IT’S A DARK image and one where Derek Morkan hit rock bottom.
On 25 December 2020, the former Offaly hurler was sitting alone in a house in Dublin, eating a pot noodle for his Christmas dinner. It was all he could afford.
His parents had been on the phone begging for him to come home, but he couldn’t face it. His life had slowly deteriorated to take him to this point. He was in a bad way. In the months before, he had moved out of several houses to avoid paying rent and spent weeks living out of his van.
He hadn’t eaten properly in weeks. He had no money. He’d only spent one Christmas at home with his family in five or six years. Morkan had long since surrendered to gambling’s undertow. His addiction had a vice-like grip around his throat.
He was teetering on the brink and didn’t know if he had it in him to keep going.
“I just felt so low and sad within myself,” he tells The42. “I was so broke. I was so emotionally drained, I just wanted to be on my own.
“I wanted to go asleep and not wake up. I didn’t have money to eat, I didn’t have the strength to talk to someone. I was so isolated and lonely but I was comfortable in that uncomfortable. That was my way of living. I got so used to being so sad and low that that’s what I wanted.”
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Part of him thought he’d die there, alone in that house, and maybe that was okay. He was sick of trying.
“To be totally honest, I was getting towards that point again where I had another bet in me but I didn’t have another day of living in me.
“If I went one more time conning people and losing money, I reckon I’d have taken my own life. I’m glad I recognised that. With people I borrowed from, robbed from and conned…I had people contacting me looking for money.
“They had opinions of me and didn’t know I was in addiction. The stress and anxiety of all that as well, I had to take responsibility for that. I put myself in that situation and I accept that.
“Everything just got too much for me. Gambling wasn’t an outlet for me anymore, it wasn’t doing it for me. It was just making me worse and I just got to a point where I wanted to create something with my life, do better for myself and people around me. Just to be happy and not be in a state of worry, stress and fear.
“Fear would be the biggest thing of all. Fear of waking up in the morning, the fear of your phone ringing. The fear of everything, of just facing the day. I’d rather lay in the bed with the curtains closed for 24 hours a day than going around living.”
Somehow, he hung in there. When the new year came around, he experienced an epiphany of sorts. The 31-year-old had watched friends and family going happily about their lives. Getting married, having children, buying houses. Just being content and enjoying life.
He wanted more for himself than the depths he’d sunk to. Money, which had long been his trigger, was no longer making him happy.
He went into Cuan Mhuire for his third stint in rehab, after two separate stays in the Rutland Centre. This time, things were different.
In his prior spells at the Rutland, he completed the five-week programme but never took them as seriously as he should have. He relapsed after coming out on both occasions.
“I didn’t let out stuff,” he says of his first two stays. “What I’m after realising now I’m in recovery is the reason why I may have been gambling was stuff that happened early on in my life as a child and teenager.
“I’m after really understanding what was really wrong with me. It comes back through childhood, through being bullied very bad when I was young, through traumas in life, through losses and stuff.
“I never spoke about that kind of stuff and it had an effect on me. I never really looked at it because I had so much going for me in ways. I was talented at hurling, I had my job, I had a good car so I never thought anything was wrong.
“I just blocked it all out. Anytime all those thoughts and feelings about myself came in, I just escaped from all them every single time through gambling.”
In February, Morkan finally opened up about everything to counsellors, letting down the walls of protection he’d built up around the crippling gambling addiction that took him over the edge more than once.
A talented hurler from the Shinrone club, Morkan represented his county at senior level 44 times in league and championship between 2009 and 2017. But for virtually his entire inter-county career, he was in the throes of addiction.
Like an evil spirit that wrapped its coils around his personality, it isolated Morkan and caused his life to spiral downwards, destroying all that was good around him.
He estimates he lost in the vicinity of €800k on betting between the ages of 18 and 31.
That factors in the “accumulation of wages, stealing, loans, credit cards, winnings and losses.” He moved to England in 2014 and tried to escape his problems but things only got worse.
On one occasion while living in London, he won £25k on a horse. After losing that money, he managed to get his winnings back up to £90k. 10 days later he couldn’t afford a cup of tea.
“Nothing was ever enough. In that moment when I got up to that £90k, I 100% believed that I was going to become a millionaire from gambling.
“That’s that delusion, it’s what the addiction does. It tells you you’re going to win every single time, it never tells you you’re going to lose. You always believe you’re going to win your way through life. ”
Twice, the pain became so great that he sought the ultimate way out. His first suicide attempt came while living in London in 2015. The second in 2019 after he’d moved back to Ireland.
“I was in a casino in Dublin and I lost a load of money. I actually wrote a message to both my parents and my brother.
“I apologised for everything that I’ve done in my life to them. I just said I had to go, I can’t cope anymore and I turned off my phone. My mother and father were so worried, they were ringing the guards.
