Latest news with #RobFinnerty
Irish Daily Mirror
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Galway star on Dublin's 'revenge' mission and how he picked Mayo's pocket
Rob Finnerty reckons that Dublin will be gunning for revenge when they land in Salthill this evening. Galway scored their first Championship win over the Dubs in 90 years in last year's All-Ireland quarter-final, condemning the then Leinster champions to their earliest exit since 2009. And having relinquished their provincial title last month after losing to Meath, Dublin are now bidding to avoid successive Championship defeats for the first time since 1997, when they were knocked out by the Royals in their first outing having also been beaten by them in the previous year's Leinster final. But Finnerty says that they will be driven by the prospect of avenging last year's defeat. He said: 'They definitely will. They're a really hungry group and they obviously still have so many top players. 'They'll probably get a few more bodies back, but you can only imagine what their training's been like since that defeat to Meath and I'd say they're raring to go. 'When you look at their team sheet, there's so many players there with so many All-Irelands so it's hard to not rate them very highly, especially with the extra lads that are coming back as well. 'I think they're probably missing three or four starters against Meath, and I know maybe two or three of them were only just back on that day. So maybe they were caught on the hop that day or whatever. But yeah, they'll still be really strong.' There is a novel factor to the tie with it being the first Championship meeting of the counties away from Croke Park since the 1933 All-Ireland semi-final, which took place in Mullingar, and it's certainly the most interesting group in this phase of the Championship with All-Ireland champions Armagh and Derry also involved. 'I've heard that a lot now, the group of death,' says Finnerty. 'People were even saying it last week before we even played our provincial final. It's obviously a really tough group but it's probably where you want to be as well. 'Getting the opportunity to play Dublin at home in a Championship game is unbelievable, so we're really looking forward to that.' Galway come into the game having emulated a feat of their greatest ever team by winning four Connacht titles on the spin for the first time since 1966, with Finnerty taking on the mantle in attack in the absence of Shane Walsh and Damien Comer through injury in the provincial final against Mayo. 'Shane and Damien are obviously two of the top players in the country, so they're going to be a massive loss to any team. 'I think a lot of us are that few years older maybe, different players and have that bit more experience and there's loads of different lads coming into themselves. 'We're in a really good place as a group and when we get them back that'll only make us stronger.' The game swung in Galway's favour through Finnerty's ingenuity as he intercepted a Colm Reape kickout in the 61st minute and was pulled down by Rory Brickenden, who was black-carded as a result. It was something that Finnerty says he was waiting to pounce on having studied Mayo's form. 'That's kind of their favourite pocket there. He's a right-footed kicker so he obviously likes to kick that way. 'It would have been something I'd have looked at on video as well, about maybe trying to fake going the other way and then trying to intercept it. So I had a feeling we might get one and thankfully we did and we made it count. 'I probably was trying it a lot throughout the game. It just happened to come off once, thankfully enough.' Finnerty is, of course, the son of former Mayo footballer Anthony, also known as 'Larry' and a long-time Salthill resident, though he suggests that his father's identity has been somewhat diluted at this stage. 'He was absolutely delighted after the game, to be fair to him. I think he's coming around. He's a bit of a Galway man at this stage, obviously you have that extra bit of craic with the family, the cousins and aunties. 'They obviously still have that side to them, where they'd probably be supporting Mayo. It is enjoyable.'
