, Limerick and Cork.
But even his impressive CV and experience didn’t spare him from being subjected to narrow-minded comments by individuals who watched a 39 second clip.
“Listen, they’re an incredible tool for a very small part of our game,” O’Neill said in response. “And a very small part of a lot of games.
“In Gaelic games, the key rationale behind the goggles is that they help with reaction time, with anticipation.
“They’ve nothing got to do with a kick or a hand-pass or anything like that. Some of the rubbish that you might have heard out there….
“Where they’re being used in our setup is that, when the ball is coming at you at speed, you can’t see the last three metres of the ball.
“So you’re trying to read the direction and the speed of the ball.”