“After I text that message to my parents saying goodbye to them, something happened in me because I turned on my phone and broke down crying on the phone begging them to come get me.”
Thankfully for Morkan, after checking into Cuan Mhuire on 1 February things have started to look up. He completed his 12-week stay in the Kildare treatment centre and stayed on to volunteer, helping out with other addicts going through similar experiences.
He wanted to do this interview for two reasons. Firstly, to raise awareness around gambling addiction in the GAA which he believes has become a “massive” issue. And secondly, to help raise funds for Cuan Mhuire, the Athy-based charity organisation, as they attempt to open up a dedicated gambling unit.
It’s been a long road back.
******
Morkan was just 18 when he was first called up to the Offaly panel in 2008 under Joe Dooley. As a former underage star, there had been a good deal of hype around his rise to senior ranks.
Offaly’s fortunes had started to slide but they still had a good team and were capable of giving any of the top sides a game on their day.
For a youngster who grew up following the county team’s run of success during the 1990s, it fulfilled his childhood dreams.
Hailing from hurling-mad village Shinrone, all he wanted to do was hurl with Offaly.
The Faithful were in their pomp and regularly competing for Leinster and All-Ireland crowns during the ’90s. It was a magical time to grow up in the county, with the footballers also highly competitive during that era.
“I was delighted, I was loving it,” he recalls. “I was representing my county. I couldn’t wait to be in because I’d hurled at U14, U16, minor and U21 with Offaly. After getting the call-up, it was great. I went in training with the senior squad and loved it.
“I got a few minutes here and there in league games. That’s all I wanted to do was play for Offaly.
“My gambling didn’t affect my hurling back then.”
He was also 18 when he had his first bet. The family were involved with horses and Morkan used to put a fiver here and there on races with his brother.
“The first few times, the bets won,” he recalls. “Instantly I enjoyed that feeling. The first thought that came into my head was, ‘This is easy. I’m going to make extra money, I can work and then have an extra wage. I’ll be able to have nice things, nice cars and all that carry on going into my adulthood.’”
It started out as a weekend thing, but slowly started to progress. The bets started to rise from a fiver to tenners, up to twenties and fifties. Before he knew it, he was heading into the bookies without his brother.
He’d sneak off into town on his own to sit in the bookies for a few hours. When his bets started to lose, he became acquainted with that sinking feeling inside.
‘Shite, I need to get that back. I’ll win it back, break even and go home.’
And in the early years, he did go home. Around the age of 21, it moved away from being a casual thing and started to get heavy.
“The bets became larger, the frequency became more and I was going in nearly every day of the week. I’d started an apprenticeship at the same time and I’d go during my lunch hour in work, after work, before training, after training.
“It was just constant. I had to go and have a bet. It was just that buzz and excitement. I felt good. I felt like it was brand new, like I was invincible when I was in the bookies.”
And for a while, the hurling kept him away from the gambling. Things were going well on the field. In his second year on the panel, he established his place on the team at wing-back.
“The persona and image I had around hurling, I’ll be real about it, there was a lot of talk about me because I was young and hurling well. There was a hype around me.
“I’ll say it straight up, even around women I felt invincible – that I could use my image to get whoever I wanted. I’d go into the pub and lads would be buying you drink and you feel like you’re a king around the place. You lived behind that persona.
“I’ll be honest at that time, I didn’t believe I had an addiction because I was hurling with my county. I had a job, a nice car, a girlfriend at the time, my family life was all good so I never thought it was a problem.
“I thought it was just a casual thing, a social thing and it was acceptable that you go into the bookies every day and spend money that you worked hard for. I didn’t see it as a problem.”
It was at this stage that Morkan’s Offaly team-mates first started to notice something was up. They’d have spotted him heading into the local bookies, or noticed he’d be constantly talking about betting.
On the team bus heading a big Leinster championship game, he’d be checking the winners of a race or ringing the local bookies to place a bet.
A couple of players asked him if everything was alright around the gambling.
“Straight away I was in denial, ‘Yeah, what do you mean?’ I nearly put it back on them for the cheek of them asking me because I was just hiding the addiction.
“That was at 22, 23 and that’s when it started to take over my focus in around the hurling. Being in the mindset for a game really, my mind had started to go elsewhere.
“After three or four years hurling with Offaly that’s when the gambling got really bad to the extent where I couldn’t function. I couldn’t function without having to go and try win money.”
From the outside looking in, things seemed to be progressing well for Morkan. But hurling had started to lose some of its lustre. Despite acting like he had it all under control, it couldn’t have been further from the truth.
“I loved the hurling and I did like the attention but the reason I liked it was because it masked up what was really going on for me. Behind closed doors, when I was on my own, I was miserable and depressed.
