Hogan’s stand; Barrett’s fall; just two of the talking points making the sports news during the spooky Halloween off-season period.
By Noel Dundon, Tipperary Media.
Serialisations of extracts from about-to-be-launched sports books can be dangerous and misleading. And with the latest GAA book to make its way onto the market, the snippets being promoted in the national press are certainly chosen to throw a spanner in the works, heighten interest in the publication, and prompt potential customers to part with their hard earned cash.
Richie Hogan – a class hurler from across the border in Kilkenny – inflicted a lot of damage on Tipperary over a long number of years with his incisive play, his score-taking abilities and his big moments in major games. Unfortunately for him, his latest shot with the pen in Whatever it Takes ends up looking more like an own-goal rather than a really meaningful attempt at a green flag. Hogan, like his former teammate Jackie Tyrell before him, has seen fit to tear strips off Tipp and in Hogan’s case, specifically, corner back Cathal Barrett.
Without doubt, Hogan felt very hard done by in that All-Ireland final of 2019 following his straight red card for a tackle on Barrett before half time. Describing Barrett as a ‘weasel’ Hogan went on to recount the conversation between linesman Johnny Murphy who saw nothing and referee James Owens, with Murphy suggesting that Barrett might have been faking it when he fell to the ground clutching his face.
Thing is, Barrett was cut from the incident and was being treated by the tipp medics when Owens went to have a look. On foot of that, the red card was brandished with Hogan adjudged to have met him high in the face as he raced into the tackle – remember Hogan didn’t make any attempt to pull out.
That incident was five years ago and to think that Richie Hogan still has not made peace with it, tells exactly what an effect it had on him. To be sent off in the biggest game of the year is no picnic and there would have been all sorts of emotions flooding through him as he walked towards the Kilkenny bench and in the days afterwards.
Few Tipperary people would deny that the sending off was harsh and did not have a major bearing on the outcome of the game. But, the comments in Richie’s book which is to be launched on Friday in Langton’s Kilkenny, have served only to dredge up an incident which ought to have been consigned to history. Of course doing that doesn’t sell books and so there is a whole section on that flashpoint.
Perhaps even more unsettling than Richie Hogan’s comments is the contribution from linesman Johnny Murphy who was only five yards away and who could not determine if there was any contact – he suggested that Barrett could be ‘playing it a bit’. Really? So, he cut himself then – did he not see that from five yards away either?
As mentioned earlier, these extracts are often designed to gain maximum traction ahead of the book launch. Let’s hope that the rest of the content is more insightful and helps us to understand the real Richie Hogan. And, for his sake, let’s hope he can finally let it go. He felt he’d been ‘screwed over’ by the dismissal but it seems as though time has not diminished his sense of injustice. That’s a pity for the Danesfort man who won seven All-Ireland medals and four All-Star awards.
The Barrett Debacle.
Liam Cahill is the Tipperary senior hurling manager. He has been entrusted with the preparation of the Premier County team for the year to come and he has made his mind up on who he wants in the panel. Some have retired, perhaps others will follow. Some regulars will not be included going forward. Holycross Ballycahill defender Cathal Barrett is one of those who has been left out of the training panel, but he has made it very clear that he is not retiring from the inter county scene. He probably could have made an announcement about his retirement and walked off into the sunset with the good wishes of all Tipp supporters ringing in his ears.
Instead, he has chosen to go the hard route – he will train on his own without the backing of the county set-up and will try to impress the management team sufficiently enough in club games, so that they will call him back in. That’s a brave move and you would have to admire his resolve – he has been there before so he knows what it takes.