CILLIAN MCDAID ANSWERS the phone from the Bank of Ireland offices on Eyre Square.
A business advisor in the bank, life has returned to normal after a rollercoaster summer.
The week after the loss to Kerry, McDaid and his team-mates headed for Ballybrit to take in the Galway Races. By the weekend, most of the panel had flown abroad for a well-deserved break.
A handful of players went to Barcelona together. McDaid and his girlfriend spent a few days in the Portuguese resort of Vilamoura.
By the middle of the following week he was back training with Monivea-Abbey ahead of the club championship. The Galway SFC kicked off that weekend. Three narrow defeats later, Monivea-Abbey are in a battle for survival. The show rolls on.
Six weeks have passed since the All-Ireland final, though the pain still lingers.
“It’s still very disappointing that we didn’t get the job done,” he tells The42.
“We knew that we were going to go in there, give it our best shot, stick to our plan and carry out our roles. And if we did that, we did really believe that we would come out on top.
“I suppose in the last few minutes we, and I include myself in this, made a couple of poor decisions on the ball.
“It cost us in the end. Kerry didn’t make those mistakes late on. They were clinical in their chances. It’s disappointing to get so close and to not get there. It’s a tough one to get over.”
Galway shrugged off the cloak of outsiders but fell just short in the end. Shane Walsh’s virtuoso display rightly garnered him the plaudits for the maroon men.
That McDaid, as a midfielder, finished level with Walsh as Galway’s joint-top scorer from play tells its own story.
His potential has long been flagged but it’s only been this season when the 25-year-old has enjoyed an injury-free run in the Galway jersey.
Aside from a rolled ankle and a bout of Covid that forced him to miss a couple of league games, it has been uncharted territory. And a welcome relief from the last few injury-ravaged years.
He didn’t start the Connacht opener against Mayo, but he made enough of an impression off the bench to find himself promoted to the starting team for the semi-final against Leitrim.
McDaid’s long-range shooting was a useful weapon for Galway that day. He played the opening period at midfield, curling over three points in the opening 25 minutes, and went to wing-back for the second-half.
Padraic Joyce kept him at wing-back for the Connacht final. Roscommon’s move to free up a sweeper by dropping back their wing-forward backfired as it effectively gave McDaid free reign. His ability to punch holes created a host of scores for his team in the victory.
Five years after making his debut for Galway, he picked up his first Connacht medal.
“It was a massive day for an awful lot of us that won our first Connacht championship that day and won our first big game in Pearse Stadium in front of a great home crowd,” he recalls.
From then on he partnered Paul Conroy at centre-field. McDaid took things to another level in the All-Ireland series, finally delivering on his rich promise. His high-octane game and natural athleticism dovetailed perfectly with Conroy’s footballing nous and experience.
McDaid’s storming performance in the quarter-final win over Armagh was a highlight.
He particularly stood up in extra-time, sniping 1-1, including the booming equalising score at the death that sent the game to penalties.
When extra-time started, McDaid had to shrug off the frustration at his foul on Stefan Campbell that gave Rian O’Neill the opportunity to land his stupendous equalising free.
“I’d given away given away a free that they actually scored from. So I was a little bit disappointed naturally enough after the 70 minutes. And then through extra time to be honest I probably carried that disappointment around feeling a little bit sorry for myself.
“On the pitch in fairness, as players we kind of got ourselves going. Paul was excellent that day, for me anyway, being more experienced around the middle he really got me going. I had a bit of energy in the legs late on but it was great to score in that game in extra-time, the game was in the melting pot.
“Armagh were doing plenty of scoring so we needed something to come back and try and save ourselves. I think everyone made the right decisions at the time, we had nobody going off on a solo run doing their own thing, we kind of just stuck to our plan.”
McDaid is nailed on to win his first All-Star this winter, but there’s been nothing straightforward about his journey. His sporting story is entirely unique.
To go from not having a club team to play with at 17-years-old to signing an AFL contract two years later is scarcely believable.
Growing up in Craughwall, Gaelic football was almost treated like a foreign sport. His father Garvan came from a football background in Limerick. When he moved to Galway, he played for and later coached Athenry footballers.
After settling in Craughwell, he established an underage football wing in the club.
In 2011, McDaid’s group, that included current Galway senior hurlers Thomas Monaghan and Brian Concannon, won the U14 county Féile football title. They almost completed the double, losing the hurling final the same year.
However, Craughwell made the decision that football wouldn’t go past U16 level in the club and no adult teams would be established. As a result, McDaid spent a couple of nomadic years trying to find somewhere to play his football.