“Crying myself to sleep more nights. Then the guilt and shame around the players that I was hurling with, the people that were looking out for me and that suggested maybe I go talk to someone.
“I remember a specific person, I used to think he was just annoying me at the time but now looking back he was only looking out for me.
“I had such resentment towards them that they were trying to control my life. I was out of control without even seeing it myself. Other people could see it but I couldn’t see it myself. That’s the whole blindness of addiction. I just could not see what was really going on for me.”
Morkan’s problems worsened in 2014 and the facade became harder to maintain. He was stealing and conning his way to money. His addiction wreaked havoc on family, friends, relationships, employers, work colleagues and team-mates.
“Anything just to get money I would have done,” he admits. “The gambling took away all my morals and values, I didn’t care who I hurt. I always thought I was temporarily borrowing the money but I was just stealing really to gamble.
“I put them through so much,” he says of his parents and brother. “They just couldn’t cope with me.”
So Morkan dropped off the Offaly panel, packed his bags and headed to London.
“My thing was, ‘Go to hell with everyone.’ I ran away from all my problems. I thought a new fresh start and way of living was going to sort me out and help me stay away from gambling.
“I just ran away and hid. I lost a lot of friends through it. I lost a lot of connections through my home club team and county players I played with. I went over there and things got 10 times worse.”
He continued to seek an escape from life through gambling. The only time he hadn’t a care in the world was when he was sitting in a bookies. He drifted between apartments, moving out to avoid paying rent on a handful of occasions. That money was put towards his betting. He lost count of the number of times he went to sleep hungry.
Two years into his time in London, Morkan had reached a breaking point. He started to find it difficult to access funds, having exhausted credit cards, bank loans and hand-outs from friends.
He got so low that he’d started approaching strangers on the street, telling them he’d lost his wallet or phone.
‘Any chance you’d lend me a fiver? I need to get home.’
After taking an overdose of tablets, his girlfriend at the time found him and called the police. Morkan was arrested for his own safety and put in a cell for the night. That led to him returning to Ireland to check into the Rutland Centre for treatment in 2015.
For a while, things went okay. He started hurling with Shinrone and Offaly again, yet inside the familiar demons tortured him. He stopped going to meetings and a short time after getting out, he relapsed.
“I just wasn’t content and happy in my own self. I always felt I was never wanted, that I was a waste of space of a person.
“I felt so low, my self-worth was on the ground. The only way I was able to get away from them feelings was through gambling. I went back to it again.”
Only this time, he dipped his toes in online gambling for the first time. Horses and greyhounds were his thing, but now he needed the quick-hit of online casino and slot machines.
“That’s where it really, really got worse. I thought I hit rock bottom when I tried to take my own life but things only got worse and worse. It was so accessible online where you didn’t have to go to bank and take cash out, you just go onto the app and deposit with the click of a button.
“No matter if it was a tenner I lost or a massive amount of money, up to the thousands, that instant feeling was, ‘I want to take my own life. I can’t cope.’ The suicidal thoughts would come, ‘I’m here again, I have to go.’”
He made his final appearance for Offaly in 2017 and two years later returned to the Rutland Centre after the second suicide attempt. He relapsed even quicker this time around.
In the last two years, he’d regularly win amounts of €15k to €20k and lose it all before the day was out.
“I never knew what was wrong with me, why I was gambling to that extent,” he says.
“I always thought I was a bad person, that no-one loved me or wanted me. It was my behaviours that made me feel like that because they pushed people away so much and they couldn’t be around me or trust me.
“I broke so many morals and values towards myself. Not intentionally. I didn’t even see what I was doing. That’s the whole power of addiction. It gets a grasp of you.
“People you hurt, you think they’re not going to be affected by it because you go into the poor me behind the addict, ‘What about me?’ You forget about what you’re doing to other people. It was just a viscous cycle.”
The Gaelic Players Association was there along the way ever since an Offaly team-mate put Morkan in touch with them. They funded his stay in the Rutland Centre in 2019 and stuck by him after he relapsed.
They also paid for his recent stint in Cuan Mhuire. Morkan has nothing but praise for the organisation that helped him “in every single way” through counselling, weekly check-ins and help getting employment.
******
Around eight weeks into his time at Cuan Mhuire, he started to feel emotions like empathy that had deserted him for years. After completing the three-month course, he decided to stay on volunteering.
It keeps him in a safe environment and he can share his experience with others who are taking the first steps on the road to recovery.
He has regrets over how his Offaly career turned out, but there’s not much he can do about it now.
He never fully committed to the nutrition or gym side of things, and in too many games he couldn’t concentrate because his head was filled with thoughts about a bet he’d placed or his financial struggles.
