COROFIN STAR DEFENDER Kieran Molloy has suggested completing the GAA club season before Christmas in an effort to alleviate pressure on players.
The recently crowned AIB Club Footballer of the Year was the victim of some high-profile fixture clashes over the last two years, whereby his club and college commitments overlapped.
In 2018, Molloy lined out in an All-Ireland club semi-final and Sigerson Cup decider on the same day. He helped Corofin to victory over Moorefield before he was driven up to Dublin where he came on for NUIG in their defeat to UCD.
The fixture woes continued for Molloy this year when his college’s Sigerson Cup semi-final was initially scheduled to take place on the same day as Corofin’s last-four tie against Gaoth Dobhair, before NUIG’s game was eventually re-fixed.
“Definitely frustrating,” says Molloy as he recalls those fixture collisions.
You feel hard done by especially there the final against UCD only getting 20 minutes because someone messed up on a fixture it’s very hard done by.
“I know this year they cut it off a day but it was still… It’s not enough, not enough time to recover and get the head right and I think this year there was three players involved. I know [David] Shaw from [Dr] Crokes and [Corofin's] Liam Silke as well [were involved] and Liam didn’t get to play the game.
“I don’t think it’s fair at all on players.”
While being escorted to the Sigerson Cup final last year, Molloy recalls that he had just a banana and a bottle of water to help him refuel for the second game.
He says physical strength wasn’t a factor for him at the time and relied on adrenaline to help him through that marathon day of football.
Although this year’s Sigerson Cup game against UCC was pushed back by 24 hours to accommodate the club tie, the quick turnaround still left Molloy with insufficient recovery time between the fixtures.
“The legs were in bits, just no recovery time at all especially after a hard game there like Gaoth Dobhair they’re a great side. It was hard, a tough tough game. The pitch was kind of heavy.
“Then you had to go down on a bus journey all the way down to Cork. You’d be stiff getting off the bus. I don’t think player welfare was taken into account at all.
“I want to give 100% but if the body won’t let you it’s just, you can’t but I do want to try. I love playing college football but when you can’t give it it just doesn’t feel right.”
Having come through those difficult experiences, Molloy feels that shortening the club season is the best solution and suggests that the competitions should be completed before the end of the calendar year.
I think there was talks of putting it back to January and having it all finished off in January and that would be a great first step to be able to do that, but I think they could go back more and try get it all played off before Christmas even.”
Molloy is regarded as one of the exciting young prospects in football, who played an instrumental role in his club’s back-to-back All-Ireland success.
His aforementioned links with fixture trouble are well documented too, but he’s also widely recognised for his distinctive hairstyle.
The towering defender says that the long hair started out as a bet which soon became his signature look.
Playing with his hair tied up can sometimes be frustrating for him, but he’s learning to adjust to it.
“It’s long for the last four years I think. I grew it out for a bet and had to grow it for a year.
I cut it off and didn’t like it when it was short so so I grew it back out. I don’t know what [the bet was about], it was Ladies Day at the Galway Races and I had my hair skinned. [Someone said] ‘I bet you won’t grow it long’ and stubbornness took over then.”
With Corofin’s third All-Ireland crown in five years safely stored away, Molloy is now looking towards establishing himself on the Galway senior panel.
He was introduced during the Tribesmen’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Dublin last year, but he’s hoping to build on that experience and pick up more game time during the 2019 championship.
“I think last year was a learning curve in learning the style of play. Hopefully this year I can kick on and put my name down on the list.
“Galway is structured but I wouldn’t say there isn’t any free play in it either. A lot of the time, you have to be able to think on your feet as well with Galway. It’s just trying to learn the basics and then going out to implement them in your own way and try to bring something different.”
The AIB GAA Club Player Awards recognise the top performing players throughout the Club Championships in hurling and football and celebrate their hard work, commitment and individual achievements at a national level.
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