“I played for Athenry for one year when I was 16 and when I was 17 we tried to do it again,” says McDaid. “Unfortunately they brought in a rule where they didn’t want any outside footballers playing unless they were playing hurling.
“So then we put a transfer request in to Claregalway which was turned down by the county board. I didn’t play any club football when I was 17. When it came to minor we put a transfer request into Monivea-Abbey. That’s where I’ve played since. It’s been messy enough. It was tough.
“You hear about lads playing with the one club and it’s just disappointing that where I’m from in Galway, there’s very little done by the clubs themselves and the powers be to try and get some sort of football going.
“Recently, Craughwell actually brought in a new rule that there would no underage football at all in the club anymore. So that’s quite disappointing.
“It does leave a sour taste in your mouth when my own home club didn’t do anything for me, really and truly. But I love playing with Monivea, it’s a great village down there.
“I’ve been well looked after and my two younger brothers are also members down there, my sister just started playing as well. We couldn’t say anything bad about Monivea, but you think of the GAA and what they stand for, it’s just a pity that it hasn’t really come to fruition in Craughwell.”
While he was a dual county minor, McDaid’s first taste of the big time came in the small ball code.
Craughwell hurlers were very competitive through U14 to minor, while Presentation College Athenry won three Connacht hurling championships in-a-row. It put him on the map for Jeffrey Lynskey, the minor hurling boss.
“It wasn’t a secret that I was mainly a footballer through that time,” says McDaid. “We had a very strong school team and it was mainly through being on those teams how I was exposed to it, as opposed to being the star player.”
They defeated Tipperary in the All-Ireland final and from that team Jack Grealish, Concannon, Monaghan, Fintan Burke, Cianan Fahy, Evan Niland and Sean Loftus have all graduated to the senior hurling set-up.
“It was great to get the opportunity,” he recalls. “I didn’t play a huge amount that year. I’d broken my finger and my thumb, but I came on in the final which was a great experience. A full house in Croke Park towards the end of the game, when you’re only 17, it was great to experience.”
Two years later he was Galway’s top scorer when they went down to Dublin in the All-Ireland U21 football final. The Sky Blues, managed by Dessie Farrell, boasted future senior talents Con O’Callaghan, Brian Howard, Paddy Small and Evan Comerford.
By that stage, AFL clubs had been sniffing around McDaid for some time. While he was called into the Galway senior panel by Kevin Walsh and made his championship debut that summer, by that November he had signed a professional contact with Carlton.
Tadhg Kennelly initially reached out to gauge his interest when he was a minor in November 2015. McDaid and current Galway star John Daly went to Dublin for a trial.
Over the next couple of years, McDaid made two trips to Florida for further trials with the AFL academy.
“I played senior (with Galway) right the way through 2017. And come that summer I knew that Carlton were interested.
“It was a slow burner it was nearly the guts of two years in the system before it came to fruition.”
Irish prospects Stefan Okunbor and Cillian McDaid put their hands on the AFL cup as they ponder what might be ! pic.twitter.com/RNs7aoR0wS
— Kevin Sheehan OAM (@AFL_Shifter) September 26, 2017
After impressing at the AFL Draft Combine, McDaid inked a rookie deal with the Melbourne club.
During his time in Australia, the thought of missing out a Galway tilt at the Sam Maguire never left him. The year he departed, the Tribesmen reached the league final and All-Ireland semi-final.
“I always wanted to go, I always wanted to try. Once the offer came, I was never going to say no. But I probably never really let go of Galway completely.
“I think to be successful out there, you’d nearly have to be very, very clear that you’re going to give it minimum two years. ‘Nothing is going to turn my head.’ I said I’d give it a go but I very conscious that Galway, as you saw this year, when we get our ducks in a row and when we’re playing well, we can beat anyone.
“Ever since I was young, that’s what I wanted to do. Coming up in Craughwell where football was never really straightforward. Not having a club when I 17, kind of just falling in between two cracks, I still wanted to play football. I still really wanted to play for Galway.
“So I knew that was always going to be a risk.”
Injury played a big part in his inability to settle Down Under over those 11 months. A stress fracture in his foot that flared up on three separate occasions left him sidelined for 14 weeks. It limited him to a handful of games with Carlton’s VFL team, the Northern Blues.
He found the experience difficult, even if he has no regrets about making the move.
“There was definitely some tough times, tough nights where you are a little isolated and alone. I can remember clearly there were times when you’re just not in good enough form to train. It’s hard to describe. It can be it can be isolating, I suppose, if you’re not settling in as the year goes on.
