‘Can't beat Barry's Tea' – Mack Hansen stuns fans with retro Cork GAA outfit as rugby ace swaps sports
MACK Hansen's always comes across as a free spirit - so it was no surprise to see him adopt the Rebel County when it comes to GAA.
Of course the Aussie-born winger does have legitimate grounds to be a Cork fan since
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The Connacht Rugby star was in attendance at a sold-out Pairc Ui Chaoimh over the weekend
Credit: @mackh______
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Outside the revamped stadium which now bears the name of sponsors SuperValu
Credit: @mackh______
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Sadly Connacht look set to miss out on the URC play-offs as they're six points outside the top eight with only two rounds of fixtures to go
But nonetheless it was still a bit of a jarring sight seeing the rugby international in GAA gear - from the 1990s no less.
Donning the jersey most associated with the generation of Colin Corkery, Brian Corcoran and Larry Tompkins, he enjoyed pints with friends prior to
Recapping the trip to Leeside as a whole, the 27-year-old alluded to the county's quintessentially Irish sponsor at the time.
He captioned a few photos: "Can't beat Barry's Tea."
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It didn't take long for the official Barry's Tea Instagram account to respond to the random shout-out.
Their reply stated simply: "Love the jersey!"
Plenty of his Cork followers also lapped up seeing him in red as a move to
Tim Lynch hailed: "Welcome home kid." Meanwhile Luke Herlihy pondered: Hon the Rebels, any chance of coming to Munster?"
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The Munster Hurling Championship contest didn't end up living up to its pre-match billing though.
That was largely down to the Premier being reduced to 14 men within seconds of throw-in after teen Darragh McCarthy was sent off for striking out at Sean O'Donoghue.
Tipperary GAA legend reveals surprising difference between 'pressure' of playing for club vs county
The final scoreline of 4-27 to 0-24 possibly didn't even fully reflect the extent of the home side's dominance since Pat Ryan's charges seemed to be on autopilot for much of the second half as they'd amassed a huge lead by half-time.
Afterwards Ryan emphasized: 'I think in the Munster Championship it doesn't matter how you win, as long as you win — that's the key.
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"Everyone wants you to play champagne hurling and wants you to score goals and all of that.
'Getting over the line and winning matches, we couldn't do it above in Ennis the last day, we did it a bit better today.
'I often say about us, we can only go at one speed and that's flat out.
"We can't be in third or fourth gear, it's not the way we play. We have to be in fifth gear.
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'We took our eye off the ball in certain aspects and didn't move the ball in quickly enough and gave them too many easy short puckouts, which didn't help us in any way.
'Getting the two points was all we came down here to do and we're delighted we got them.'
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
Nine points ahead in their
Ryan continued: 'As I've said all along, you can't win games in Munster with only 14 fellas on the field. It's just impossible, teams are too good, so we should have been winning that game.
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'We were disappointed with a couple of fallow periods in the second half again. That's something we'll look at with our analysis team, why did that happen?'
In their analysis, Tipp will lament their failure to avail of several first-half goal opportunities.
Craig Morgan and Sam O'Farrell forced saves from Patrick Collins. Forde also saw a 20-metre free kept out by Eoin Downey.