“I enjoyed the first four years of (senior) hurling with the county and club,” he says. “After that it was only to show up. So people wouldn’t realise something was wrong.
“It went from one cycle to another. It was all hurling, hurling, hurling with a bit of gambling and then it was all gambling, gambling, gambling with a bit of hurling.
“I robbed, stole, conned, hurt people throughout many years. The reason I’m able to speak about it today is because I want better for myself.
“Hurling was my first love and I love it to this day. But I figured out during my journey it’s not the be-all-and-end-all either. What’s really going on for us is the main thing. We can enjoy sport but if we start to not enjoy it we need to make sure we speak about it and identify what’s really going on for us.
“We have great relationships and that camaraderie, but that eventually stops too. During that process unfortunately I didn’t talk about what was going on for me and I could have had more years hurling, more enjoyment on the field.
“But I didn’t speak about it so I’d love if someone is going through problems that they speak about it, enjoy hurling more and fulfil their potential because I didn’t. My addiction took over and I never spoke about it.
“I’m 31 years of age, I’d love to be still hurling to this day. But the way my life has panned out from my gambling, it took away that.
“I’d still be able to hurl with he club but I’m unable to commit to that now because I damaged myself so much, other people in around my team, my family and the village that I come from. I feel it’s very hard for me to go back to those areas because I’ve so much guilt and shame.”
Morkan delivers a stark warning over the issue of gambling in GAA, particularly in inter-county dressing rooms.
“When you’re training so hard we never really had an outlet to socialise. You’re expected to live at the high standards. You don’t drink if you want to perform at the top level. It’s so noticeable physically when people have addictions to drink and drugs.
“Gambling is so hidden that no-one realises what’s going on. People use that as an escape from the pressures of training six or seven nights a week. The pressures of relationships and life just needs releasing.
“I unfortunately went down the road of getting that release from gambling believing that it was going to make me a better life but it actually turned my life upside down and put me in a fierce dark place.”
He concludes by explaining that, in the recovery process, forgiving himself is the hardest thing of all.
“In recovery we’ve to try separate the addiction from who we really are. The addiction is so powerful, we done stuff through our addiction that we wouldn’t do in recovery.
“The process around forgiving yourself is a very, very tough area because that remorse, guilt and shame is so strong within you.
“You do get your feelings back. When you start to forgive yourself it’s a nice feeling. I have a peaceful regret. I regret where I’ve been in life but it’s also taught me a massive lesson and created a massive awareness of how I want to live my life going forward: to be good to yourself and be good to other people.
“I’m ashamed of the stuff I’ve done but I’m not ashamed about who I am today. I’m not ashamed that I am an addict because it’s going to make me a better person with the experience I’m going through now in recovery.
“I’m not ashamed to say who I am. I’m able to say, ‘I’m Derek and I’m a compulsive gambler.’ Openly and freely.”
One day at a time.
******
You can contribute to Derek Morkan’s fundraiser to support addictions services at Cuan Mhuire here.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Gamblers Anonymous Ireland, Cuan Mhuire and Pieta House at 1800 247 247.
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Who is Murray Kinsella??? Former player? Coach? Involved in provinces?? Superb analysis and love your articles. Well done on such attention to detail. Really fascinating.
I believe he played for the u20s a few years ago?
Murray, whatever they are paying you at the Journal it’s not enough. These last few weeks you have provided us with the most comprehensive breakdown of games I have ever read. Love reading them. Thanks
I’m glad to see this article. When Heaslip transitioned his game four or five seasons ago the criticism of his play was fair. Since then he’s been a largely unsung hero -despite lions caps, captaining his country and winning on a European stage for Leinster.
I agree! He has been so good recently, and the stats don’t lie, his work rate is huge. He doesn’t set off on bullocking runs like SOB, but he matches him in te other aspects of the game. People forget that playing for Ireland, especially against Aussie and Nz, is a step up from trotting out against almost everyone in the Heineken or Pro12 bar maybe Clermont
that was a great breakdown of his performance against the all-blacks but I understand the criticism leveled at him has been about the last 2 years? Or is it a similar case where he does the unseen dirty work?
GAA man here myself so just asking!
Also, I haven’t seen this much analysis of a single rugby game well… ever! Is this another form of us Irish wallowing in our own misery?
Hi Emmett. Yeah, the intention was to highlight what was a typical performance from Heaslip by using the example of one game. Most of the stuff mentioned in this piece is precisely what he has been doing for Ireland over the last two years.
As for the second question, we have tried to do similarly detailed pieces over this November Test series, not just for this game.
Seems to play more like a seven. Would he be playing open side if it wasn’t for the ball control at back of scrum?
