Ten Questions with Conal Keaney
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Fielding the questions this week is Dublin hurler Conal Keaney, an Allianz Hurling League Division I medal winner in 2011 and a five-time Leinster GAA Football Championship winner with the county’s footballers.
Q: Who is the greatest dual player of all time?
A: Teddy McCarthy (Cork). He won two All-Irelands in the one year and I don’t think anyone is going to do that again in a long while.
Q: Would you rather spend 15 minutes kicking a football or pucking a sliothar off the gable end of your house?
A: I don’t know if I’d be able to kick a ball now with the way my knee is…but I’m enjoying my hurling at the moment, so I’d have to go with the hurl and sliothar.
Q: Did you ever show ability in any other sport and would you like to have pursued it?
A: I would have played a lot of other sports in school. I played a lot of tennis and golf but I don’t know if I would have made it at either of them.
Q: If you could have one particular skill from a player, what would be the skill and who would be the player?
A: Probably Tom Brady (New England Patriots quarter-back) in the NFL. His vision is just unbelievable and his ability to perform under pressure every time is just unquestionable.
Q: What’s the most you have ever scored in any game you played in, from U12 all the way up?
A: I think I might have scored 2-9 in a game of hurling for Ballyboden, but that is a long time ago now.
Q: Is there any moment in your career that you would like to revisit and change?
A: There are two to be honest with you. One of them was the All-Ireland Colleges semi-final when we were beaten by St Colman’s many years ago (2001). We were beaten by a last-minute goal, which to this day I don’t think crossed the line, but the umpires gave it to them. They went on then and won it. The second one would be the U21 Leinster final that went to a replay against Kildare (2004). We got pipped that year as well.
Q: Who is your sporting idol?
A: Joe Cooney from Galway.
Q: Can you name one young hurler who could make a big name for himself in this year’s Championship?
A: I think Paul Schutte, our own full back, has really produced some serious performances. He’s one of the players to look out for this year.
Q: Who is the best pundit/analyst on TV at the moment?
A: There are a good few of them around, but I don’t know if any of them are any good! I’ll go with one of our own: I’d say Ciaran Whelan on the football side of things is fairly honest.
Q: What’s the biggest sacrifice you’ve had to make to be an inter-county player?
A: I think there is always that question, but at the end of the day we want to be here and it is a pleasure to be here, and we do anything we can to play for Dublin – or any other county. I wouldn’t say there are any huge sacrifices.