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They all met up to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Italia '90 earlier this year, while he will also run into some familiar faces at various English grounds, as he frequently commentates for BBC Radio West Midlands. **** Kelly's career as a footballer was all the more extraordinary when you consider the trajectory of his childhood. He suffered from Legg–Calvé–Perthes disease, a hip disorder. It meant that at one point, his left leg was four inches shorter than the right one, and he was confined to crutches until around the age of 10. 'It didn't stop me playing football on crutches when I was five, six, seven and eight, I was just a little bit different. 'I was pretty good with four legs…. Well, three and a half. 'We're all built very differently, and we all cope with different stresses at different points in all of our lives and stuff. 'I was a really happy kid. I was happy living in Weoley Castle when I was a child. My family were great. And I was playing football from the age of 10 for four different teams, four days a week. Because that's what I wanted to be, a professional footballer. 'Once I got into the last year of primary, I was up and running properly. And then when I went to senior school at 11, I played everything — basketball, cricket, rugby, squash, tennis, anything that was available. 'If you're determined enough, then your obstacles are there to be jumped over, aren't they?' In this context, Kelly's 18-year career as a professional looks even more impressive. And it might have been even better had a move to German giants Bayern Munich come to fruition. 'My agent, Dennis Roach, had a friend over at Bayern. Walsall permitted me to go because I was out of contract a couple of weeks later, and I had a trial game with the reserves versus the first team. 'I scored quite a lot of goals when I was playing. I scored a hat trick in the first game. And they offered me a contract. 'But the problem was, back in the day, there were only two foreign players allowed at each club. And they had already got their quota. So they wanted me to sign for Bayern, and then I would be loaned out to another German team until they got rid of somebody. And then I would go back to Bayern a couple of months later. 'The rules were completely different back in the day, and I just couldn't see where going over there and then not playing for the team that you signed him for was the best idea. So I ended up going to West Ham.' David Kelly pictured during his time with Derry City. INPHO INPHO Perhaps fittingly, Kelly's final game as a professional came on Irish soil. 'I went from Motherwell to Mansfield, then to Derry City within the space of about six months. I was trying to convince myself I was still okay to play, but it wasn't the case. I should have made the decision myself to retire, but I was so keen to continue playing. 'Jim Roddy, who was the owner of Derry, was a friend of a friend, and he asked me to go over and play. 'I said to him: 'If I can get a coaching job, I need you to shake my hand and say: 'Thanks ever so much. We'll just rip the contract up.' Take into consideration that I hadn't done any coaching badges or anything up to that point. 'I had played with Ray Mathias. He was [previously] part of John Aldridge's staff. He got the Tranmere job and invited me to go over, and Jim Roddy, bless him, released me from my contract.' The Derry stint lasted only a couple of months, but the veteran striker ended on a high note, playing in the 2002 FAI Cup final 1-0 win over Shamrock Rovers at Tolka Park. The fact that Kelly featured at all was a minor miracle. He was already coaching at Tranmere, who allowed him to return for this climactic encounter. He was due to travel from Birmingham on the morning of the final. After waiting for around three hours at the airport, his flight was cancelled. Kelly then proceeded to drive to Heathrow Airport — a distance of more than 100 miles — and fly to Dublin from London. 'I got there [to Heathrow] at 11.20, breaking a few speed limits on the way,' Kelly later told The Irish Independent. 'There, the girl on the desk told me a flight had just gone, but I found out that it was delayed and it wasn't going until 12.35. I thought: 'Great, I've got enough time to be at the ground an hour before kick off.' 'We got into Dublin at 1.40 only to be told there was no space at the airport to dock and we had to wait on the side of the runway for 20 minutes. I eventually got out of the airport after two o'clock, and two garda motorcyclists got me to the ground in 10 minutes. It was fantastic, like being with the Irish team again.' Since then, Kelly has worked many jobs in football — invariably as an assistant manager. Billy Davies, Dean Smith and Mark Robins are among the bosses he has coached alongside, while he was recently Troy Deeney's number two at Forest Green Rovers. While happy doing his radio work, Kelly is open to a return to coaching and says the League of Ireland would be of interest should an opportunity become available, citing the 'improved standard' compared to his time as a player there. 'I've applied for a few managerial jobs, not been able to get them, but such is life; there are lots of candidates out there. So again, going back to how I'm built, you move on and do something else. 'I've been an assistant to fabulous managers, some massive characters. We've been hired and fired on numerous occasions at different places. 'But I'm blessed by the fact that everybody that I've got involved with and work with, I'm still friends with to this day, so I'd like to get back in. But if I can't, I can't, that's part of life.'