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The Independent
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Newsmax host defends Qatar's gift to Trump then admits he'd ‘definitely criticize' Biden for the same thing
Newsmax host Rob Finnerty laid bare his hypocrisy on Tuesday night when he admitted that he'd 'definitely criticize' Joe Biden if the Qatari royal family had gifted him a $400 million plane while president – right after passionately defending Donald Trump over the same thing. Finnerty, a fervent MAGA sycophant who once proudly declared that Trump 'is a dictator that the American people want,' opened his primetime Newsmax broadcast by parroting the president's talking points when it came to justifying the lavish 'palace in the sky.' At the same time, he also took aim at Republicans who have come out against the president over accepting the gift, who have called it 'skeevy' and 'not America First' as it could run afoul of the Emoluments Clause. 'Once again, the current plane is almost 40 years old. To put that into perspective again, FDR, if he flew around on a 40-year-old plane at the start of the Second World War, he'd be cruising the friendly skies in the Wright Brothers glider from the very first flight in North Carolina,' the right-wing host declared. 'It was 1903. Do the math. If Spirit or some other low-cost airline was offering really cheap tickets, but the catch was you had to fly on a 40-year-old plane, would you still book that flight? I doubt it. I wouldn't.' Finnerty went on to air the president's recent comments in which he's made the case for accepting the pricey gift. 'Why should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE from a country that wants to reward us for a job well done,' Trump declared on Truth Social this week. 'Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our Country.' After playing a clip of Trump saying the luxury jet was merely a 'gesture of good faith' and a gift to the United States and not him personally, Finnerty then groused about allies of the president taking issue with the Qatari plane. 'And even Republicans are so jazzed up about this,' he noted before reading off a tweet from Ari Fleischer urging Trump not to 'do it' because 'Air Force One should be American through and through.' Additionally, Finnerty shrugged off what the Constitution says about US government officials receiving gifts from foreign governments, mostly because Democrats were citing it. 'My goodness, Democrats are suddenly so upset at even the hint of a quid pro quo because of something called the Emoluments Clause,' he exclaimed. 'Public officials can't accept gifts, but this plane would not be a gift to Donald Trump. It would be a gift to the United States.' Still, Finnerty acknowledged that if the shoe were on the other foot, he'd be up in arms over the royal family of an authoritarian regime giving a Democratic president a massive airliner. 'I will say, I would definitely criticize Joe Biden if he cut the exact same deal, and I would criticize Joe Biden if he was about to get a $400 million plane from Qatar to fly around for a couple of years, then donate to his presidential library that no one would go to. I would definitely criticize that move,' the Newsmax anchor admitted. 'That would not go unnoticed by this show.' According to Finnerty, though, the hypocrisy on his end was acceptable because of the former president's son. 'But the left never seemed to care when Hunter Biden was appointed to the board of a Ukrainian energy company when his dad was vice president,' he concluded. 'That didn't seem to bother anyone on the left.'
Irish Examiner
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Rob Finnerty: Goalkeepers cutting value of two-pointer by touching ball 'a bit crazy'
Galway attacker Rob Finnerty reckons it's 'a bit crazy' that goalkeepers can cut the value of a two-pointer in half by simply getting a touch to the ball. Galway benefited from the directive in the Connacht final when goalkeeper Connor Gleeson got his hand to a long-range kick from Mayo's Ryan O'Donoghue which still went over. There was controversy at the time as TV replays suggested that the ball had already gone beyond the crossbar when Gleeson got his touch. Either way, Finnerty isn't a fan of the directive that a goalkeeper can have such an influence on the scoring system, agreeing that it is a weird rule. "It is, it's a strange rule," he said. "Because it obviously halves the reward which I think is probably a bit crazy. If you can get the ball over from 50 or 45 metres, I don't see why you wouldn't get the reward of the two points. Obviously it worked in our favour at the weekend so we'll take it. "Connor has done that in a few games now. It's obviously something he's been looking at and he's done it well so fair play to him." Galway won by just two points in the end, clinching an historic four-in-a-row of Connacht titles and their place in a devilishly difficult All-Ireland SFC group alongside Dublin, Derry and All-Ireland champions Armagh or Donegal. First up for Galway will be a home date with Dublin in Salthill on Saturday week. It remains to be seen if star attackers Shane Walsh and Damien Comer are fit for duty having both missed the provincial decider. "I'm actually not sure, I'd say it mightn't be too far away," said Finnerty of his colleagues' returns. "But I'm not sure will they make that Dublin game." It has been confirmed that the 5pm encounter will form part of a double header with the county's hurlers facing Antrim beforehand at 2.30pm. "That'll only add to the occasion and hopefully as many Galway people as possible can get down to it," said Finnerty, who plays for the local Salthill-Knocknacarra club. One thing Finnerty isn't a fan of is holding the draw for the All-Ireland SFC before the provincial finals, potentially shifting the players' focus from the job at hand. "Obviously it wasn't ideal that they did do the draw beforehand," he said. "It doesn't really make much sense in my eyes, knowing where you're going to be and who you're facing. I think we did a good job of just staying focused on Mayo and on winning a Connacht championship. "Even do it this weekend after the Ulster and Leinster finals, that probably would be an ideal thing, just do it on TV after the game or whatever. That would be my opinion on it." *Rob Finnerty was speaking at the launch of Harvey Norman's new GAA sponsorships, including Hawk-Eye and Camogie Stats partnerships.