You talk about the carries how many did the all blacks no 8 have how many did Australia’s and how many did Cian Healy have compared to heaslip and how many yards did each Mack when they took the ball on those are sort if questions that should have been asked. it would have been better to take your head out of his arse and really analyse his game against the Aussies and the all blacks and even though we were not playing them the French ,English and South Africans if we are wanting to be involved in the latter stages if the World Cup which is why Schmidt got the gig he will have to pick his game up big time .arriving at a ruck is not the same as hitting it
cheers Murray. Second question was more in jest!
nothing stopping you starting your own blog and providing detailed analysis as youve highlighted seeing as you’re so knowledgeable. its how murray kinsella started off (been reading your blog for a couple of years murray, correct me if im wrong on that point). you might want to work on your punctuation though, a comma or fullstop wouldnt go astray here or there, makes it difficult to read your rant.
It isn’t English class and I didn’t ask you to read it. And if your going to put stuff up then you should expect a little criticism especially when your only coming from one side and not giving a balanced view
well you didn’t ask me not to read it so i did, and the punctuation is shite
and asking someone to remove their head from their arse cant really be classed as criticism gavin, can it?
I’ve enjoyed the analysis Murray, I think its accurate and balanced (I’ve no opinion on Heaslip positive or negative). I think ye should keep it up for the provinces in the H Cup, and like this article keep it factual with examples. I see a lot of people tearing strips off Heaslip on here but I thought he played well.
I said it would be better if he took his head out of Heaslips arse the way he was writing about him you would swear they were best buds .He is not in the top five of great no8s at the moment never mind of all time so how can he be written about in this manner.
Well he did 1 on POM after the Samoa game who isn’t one of the top 5 top 10 backrow players ireland have ever produced (evah!). It was a good piece written in a similar manner, most of us would like more on other players. Heaslip is a good player and he was better than Leamy when he took Leamys place….get over it!
Yep Sean he really does play like a 7 in many ways and not by accident. If people look back at when Heislip broke into the national team, bullocking runs with ball in hand was a big part of his game but when Sean O’Brien ( who is not a natural 7 ) started playing at open side Heislip was asked to alter his game a bit to do a lot of the dirty stuff that number 7s normally do which he does to great effect.
Do you know much about rugby Gavin or are you just an arm chair supporter who listens to George Hook and think’s it’s gospel? Murray has provided detailed analysis of the type of game Heaslip plays and it proves what an immense player he is. You don’t think Heaslip is in the top 5 number 8′s in the world? This is the same Heaslip that started 2 Lions tests this year and 3 last time out? Yeah, maybe you’re right, maybe he’s not that good and both Schmidt and Gatland are amateur coaches who got it wrong! Not sure if I can post links to outside websites, but demented mole did a similar analysis of the Lions tests on rucks etc. Who came out on top…… Heaslip! http://dementedmole.com/2013/10/30/ruck-marks/
Heaslip’s not a show pony back row who makes a couple of carries a game but then goes absent at ruck and tackle time. He works hard for 80 mins, game after game. Not many forwards can claim his work load. POM needs to take a look at Heaslip’s performances and learn from them. Carrying alone aint good enough, especially for a blindside and especially at international level. Just cause you don’t like Heaslip as a person, don’t let that influence your opinion of him as a player. He has set the benchmark for Irish back rows and I for one am delighted to have him playing for my teams over the years!
I can think for myself not like most of the sheep on here following .
Everything ya said made no sense basically you are saying heaslip modified ya mean he has gone missing for the last few years does the unseen work he might as well not be there I have nothing against any player but the analysis was biased no comparisons to other teams no8 which might open your eyes if ya seen how many rucks were hit (not just arriving) ,how many balls were carried, how many yards gained when carried and how many tackles were made by other no8s but then that would be proving a point against heaslip
The problem is you’re thinking for yourself from a position of no knowledge as to what’s going on. If you think a player that makes 22 tackles in a game might as well not be there, then you’re deluded! I’m not calling it unseen work. I know what Jamie does on the field, Murray’s pointed it out in depth here, I showed you an article from the demented mole where he points out the same and more importantly Kidney, Schmidt and Gatland know what he does and rate him very highly as a result! When you’re of the opposite opinion to three coaches who have won trophies at the highest level you need to take a look at your own opinion and re-evaluate it! Plus, looking at one no.8′s stats in one game and comparing it to another no.8 from a different game is unfair as different games have different environments. You might say look, Jamie only made 12 tackles in a game, but Picamoles made 20 in another game, therefore Picamoles is a better no.8. But what you miss is that Jamie played in a game where the opposition only had 40% possession and Picamoles could be playing in a game where the opposition had 80% possession. If you want to compare fairly, compare his workload to his team mate back row. Against new zealand Jamie made 21 tackles, SOB made 16 and POM made 8. Heaslip carried 9 time, SOB 7 and POM 3. So, who had the better game? Also, if you look at that article I quoted, you’ll see that Jamie does more than just arrive at a ruck. You say he’s not in the top 5, name 5 no.8′s that are better than him!
