Picture: Don MacMonagle
GAA legend Pat Spillane is of the opinion that the modern brand of Gaelic football is a game of shite – with a capital S.
That was the assessment he offered on the Late Late Show on Friday night to when he told host Patrick Kielty that he needed to get it off his chest.
Spillane (67) said Gaelic football is now the metamorphic rock of sport and while it was originally a game of catch and kick and a man-to-man contest, it is now all about hand-passing and uncontested kick-passing.
“All you hear on the sideline is ‘recycle, reset’. It’s like you’re looking at a washing machine because there’s two buttons on a washing machine that say recycle, reset,” he said.
“Just to get it off my chest – the modern game of Gaelic football, with too much hand-passing and too defensive is a game of shite – and if you want to quote me on that, if you want to write that down, it’s a capital S,” he said.
Spillane, who holds eight All-Ireland senior medals, did acknowledge the genius of Kerry star David Clifford, however.
Asked by the presenter if the Fossa man was the greatest to every play the game, the retired schoolteacher from Templenoe replied: “He’s heading that way. He’s a genius and a good young lad”.
Spillane was on the show to promote his new book, In the Blood: My life in and out of football in which he goes into great detail about his family life, the influence his mother, Maura, had on him and his relationship with his wife Rosarii.
Spillane, who stepped away from his role as an analyst with The Sunday Game 15 months ago, told presenter Kielty that the show is looking for a branded umbrella to be returned but it’s broken and that a jersey presented to his on his last show, signed by the Dublin team, has still not been sent on to him.
“If you’re out the back some day in the wardrobe or in the warehouses will you just stick a stamp on it and sent it to Pat Spillane, Kerry,” he said to Kielty.
Advertise where it will be seen: For great value advertising contact news@killarneytoday.com or call 087-2229761
