IT WAS UNDOUBTEDLY one of the more left-field controversies of the GAA this summer.
Video footage emerged of a member of the Clare backroom team throwing a bag of sliotars belonging to Cork goalkeeper Anthony Nash into the crowd prior to this month’s Munster SHC final.
The Banner county board issued an apology to Cork two days later, and by the following weekend it emerged that Niall O’Connor – the son of Clare co-manager Gerry O’Connor – was the culprit in question.
“I didn’t even think of it,” explains Nash. “I’m not being short or trying to avoid it or anything like that. The ball was just about to be thrown in so if I thought about that I wasn’t any benefit to my team.
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“Our logistics manager Pat Keane looks after everything down to a tee and he had a bag of sliotars inside in the dressing room. There’s been a lot heralded and spoken about sliotars, there’s no secret. It’s an ‘All-Star’ sliotar that we use in training and I used to throw them into a bag.
“They’re sliotars. We use ‘Cummins All-Star’ sliotars because they’re a Cork sliotar, they were used in training and we just throw them into a bag, give them to the umpires, they hand me the ball. No different to anything else.
“So I just said to Pat, ‘If you’ve any other sliotars get them.’ Pat had them ready, went in and in fairness to the referee and his officials, they allowed him to give the sliotars in and they were the exact same as the ones that were thrown into the crowd anyway.
Anthony Nash was at the M. Donnelly GAA All-Ireland Poc Fada Finals Launch Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
“There was no major difference. Look, it was taking away a bit from the match but we didn’t think anything of it. There was an apology given from the Clare county board to the Cork county board and that’s it.”
The Kanturk man’s puck-outs have been one of Cork’s most potent weapons so far this season. Seven points arrived directly from his short restarts in the provincial final win over Clare and he’s well aware Waterford will be doing their homework to shut them down in the All-Ireland semi-final.
“In Gaelic football kick-outs have become so important so you try and learn to see how you can influence the game the most. For goalkeepers it’s puck-outs. You might get one shot in the game, or you might get five shots in a game.
“But you’re guaranteed to get twenty something puck-outs. You have to try and work on that. The way teams set-up you have to try and counter-act that. If you can help your team-mates get on the ball, brilliant. There’s no secret behind if, if we’ve to go longer, we go longer and that’s it.”
Cork goalkeeper Anthony Nash has his say on the Munster final 'sliotar-gate' controversy
Updated at 17.00
IT WAS UNDOUBTEDLY one of the more left-field controversies of the GAA this summer.
Video footage emerged of a member of the Clare backroom team throwing a bag of sliotars belonging to Cork goalkeeper Anthony Nash into the crowd prior to this month’s Munster SHC final.
The Banner county board issued an apology to Cork two days later, and by the following weekend it emerged that Niall O’Connor – the son of Clare co-manager Gerry O’Connor – was the culprit in question.
“I didn’t even think of it,” explains Nash. “I’m not being short or trying to avoid it or anything like that. The ball was just about to be thrown in so if I thought about that I wasn’t any benefit to my team.
“Our logistics manager Pat Keane looks after everything down to a tee and he had a bag of sliotars inside in the dressing room. There’s been a lot heralded and spoken about sliotars, there’s no secret. It’s an ‘All-Star’ sliotar that we use in training and I used to throw them into a bag.
“They’re sliotars. We use ‘Cummins All-Star’ sliotars because they’re a Cork sliotar, they were used in training and we just throw them into a bag, give them to the umpires, they hand me the ball. No different to anything else.
“So I just said to Pat, ‘If you’ve any other sliotars get them.’ Pat had them ready, went in and in fairness to the referee and his officials, they allowed him to give the sliotars in and they were the exact same as the ones that were thrown into the crowd anyway.
“There was no major difference. Look, it was taking away a bit from the match but we didn’t think anything of it. There was an apology given from the Clare county board to the Cork county board and that’s it.”
The Kanturk man’s puck-outs have been one of Cork’s most potent weapons so far this season. Seven points arrived directly from his short restarts in the provincial final win over Clare and he’s well aware Waterford will be doing their homework to shut them down in the All-Ireland semi-final.
“In Gaelic football kick-outs have become so important so you try and learn to see how you can influence the game the most. For goalkeepers it’s puck-outs. You might get one shot in the game, or you might get five shots in a game.
“But you’re guaranteed to get twenty something puck-outs. You have to try and work on that. The way teams set-up you have to try and counter-act that. If you can help your team-mates get on the ball, brilliant. There’s no secret behind if, if we’ve to go longer, we go longer and that’s it.”
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All-Ireland SHC Anthony Nash GAA no difference Cork