Heaslip was playing opposite Kieran Reid, the nailed on world player of the year. Reid came off second best. Nuff sed.
Excellent breakdown.
Heaslip is a beast, and does far more work than people give him credit for.
Love these detailed analysis might work well for other sports
Really impressive analysis again, Murray. An informative and well researched article, well done.
The main criticism of Heaslip is not his off the feld activities, as the writer tries to tell us, but his on the field activities – or lack of them, at least for Ireland anyway. For all the statistics bandied about, he simply does not reproduce for Ireland what he does for Leinster, but we won’t hear Rob Kearney calling him out on that, will we?. OK, he performed last Sunday against New Zealand, when just about every player rose to the occasion, but this was for the first time in years. When he retires from the Ireland set up, he’ll be best remembered as being the first, and so far only, Irish international to be sent off since the advent of professionalism. Take a bow, Houdini Heaslip.
Idiotic comment. Yes the sending off will always be on his record but he has been an outstanding international and lions player. Criticism of him is often based on provincial bias and is unfounded. He outplayed the best player in the world on Sunday.
Hmm, I wonder where Frank is from.
He was Ireland top tackler against Aus & I think one of the top in the 6 nations across all teams.
Yeah, I acknowledged he played well against New Zealand, for the first time in eons and when every other Irish player played wel alsol. But outplay Kieran Read, as I assume you are referring to him, you must be having a laugh? Take off your blue tinted glasses, brother. If Heaslip did for Ireland on a regular basis what he does for Leinster pretty much every time he steps on the pitch for them he wouldn’t be criticised. Players like BOD, Kearney, Healy do, so they don’t get the same criticism. Heaslip doesn’t – ergo he gets it. But that’s not what they want to hear on Planet Blue.
Thats more than a little bit unfair Frank.
The point of the article is that he does play like this almost every week. Check his stats in games he plays. He’s regularly the top tackler. He always contributes to the breakdown. If he was so poor why did kidney make him captain? Why did he go on lions toor and play in first 2 tests? Every player has a bad game every now and then. I guess no matter what he does he will never please the lines of you brother.
Be honest, you didn’t read the article, did you?
Of course I did Fergal.
you mean on planet earth frank? you got the wording wrong though, its the blue planet, not planet blue. easy mistake to make.
“he performed last Sunday against New Zealand, when just about every player rose to the occasion, but this was for the first time in years”. nice compliment you gave him there, ya made sure you knocked him down again though with the rest of your post. your like super troll philip ryans long lost, more literate brother.
Planet Blue was quite deliberate, James auld stock, shame you couldn’t pick up on it and mixed it up with the name of a David Attenborough documentary. Second time you’ve mentioned my supposed “buddy”, as you call him, this Philip Ryan and second time I am perplexed as to why you think his name should mean anything to me. I don’t rate Heaslip, simple as, and his inclusion in various sides is down to the unprecedented dearth of quality no.8s in Ireland and these islands at this time. I think however that players like O’Brien or O’Mahony could do a far better job in that position for Ireland as ,besides at ,no.8, there are a huge number of quality backrow players around and these 2 versatile players could be moved to no. 8 and good backrow players like Henry, O’Donnell, McLaughlin or even Henderson or Muldoon can be accommodated in the positions they vacate. I appreciate the hurt you are feeling on behalf of poor Jamie though.
oh i got it frank, dont worry. your point was very obvious.
i include you and philbo in the same bracket, buddies if you will, in that you both come on here with your anti leinster agenda, thats all. i know youre not actual friends, just trolls of similar mindsets.
dont worry about my feelings, though its kind of you to mention them.
Another constructive post, Jimbo. No contradiction at all in you calling people parochial when you ascribe an “anti leinster agenda” to the criticism of one player. Nor any contradiction in you lecturing another poster here on punctuation on the evidence of that missive and your previous ones. I will look out for this Phillip you keep referring to as he seems like a dastardly rascal.
Frank. You are an embarrassment to munster and our fans
i only troll the trolls frank.
youve posted more than once here, dont be so coy about your dislike for leinster.
a comma or fullstop here and there isn’t too much to ask for now is it? just made a comment to a guy who’s idea of critiquing murrays article was asking him, and i quote, “it would have been better to take your head out of his arse”. not surprised you’ll defend this level of commentry
Actually, while I don’t agree with Frank, he doesn’t appear anti Leinster at all.
He’s merely stating he doesn’t think Heaslip is any good, and there are better players, even stating that Kevin McLaughlin at 6, to move Sean O’Brien to 8 would be better.
