LIMERICK’S SÉAMUS HICKEY has hit out at the personal nature of the recent criticism directed at Sean Cavanagh by Joe Brolly, calling the player “a tremendous role model”.
Following last Sunday’s heated game between Monaghan and Tyrone, Brolly said that “you can forget about [Cavanagh] as a man” – a statement that he has since apologised for.
“There’s no room for it,” Hickey said. “I don’t see any room for one player being singled out and given out this negative attention that he gets, regardless of the player and, in this scenario, to be directed at a player with the character of Sean Cavanagh.”
He also praised the player for the way he has conducted himself in recent years.
“He’s a tremendous role model I think. Without getting into one particular incident, it’s been highlighted and it’s in the spotlight because of one person’s comments.
“A number of other incidents in the game, which could have been talked up, were ignored, because of this. It comes down to, like, what he did is the question here. And that’s a clash between your head and your heart. Your head says the rules are the rules but your heart is your passion, that’s what drives you.
“To tell a fella to put a lid on his passion, it’s tough. I don’t agree with the singling out of a player, in any circumstances, the way Sean Cavanagh has been.”
The Limerick player also compared a similar situation in hurling and suggested a distinction needs to be made between the two codes.
“Compare the situation in hurling, that foul is a very scoreable free. You bring up Nicky Quaid or one of your heavies, Shane Dowling, and that’s a very scoreable free, no matter how many lads you put in the goals.“Unless you’re Michael Meehan (in football), you’re not hitting the back of the net with a 14 yard free. Fair enough we’re under the GAA but they’re different codes in a lot of ways.”
While also acknowledging that more needs to be done to combat cynical fouling, he said that teams had a right to play with whatever style they favoured.
“I’ve seen the game of football change over the last few years. Like, I’m not playing at a high level of anything but I’ve seen it at Sigerson level. I see a change to a much more defensive game. It’s part and parcel of the game at the moment. I just accept it.
“I’m not going to change my club’s philosophy on the game, I’m not going to change the county’s or the country’s philosophy on Gaelic games. I just go along with it. But, yeah, cynicism has to be tackled in football. How you do it I don’t know.”
