Latest news with #LeeKeegan
The Irish Sun
07-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Owen Mulligan teases Lee Keegan over hilarious contrast in how their inter-county GAA careers ended
OWEN Mulligan's Tyrone career may have ended sooner than he'd have liked but he is able to laugh about it nowadays. In his early twenties he provided an exuberant presence in Tyrone's forward line that blended excellently with veteran peers Peter Canavan and Brian Dooher. Advertisement 3 Mugsy is one half of talkSPORT Ireland's new podcast Beyond The 45' Credit: @talksportireland 3 Mayo great Lee Keegan is the other co-host along with talkSPORT Ireland editor Luke Delaney who will chair each discussion Credit: @talksportireland 3 New episodes will drop every second Wednesday from here on out Credit: @talksportireland But for all of his ability, he didn't end up soldiering as long in the red and white as either of those two legends. Instead his time with the Red Hand came to a fairly abrupt end at the age of 32. After the conclusion of the 2013 inter-county season he had wanted to take a longer break before going again. That put him on a collision course Advertisement Read More On GAA But all these years later, the three-time All-Ireland winner is able to see the funny side of how the curtain came down on his inter-county career rather quickly. Discussing that adjustment period after your time at the elite level of Gaelic football comes to a close with Lee Keegan, he joked about how the Mayo legend did at least Initially, Keegan recalled: "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't tough because you're going back into daily life. "Our week would've always been structured between the gym twice a week, training twice a week and then a match on the weekend. Advertisement Most read in GAA Football "So you were essentially being spoon-fed. You show up at this time, leave at this time." "How do you get that feeling of chasing something really big again? 'It's a failure on the camogie association' - RTE GAA pundits don't sit on fence over 'no-brainer' skorts saga "That was probably the hardest thing I missed for that first year or two." Mulligan, 43, then quipped: "At least you had the chance to retire! You got to retire whereas I got the chop! Advertisement "I found out in The Irish News. They rang me to say 'Well Owen, any chance you can give us an interview about being dropped from the panel?' "I was like 'Are you serious?' But I was one of 12 who were given the chop. "I had said to Mickey that I wasn't ready to come back to training until Christmas but he wanted to start straight away. "So I said 'No I'll come back after Christmas' which he didn't take too well." Advertisement The discussion during the debut episode of their new podcast Beyond The 45' - made in conjunction with talkSPORT Ireland. Among the other topics dealt with include how the Westport clubman partly owed his hands-on marking style from his rugby background and how James Horan instituted a culture change in the Mayo camp. Additionally, Mulligan reflects on how the Tyrone-Armagh rivalry was akin to Scottish football's Old Firm in terms of intensity around the early 2000s when they were both vying for Sam Maguire. You can listen to the opening episode on Advertisement
The Irish Sun
04-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
RTE GAA pundits slam ‘scandalous' All-Ireland draw as Lee Keegan insists ‘we are taking away from provincial finals'
LEE KEEGAN slammed the "scandalous" All-Ireland SFC group stage draw as having "taken away" from the provincial finals. Kerry face Clare, and Mayo take on Galway in the Munster and Connacht deciders, respectively, this afternoon. 2 Kerry are facing Clare in the Munster football final Credit: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile 2 Lee Keegan slammed the All-Ireland group stage draw taking place before the provincial football finals All The runners up, meanwhile, will face the Leinster champions, Monaghan, and Down. As for the Connacht final, the winners will meet the losers of the Ulster final between Armagh and Donegal, Dublin, and Derry. And the runners up will face the Ulster champions, Tyrone, and Cavan. Read More on GAA The draw taking place before the provincial finals has drawn ire from many, including Lee Keegan and Paul Flynn on The Sunday Game. Mayo legend Keegan said: "I think having the draw on Wednesday is scandalous for a couple of reasons. "There is no hype around it, it is on midday on a Wednesday, people are working. They are not even paying attention to what is going on. "From a player point of view or a manager, you are creating draws before any provincial finals are finished. Most read in GAA Football "We are not selling our game. We are not promoting our game. We are taking away something that is meant to be exciting. "We are talking about group stages when today is a big day for provincial finalists so I just think it is absolutely ridiculous that we are even having this conversation about group stages when we haven't our four provincial finals finished." Tipperary GAA legend reveals surprising difference between 'pressure' of playing for club vs county Former Dublin star Flynn echoed that sentiment, arguing that that GAA would have been better off making the draw after Sunday's games. He said: "It could have been done just after the games today and no one would have noticed. "In a calendar that is so condensed anyway, give this week the opportunity just to promote these games." The final line-up of the All-Ireland series will be finalised next Sunday. That day will see Meath face Louth in the Leinster final in a rematch of the 2010 decider, the last not to feature Dublin. The Royals shocked the Sky Blues last weekend to make the decider, with the Dubs losing in the provincial championship for the first time since 2010. Also on Sunday, All-Ireland champions Armagh will meet Donegal in the Ulster football final. Meanwhile, Westmeath's bid to become the first team to win the Tailteann Cup twice will see them face Limerick, Antrim and London. The second-tier competition begins on May 10-11.