That’s hardly anti Leinster is it?
Much in the same way if I said various Munster players were bad, while others are quality wouldn’t make me anti Munster would it?
absolutely not. but like i said, this isnt the only topic he’s posted on. read around the comments elsewhere. i’m not basing my opinion on his dislike for heaslip.
sorry that was me posting, dunno what happened
James, or Burt Chesterfield Livingston Jnr, or whatever you’re calling yourself now. the likes of you are always so reactionary and one-eyed ( and yes, parochial) that your default reaction is to call others likewise and be childish and petty because you have little or nothing else to offer.
i do read what you have to say frank. ive lots to offer but right now my time will be spent harassing you and your bitter and twisted diatribe against the “evil” that is leinster rugby
Still with the quotation marks put on fictitious quotes, Burt ? And you admit you want to be my stalker. Flattering, but, to put it in the ugly racist phraseology beloved of you, this “untermensch” will swat you aside like a Red Army soldier would a spotty faced Hitler Youth.
harass frank. different meaning to stalk. again your making up stuff for your little argument
“Is there any way Leinster can poach him before that or are Connacht safe for that period of time from their grubby, greedy hands as regards Hensahaw at least?” (im quoting you here before you get all antsy) seems you have a strong dislike of leinster, with their grubby greedy hands, so i characterised them as evil for you. its a play on words, saves you some typing in future
I never made up anything, Burt/James, you’re the only one who has done that. What has the quote you have taken from the Henshaw thread got to do with this Heaslip other than the usual personal smear tactics you employ thread or have you completely lost the run of yourself and tied yourself up in knots yet again? Come on, stalker, up your game.. You’re not very interesting, you are completely unfunny and unentertaining and you are barley literate. Try to be relevant at least or I’ll just ignore you.
Somewhat difficult to base an analysis of Heaslip based on the All Blacks game, where every Irish player was excellent. What about taking a wider cross section for analysis, to include games like against Munster in Thomond Park, where he was very quiet? The above article, in using the All Blacks performance as the lens for analysis, actually overlooks other aspects of his work, such as at the tail of the lineout where he’s normally quite effective, but where Ireland didn’t use him on Sunday. For the record, I think there are better backrows in Ireland, but basing analysis of Heaslip on one game is unfair to the player.
Ah here! The entire Leinster team were quiet in Thomond park(still got the LBP). You could add the games against the Osprey and Castres(less so) to that list and you would come up with the same analysis as Murray above. He hasn’t been consistently brilliant for Ireland but aside from SOB who has? POC has little recent(excl. the last 3 test) games for Ireland so I’m excluding him. Hasn’t that been the problem with Ireland and not just one player?
I don’t think there are any better back row players in Ireland(why weren’t they selected for the Lions, why did Kidney select him as captain).
More articles like this please
Great article Murray!
Side note… See how far offside McCaw is on last photo. Hindmost foot eh… Never seen such a high profile player get away with so many offsides. World class player who knows how to bend the rules
The reason he ” seems” to disappear in some games because he at the coal face and most likely at the bottom of a ruck or the middle of a maul. Many spectators miss these contributions and assume he ” disappeared”.
These rugby comments are becoming a complete piss take with lads having fights with Eachother, very nearly had the biggest win in irish rugby history over the weekend and all you lads can do is bitch
Fantastically detailed and insightful. A level of relevance and insight George Hook could only dream of.
You should send this to me hook. Total bias against Jamie every time. This is a great rebuttal.
Mr hook
Ah the old “unseen work” chestnut.
To be fair he was good enough against the ABs, but the criticism levelled at him in the last few years is because of his habit of disappearing during games.
Hence the nickname Houdini :-)
It’s unseen by those who choose not to see. If you watch a game a one player makes 24 tackles and you don’t see this well maybe you need a bigger TV because anyone who matters ie his coaches are not blinkered by your home town bull
In work I call it “behind the scenes work”.
A very well written, well researched and intelligent piece of sports journalism and analysis, Murray. Kudos to you.
With regards the points you made about Heaslip’s actions at the defensive breakdown (slowing the ball down with his feet, dragging players into rucks to prevent them from joining their defensive line, etc), I think this is something that the Irish team should engage in more. We simply aren’t as ruthless, nor do we ‘bend the rules’ as much as other nations. Look at McCaw, he’s got that sort of cynical defensive game down to a T (the man hadn’t been onside since WC 2003!). It’s the sort of behaviour that wins games; and championships too. After all, no one ever won anything by playing nice, did they?