“You’re there as a professional athlete and your job is to train. Similar to any team that’s where you make your relationships. On the pitch, in games and training sessions.
“I wasn’t getting the chance to do that. The days were long sometimes, in the middle block of the day when everyone at home is asleep. It can be a bit lonely and it just went on for a few months where I just really wasn’t enjoying it.
“I wasn’t outgoing or really trying to mix with other people. I just decided that I wanted to be a little bit happier in my life and closer to my friends and family, and playing Gaelic football again.
“So I just made the decision to move home. I would never really have been fulfilled if I stayed out there. At the time, Carlton were not good enough to compete, we were bottom of the table.
“I didn’t want to go there just as a holiday or just to be professional athlete, I do want to compete and I do want to win. So laying the two of them up against one another, Galway was always going to come out on top.
“I’m very happy I went. I would tell any young player now to go. If that’s what you want to do, to give it a go. As long as you’re happy at the end of the day in what your decisions are.
“That’s all that matters. I was comfortable in my decision and obviously close to my friends and with my family. I wouldn’t change it. I definitely wouldn’t change it.”
He wasn’t long home when Kevin Walsh invited him to rejoin the Galway panel. During the 2019 league campaign, the fifth metatarsal that had given him so much bother in Australia gave way against Dublin in Croke Park.
This time it was a clean break, meaning it could be operated on.
“That was the break that I kind of wanted and needed nearly. I needed the bone to break once and for all so that we could put a pin through it to try and shore it up.
“So that happened that February, which was great. I was getting frustrated with it where it would it kind of flare up and then I’d have to just essentially ease off for for six to eight weeks and then try and build yourself back up again.
“That 2019 season I came back towards the championship, and we lost to Mayo in a qualifier. So that was my first championship start for Galway that day, so it wasn’t a great one to remember
“Injuries have just been a bit of a theme since then. There’s been some tough enough days as well.”
If 2019 was stop-start, then 2021 was a write-off. That January, McDaid had a small procedure on cartilage in his knee. When the inter-county season returned after Covid, he went over on the knee on his first night back with Galway.
“I was going fine and then I probably pushed too hard one night. I went back training when I shouldn’t have. I slipped actually in a drill and I tore ligaments along the inside of my knee.
“So that essentially ruled me out for 12 weeks. The Connacht final was 12 weeks from that date. So that was a tough couple of weeks as well, just between timelines and frustration, I decided to step away for the year.
“So I wasn’t involved last year. It’s probably what I needed to be honest. The frustration can build up. And when you’re putting so much in across social life, your work life and you get a little bit of bad luck, it was just time for me to take a step back. To reset again and work on my own schedule.
“Get into a good routine around rehab away from the set-up, where I wouldn’t be thinking as much about football or Galway.
“It worked out in the end, but it was tough watch Galway not being involved. It’s just hard to watch on but it was the right thing for me. I wasn’t much good when I was injured. So it was the right thing to step away and look after myself.
“When injuries keep happening, when they’re repeat injuries, it can wear you down a little bit. It can test your resolve at times but every time you have to take a step back. Try and get a plan in place with the medical staff and set a target that you want to hit every couple of weeks.
“There’s no beating around the bush, at the end of the day you’re injured and it’s very frustrating but it’s part and parcel of contact sport. So you have to try and find a way to get over it and keep moving forward.
“It does get to you, but we’re kind of coming out the right side of it at the minute.”
Refreshed after the year out, 2022 wasn’t a campaign without its challenges either.
“I remember back at the start of the year in the FBD League, I only played a half the first day. Then the second day I came off before half-time in the FBD final.
“So I had a lot of work to do personally to get back to be able to play at inter-county level in league even and to get to the pace of a Division 2 league, which took time as well.
“Then to not start the first championship game, personally, I’m proud of where I came from over the last couple years and from the start of this year.
“There was person satisfaction from where I’ve come from and the challenges in getting fit and getting back to the level.”
Next season, McDaid is determined that Galway prove 2022 wasn’t just a flash in the pan.
“It gives us confidence that that when we stick to our plan and when we’re all going in the one direction, we are good enough to compete with the top teams in the country.
“We have an awful lot of work to do. Hopefully we can drive on again, keep everyone together from last year and bring in new faces again to keep the competition level high in the squad.
“Now this is just the one season that we’ve done it so a true test will be next year and further into the future. It’s not going to be good enough to just get there once and fall away.”
– This article was updated on 27 October.
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