RTÉ News
07-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Ambitious Sligo hoping to build on near misses
Narrow defeats. Overall it sums of the big games Sligo have been involved in over the last 12 months. The Yeats County went within a whisker of a Connacht final and one of the biggest upsets in recent years before Galway struck late at Markievicz Park, Rob Finnerty's palmed goal in second-half stoppage time ensuring the Tribesmen escaped to victory. Two months later and there was more semi-final disappointment as Down prevailed in extra-time at Croke Park to seal a place in the Tailteann Cup decider. Expectations were tempered going into this year Connacht championship – three opening defeats in Division 3 meant consolidation, rather than promotion was key – but again they put it up to Division 1 opposition. Late Sligo scores made it a jittery three-point win for Mayo and another near-miss for the underdogs. "We set our sights out to beat Mayo," he told RTÉ Sport. "I know that was obviously going to be a tough ask but we've been knocking on the door a little bit in Connacht over the last couple of years." The team captain accounted for nearly a third of their 2-17 tally against Mayo, but insists there was still a difference between that three-point loss and the two-point defeat a year previous. "Against Galway, we should have won that game, but to be fair to Mayo we were second best. We put ourselves in a position to win the game, but I had no hard feelings watching the game (Connacht final) really when you knew we were probably just that bit short. "The Connacht championship is where we really want to compete. Hopefully over the next year or two we can actually turn Galway, Roscommon or Mayo over." Despite representing Sligo for more than a decade and his country in the International Rules, Murphy has previously stated that Coolera Strandhill's unlikely Connacht club title last year was his greatest sporting achievement. That memorable journey was ended by eventual champions Cuala at the penultimate stage, the final few games in a world before the FRC changes, "chalk and cheese" according to Murphy. "Back then if you got three or four shots away a game it was nearly a good thing. Whereas now you're nearly guaranteed that and even more. It's a completely different game." The ace forward wasted no time in getting back into the inter-county bubble. Coolera bowed out on Sunday, he was back with Sligo on the Wednesday, a decision he reflects on differently now. "I probably shouldn't have done that really. I feel fine now, but I definitely wouldn't do that again. There was no pressure or anything like that to come back. "You're in that good form and you're nearly happy to jump in. Losing it (semi-final) was so disappointing. I was in bad form for the week and I thought maybe getting back into it would be the best thing to do. It probably wasn't on reflection." First up in Group 1 for Sligo is a home match against Tipperary on Sunday. Home being Tubbercurry rather than Markievicz Park, with the former out of commission until the middle of next year due to repair works. The team have only had one training session there to date, with Murphy hoping the tight-feel to the ground can create its own atmosphere. Twice semi-finalists in the competition, Sligo have been lumped in with Westmeath, Kildare and Offaly as genuine Tailteann Cup contenders. Murphy admits that competing for Sam Maguire is the ultimate ambition, but there has been complete buy-in for the secondary competition. "Nobody has left the panel or anything like that," he says. "You see that in different teams, players dropping off, we haven't had that, we haven't experienced that over the last couple of years. "Our goal now to try and win this. There are a lot of good teams in it, but we've had two semi-finals, two close calls, next stop for us is getting to a final anyway at minimum." Watch the Ulster Football Championship final, Armagh v Donegal, on Saturday from 5pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on and the RTÉ News app and listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 Watch The Saturday Game from 9.40pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates from around the country on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