Of course there was an article of Heaslip put up after one of the greatest Irish performances ever.. prior to Sunday he has been very quiet, and had little input to games, so pull yer heads out of his arse.. Imagine how good Sean O Brien would be at the break down (which is where 7′s should specialise) if he didn’t have to do the 8′s job aswel (ball carrying).. Even this article which is clearly praising him says that although he made something like 9 carries, he made very little ground.. Not exactly flattering for the foward who is supposed to be a dominant ball carrier
Great article Murray!! I would have been one of the first people to question Heaslip’s performances for Ireland over the last couple of years, but your article raises many interesting points that I will certainly watch for in the future!!
As you have said, and I’m inclined to agree, he does have a thankless job but he doesn’t present himself, or stand out as much as the likes of Reade, Harinorduquay or Parisse do. I do wonder would having o’brien at 8 and Heaslip at 7 make a difference!! You’d maintain O’Briens ball carrying abilities while putting Heaslip at 7 includes him more in the action!! I agree with everybody else by the way, keep the player profiles coming!!
That “unseen work” canard is bandied about an awful lot for Houdini. As is the “home town bull” by the Leinster crowd whenever anyone dares to criticise the performance of a Leinster player when playing in green ( they’re above all that, you see, except when someone who isn’t from Leinster plays badly for Ireland, when they are perfectly justified to do so, you see, and it isn’t parochial bias at all at all at all). There is a reason why Leinster players like Sean O’Brien aren’t criticised for their performance for Ireland. And there is a reason why Jamie Heaslip is for his non-performances for Ireland.
Play Rugby??
These are extremely useful analyses Murray. Keep them coming.
Heaslip? He doesn’t do anything for Ireland. He gets sin binned, goes into discussion when he’s not supposed to so really? When he’s captain, you should lead by example. Somehow he doesn’t seem to get what’s being asked of him. Please make someone else captain when the big boys retire, Peter O’Mahoney for example.
And POM gets into handbags almost every game. His biggest game as Munster captain he fell out with the ref who refused to shake his hand at the end. He’s not ready yet, and IMO he’s behind SOB.
As for your “he gets sin binned” suggestion, that is just false.
Jamie Heaslip has been sin binned on 7 occasions in his 192 game career. Only once for Ireland, which was last November I believe. Where I get my info: http://rugby.statbunker.com/players/GetHistoryStats?player_id=16623&comps_type=-1&dates=-1
As stated in this article, Heaslip made 24 tackles on Sunday, and did a lot of unseen work, which Murray has conveniently shown us. I would call that leading by example wouldn’t you?
Although I do think that O’Mahony is a future captain, he has a lot to learn as Munster captain first, which Heaslip has had to learn in the last year.
Heaslip made more tackles in the AB game than Pom made in all 3 games, he must be doing an awful lot of unseen work because the Munster boys love the non tackler and abuse the man who has to not only covers O’Brien as a ball carrier but also our non tackling no 6
Excellent article Murray. Heaslip is a terrific asset to Irish rugby. He plays the most minutes per season for province & country, rarely gets injured (what an athlete), consistently performs at a high level, immense work rate, intelligent footballer, terrific in defense. The only side of his game you could criticise fairly is his lack of barnstorming carries of old. However as has been posted many times already, with SOB carrying so much Heaslip does a lot of the work on the ground. A fair compromise in my opinion. To the haters who give him no credit at all, of course Kidney, Gatland & Schmidt are wrong to pick him, sure what would they know?
When is Jamie going to release the journal staff?
excellent timing Murray to wait until he actually did something for Ireland and then write the article – over-rated and over paid.
Excellent article, he can only do the glam stuff when he plays with a true open side. His critics are usually those who haven’t a clue about rugby.
http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/1758961-ranking-the-6-best-number-eights-in-rugby-history/page/6
What an excellent article that needed to be written. I think a major factor in Heaslip’s evolution to his current role has been the conversion of SOB from 6 to a 7 both with Leinster and Ireland. That has taken a bit of time and Heaslip’s role has had to change to accommodate it and provide balance. POM for all his obvious talents is not renowned for his breakdown and ruck work so we are blessed to have someone like Heaslip with his phenomenal work rate and skills.
Very much enjoy your recent analysis pieces Murray , keep it up.Great insights.
I’d love for the Munster/Leinster shyte talk to stop though but hey ho , ” never a need to pack an arsehole “
If you like you can get me in a scrum and destroy me. Naked of course, all you have to do is ask…..
SOB a future irish captain Not 80 mins in BOD Impact sub maybe We need Best Give Luke Marshall more space Luke Fitzgerald is beyond it Cant wait to see a fit Tommy O Donnell back
v.good analysis, 8 is a hard position when you are doing a lot of donkey work most of the time
Christ is it any wonder the Irish team can’t put a string of performances together when fans can’t see outside their own provinces!! My take on this is heaslip is a savage player when he concentrates he is definitely guilty of going missing in games…