FORMER CLARE HURLER Tony Griffin has hailed the appointment of Donal Óg Cusack as the Banner County’s new senior team coach.
Griffin, who’s preparing for a white collar boxing event on Friday night to raise money for the Soar national outreach movement, believes that Cusack will help to “breathe life” into the Clare squad.
And while acknowledging that the former Cork netminder and Clare boss Davy Fitzgerald are both fiercely independent characters, he has backed them to find common ground.
“It was essential, really. Life needed to be breathed into that Clare squad,” Griffin told The42.
“You could see they had fallen behind and who better to breathe some maverick energy and endeavour than Donal Óg?
“That’s what it requires. I was talking to Tony Kelly at the Allstars and he’s excited.
“As a bunch of players, it’s a really good way to start the year.
“The thing is, Davy’s a smart guy and he knows when something’s required that he doesn’t have.
“Donal Óg won’t be anybody’s yes man and it’s absolutely going to lead to a head to head but they will both want to get the job done.
“It’s going to be really interesting, it’s complete drama. They are two very strong characters and there’s only one goalie on a team for a reason.
“It will be interesting to see how two leaders can still be part of something when they’re not getting their full way. But it’s good for Clare hurling and Donal Óg will inject a lot of new thinking.”
Griffin, meanwhile, is relishing the prospect of donning the boxing gloves for Friday night’s event at Camden Street’s Camden Palace in Dublin (7.3opm).
In 2011, Griffin and Karl Swan set up the Soar foundation, with a central belief that within all young people lies greatness.
“Essentially, a chap whose son who came through Soar and who had benefited from some of the programmes we run came to us and said he’d like to do something,” Griffin explained.
“He had an interest in Soar and wanted to create a white collar boxing experience.
“I took a different slant on it and looked at the concept of the inner warrior within us all.
“Male or female, regardless of where you’re coming from, it’s about creating an environment where people can explore and connect with their inner warrior.
“Really, it’s about challenging yourself to overcome something that is a wrestle or a challenge for you, to project that challenge from the inside onto something positive on the outside.”
The main event is Griffin’s showdown with Ben Norton, while Jim Linden, cousin of Olympic medallist Paddy Barnes, will also be in action on the night.
“I’m fighting a fella who’s bigger than me, stronger than me and a better boxer – I’ll probably get the head beat off me!
“But I’m a willing subject for something well outside my comfort zone.
“Since hurling, I’ve struggled to find something that really challenges me,” the former Allstar reveals.
“But I’ve found it with boxing, which is great. I go in two or three times a week and learn a lot about myself. As Mike Tyson once said, everybody has a plan until you get a punch in the face.”
Soar is a self-funded organisation which has managed to generate €1.2m independently in three years.
You can learn more about them here.
Griffin and Soar have set a fundraising target of €10,000 for Friday’s event but if you can’t make it along, and wish to make a donation, you can do so here.
It must be very hard for a guy like Roach who’s career hasn’t had a dramatic upturn in ability like some in his sport to accept that it’s a level playing field.I imagine looking back on his career he will be able to hold his head high and with honour knowing he gave his absolute best with his natural god given talent and entertained us all in the process.Well done Nico.
@Aidan Butler: and he has coined it by charging a premium for the fact that he is a rolls Royce domestique and someone with fantastic road knowledge.
Tumbles ? Far from tumbling, in my view. Achieving his dreams, more like.
It’s in them there hills that the Columbians and odd Spaniard power through on the finest of bicycles.
@Brad Moon: and……..