IT WAS HIS initial comments that sparked the dispute and now Joe Brolly has responded to Stephen Hunt’s contentious newspaper column by claiming the Ipswich midfielder has simply confirmed his long-standing view of footballers.
Hunt’s Sunday Independent column, which claimed GAA players would find the rigours of life in the Premier League too much to handle, has caused widespread debate this week.
The former Republic of Ireland international was responding to claims by Brolly that professional footballers shouldn’t be placed on a pedestal because they are not role models.
In what is becoming a war of words, Brolly has hit back at Hunt by saying he wouldn’t have lasted five minutes in last week’s Ulster club final while insisting his long-held view of footballers has only been substantiated by Hunt’s comments.
“I don’t imagine Stephen would have lasted five minutes in the Ulster club final last Sunday,” Brolly said in an interview with the Irish News. “I wouldn’t fancy his chances standing on the edge of the square with Patsy Bradley.
“If you look at that astounding application – lads putting their bodies on the line – and you think of someone like poor Stephen Hunt standing in the middle of that, it would be like the Christians in the Colosseum…fed to the lions.”
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“It never ceases to amuse me when you see these young fellas – many of who come from very strong working class backgrounds – being described as role models because they’re famous.
“The only interesting thing about Stephen’s article is that it exemplified what I was saying and further illustrated my point that these guys are just self-interested.”
Hunt has felt the ire of the GAA fraternity and while he’s moved to defuse the row by insisting he’s “a big fan of the GAA”, Brolly didn’t hold back while speaking at an event to launch a new Organ donor campaign.
“I suppose it’s because Gaelic is more than just a game. It is the heart and soul of the community. You just have to look at the huge endeavour of the Slaughtneil and Omagh players on Sunday. That’s an incentive that Stephen Hunt couldn’t even hope to understand.
“A lot of GAA players are role models because they are part and parcel of a community that expects certain standards. It is a very, very rare occurrence if a GAA player gets in serious trouble. In that very tight-knit community there are certain values instilled in you,” the outspoken pundit continued.
Hunt is currently on the books at Ipswich along with his brother Noel and several other Irish internationals Donall Farmer / INPHO
Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO
Hunt’s remark about how he needs to drive 800 yards between his house and the Ipswich Town training ground to ensure he preserves all his energy for one of Mick McCarthy’s sessions seemed to have struck a particular chord with Brolly.
He uses an example of legendary Kilkenny manager Brian Cody mopping the dressing room floor after a training session to illustrate the gulf that exists between soccer and the GAA at elite level.
“It just shows you the difference. Do you think Louis van Gaal is going to mop the Old Trafford changing room floors? You gotta be kidding me – unless he’s being paid a huge amount by a mop-making company.
“That would be a foreign concept because with any professional sport, the question is: what’s in it for me and how much will I be paid for this appearance? It is a life of self obsession.
“And he [Cody] certainly won’t be driving 800 yards home in a Lamborghini either. That Stephen Hunt article… all it does it make you think ‘Thank f**k I’m a GAA man’.”
'Thank f**k I'm a GAA man' - Joe Brolly hits back at Stephen Hunt's contentious column
IT WAS HIS initial comments that sparked the dispute and now Joe Brolly has responded to Stephen Hunt’s contentious newspaper column by claiming the Ipswich midfielder has simply confirmed his long-standing view of footballers.
Hunt’s Sunday Independent column, which claimed GAA players would find the rigours of life in the Premier League too much to handle, has caused widespread debate this week.
The former Republic of Ireland international was responding to claims by Brolly that professional footballers shouldn’t be placed on a pedestal because they are not role models.
In what is becoming a war of words, Brolly has hit back at Hunt by saying he wouldn’t have lasted five minutes in last week’s Ulster club final while insisting his long-held view of footballers has only been substantiated by Hunt’s comments.
“I don’t imagine Stephen would have lasted five minutes in the Ulster club final last Sunday,” Brolly said in an interview with the Irish News. “I wouldn’t fancy his chances standing on the edge of the square with Patsy Bradley.
“It never ceases to amuse me when you see these young fellas – many of who come from very strong working class backgrounds – being described as role models because they’re famous.
“The only interesting thing about Stephen’s article is that it exemplified what I was saying and further illustrated my point that these guys are just self-interested.”
Hunt has felt the ire of the GAA fraternity and while he’s moved to defuse the row by insisting he’s “a big fan of the GAA”, Brolly didn’t hold back while speaking at an event to launch a new Organ donor campaign.
“I suppose it’s because Gaelic is more than just a game. It is the heart and soul of the community. You just have to look at the huge endeavour of the Slaughtneil and Omagh players on Sunday. That’s an incentive that Stephen Hunt couldn’t even hope to understand.
“A lot of GAA players are role models because they are part and parcel of a community that expects certain standards. It is a very, very rare occurrence if a GAA player gets in serious trouble. In that very tight-knit community there are certain values instilled in you,” the outspoken pundit continued.
Hunt’s remark about how he needs to drive 800 yards between his house and the Ipswich Town training ground to ensure he preserves all his energy for one of Mick McCarthy’s sessions seemed to have struck a particular chord with Brolly.
He uses an example of legendary Kilkenny manager Brian Cody mopping the dressing room floor after a training session to illustrate the gulf that exists between soccer and the GAA at elite level.
“It just shows you the difference. Do you think Louis van Gaal is going to mop the Old Trafford changing room floors? You gotta be kidding me – unless he’s being paid a huge amount by a mop-making company.
“That would be a foreign concept because with any professional sport, the question is: what’s in it for me and how much will I be paid for this appearance? It is a life of self obsession.
“And he [Cody] certainly won’t be driving 800 yards home in a Lamborghini either. That Stephen Hunt article… all it does it make you think ‘Thank f**k I’m a GAA man’.”
Former Dublin captain Stephen Hiney retires from inter-county hurling
‘I’m a big fan of the GAA’ – Stephen Hunt defends article that caused a bit of a storm
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Joe Brolly Stephen hunt War of Words