LAST UPDATE | 4 May 2022
IN AN ALTERNATIVE reality, far, far away, Sunday Game viewers were not watching a live draw for the Leinster football semi-finals. Instead, they rejoiced at a highlights package of the current best full-back in the country, a welcomed chance to celebrate the brilliance of Westmeath’s Tommy Doyle.
In a competitive clash with Dublin, Westmeath lost out by eight points last Sunday. The gap between the teams was the same as what separated Tipperary and Clare. Joe Fortune’s outfit came closer to Dublin than Cork came to Limerick. Still, their efforts were rewarded with just 105 seconds of highlights on Sunday.
Many will point out that the programme has always been simply serviceable in essentially impossible conditions. Which is true, but also serves to emphasise the baffling decision that was shoehorning a dull draw into the middle of an already over-saturated highlights show.
In the aftermath of his county’s 2018 Joe McDonagh and Division 2A success, Paul Coady pleaded with anyone who would listen that Carlow had to strike at this crucial opportunity. He had watched the number of clubs in the county decline from eight to six down to four. The only solution was boots on the ground in the form of Games Promotion Officers and money in their pockets.
Alongside that, they needed help selling the game. Imagine what it would do for children in Carlow to see their players on screen. To feel like they matter too.
Around the same time, during a lengthy conversation with current Galway U20 manager and former Westmeath boss Brian Hanley, he made a passing observation about one of his former players. Do you know Tommy Doyle, he asked? “I assure you he would play fullback for any county in Ireland. If there was a transfer market in hurling, I’d pay for him to come to Galway myself.”
Doyle’s form over the past three rounds has been awesome. Last year’s Joe McDonagh hurler of the year has provided no shortage of ammunition for a masterclass defensive highlights reel. Loyal followers of the lake county are long accustomed to the helmet of blue in the heart of the battle always managing to burst out with the ball.
Always drawn to the ball. Otherwise the ball is drawn to him. Imperious in the air. Undisturbed on the ground. Against Kilkenny, he faced down the in-form Mossy Keoghan on the edge of the square. Doyle kept him scoreless and Brian Cody took off his full-forward before half-time. Doyle moved along to their leading light, Eoin Cody and limited him to a single score.
The first long ball in saw Doyle pluck it over Keoghan’s head and lay off to an oncoming Darragh Egerton. When the corner-back encountered difficulty marching forward, he turned back to his trusted safeguard. Doyle delivered a cool stick-pass up the wing and Westmeath were away.
The next ball came in low down the sideline. Again, Doyle was out in front with a timely flick to recover possession. In the second half with Padraig Walsh through on goal, Doyle spotted the danger and met him with a ferocious shoulder. The move ended in a wide ball. Quenching such spot fires illustrates why Doyle, despite wearing six, was positioned at full-back. Minding the house.
He is nicknamed ‘Jogger’, a name passed down from his father, also Tommy. It stems from his time in school when he would race out of class early to go play hurling.
He has enough hurling to play just about anywhere. This versatility is a major advantage, debuting as a wing-back, mixing between three and six in recent seasons while playing as a forward for his club, Lough Lene Gaels. Doyle did receive brief national recognition for being the only defender to keep Seamus Callanan scoreless during the 2019 championship. Callanan went on to win hurler of the year.
When the county brought performance coach Declan Coyle into their setup, author of the Green Platform, Doyle found his work illuminating. Much of it focused on step-by-step tools to help navigate tough times. In the huddle after that Kilkenny game, Doyle spoke about what was coming down the tracks. He stressed the importance of not resting on moral victories. Westmeath needed to dream of more.
They travelled to a Galway team stewing after letting the game slip away against Wexford and determined to secure their first win under Henry Shefflin. The home side put 3-37 on the board that day. Cianan Fahy, who Doyle was marking, scored 1-4.
Watching back the tape his duel with Doyle yielded 0-3 of that. Fahy’s goal came early in the first half. Brian Concannon pointed and the Westmeath full-back moved across to him for the next play. The puck-out went long and Concannon withdrew out past the 45-metre line, pulling Doyle away from his domain. It left Fahy one-on-one near goal. A green flag was the end result.
Doyle departed that game before the end due to an injury and moved on to Dublin. Ready to embrace a new challenge. Not only did he hold full-forward Ronan Hayes scoreless, he outscored him. Bursting forward on a solo run and striking a superb point.
By no means is he the sole silver lining for Fortune’s outfit in the championship. Sharpshooter Killian Doyle has mustered 0-39 so far. Niall O’Brien and Davy Glennon have had their moments. The full-back’s dominance is all the more impressive given it comes in a losing team. Consider some of the recent heavy defeats and how hard it is to look good swimming upstream.
Whatever about after heavy defeats, in the aftermath of a spirited showing Sunday offered a golden opportunity to highlight the influence of Doyle. It could provide a crucial service for the grassroots of Westmeath to witness such inspiration on their screen. The rest would find it unquestionably entertaining. Grainy YouTube footage of monstrous full-backs soaring in the air continues to attract thousands of views.
This is just one strand of a spiralling problem. In recent weeks there has been plenty of frenzy about the shortened calendar. Abandoning August and September to other sports. A shortened calendar does bring promotional damage. But why not start with promoting the game while it is actually on?
Some of this stems from the quintessential sufferance. A shrug and a ‘sure, lookit’ isn’t it great to have a normal championship back all the same. Throw on top of that the national tendency to veer towards extremes. All of nothing. No, we can’t show every game. But why can’t we utilise the streaming infrastructure built up over the past two years to at least show both the premier competition?
A new calendar and format should have ramifications for upcoming media rights negotiations. The current five-year agreement expires this summer. After all, the greatest promotional tool the association has is great games featuring great players. The key is to show them.