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The Irish Sun
5 hours ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Conor Whelan urges Galway to take ‘massive opportunity' in Leinster final and bounce back from All-Ireland setbacks
CONOR WHELAN'S decade in maroon has flown by. The 3 Conor Whelan has been starring for Galway for ten years Credit: Stephen Marken/Sportsfile 3 He got to the All-Ireland final in his first year in 2015 Credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE 3 He won Liam McCarthy in 2017 Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile And the Kinvara ace enjoyed a dream start — scoring 1-2 against the Rebels in Thurles. He then racked up 0-2 in a 0-26 to 3-16 semi-final victory over Tipperary at Two years later, Whelan become an All-Ireland champion under Micheál Donoghue — and he was an All-Star that year too. The 28-year-old is now captain and into his 11th campaign at senior inter-county level. Read More on GAA But the Tribes have not made an All-Ireland SHC final since That was also the last year they claimed glory in Leinster — having lost three provincial finals on the spin in 2020, 2022 and 2023. Whelan is determined to make up for lost time in tomorrow's provincial showpiece against Kilkenny at But he admits forging special bonds is more difficult than before. He said: 'It's gone very fast. I think the years where you get knocked out early in particular are definitely accelerated. Most read in GAA Hurling 'If you play only five Championship games in the year, you feel like 'Jesus, I never got going really at times'.' Galway bowed out of the Championship in 2019 in the Leinster round robin — just as they did last year. Tipperary GAA star 'had to do live apology on RTE' the day after cursing during All-Ireland interview - They also exited in the second round of the qualifiers in 2021. And Whelan admits those setbacks felt like missed opportunities for the county. He added: 'Last year, 2021 and 2019 — those three years feel like they accelerated faster. 'It goes very fast and there's less opportunities for the group to spend time together with the way it is condensed. 'I don't think we've been on a night out since the start of the year because of the nature of the league and Championship. 'When you have lots of fresh faces coming in and spending time together, it's a massive part of it. 'We missed out on that an awful lot during Covid as well. 'There's something to look at around the structure of it. Even if you give players two weeks between certain games, just to have that down time and spend some time together. 'When you were there and part of the old system, you had two or three weeks until your next game. It feels like it goes faster now.' SPECIAL BOND Whelan's bond with Donoghue will always be special thanks to that 2017 All-Ireland triumph. But the Clarinbridge man left under a cloud after their 2019 Leinster round-robin loss to summer . Galway suffered the same fate against the Sky Blues last summer with Donoghue in charge of their opponents as former boss But two-time All-Star Whelan always knew his former supremo He said: 'We had fond memories with Micheál, so it's always nice to have him and his management team back. 'Micheál always brings a very high standard of what he expects and he's very good at moulding a group and bringing people together. 'He's experienced and brings a familiarity and standard. It has been positive. 'I always felt he would be back and he would have had a very close connection with the players from the first time. I knew that would always draw him back. 'I thought he'd leave it another couple of years until a good few of us were finished. But I always felt that he'd be back.' Seven long years have passed since Galway's last piece of Championship silverware. The Cats clawed them in the 2020, 2022 and 2023 finals and are going for six in a row tomorrow. Kilkenny's 3-24 to 0-21 first-round win on April 19 was a rude awakening for the Tribes. But they won their next four games against And Whelan hopes they can end their hoodoo against Derek Lyng's men and seal their place in the last four of the All-Ireland series. He said: 'As a group and individual, you have to look internally after a result like that and take what you need from that to understand that that's not the level. 'The group responded and we've been fortunate to turn it around but we haven't won anything yet. 'It's fairly prestigious to pick up a Leinster medal and put yourself in a great position, then moving forward heading into the last four. 'That's something we haven't done for the last couple of years. 'It's a massive opportunity from a silverware perspective and from the prize of going through the front door.'
UPI
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
Robert Langdon mystery series in the works at Netflix
1 of 2 | Dan Brown's next Robert Langdon mystery novel will be adapted as a series for Netflix. File Photo by Stephen McCarthy/ SPORTSFILE/Web Summit/ Flickr May 23 (UPI) -- A mystery series based on Dan Brown's Robert Langdon novels is in the works at Netflix. "Netflix has greenlit a Robert Langdon series based on The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown!" Penguin Books, Brown's publisher, wrote on X Friday. "Out 9 Sept, the new book follows Langdon on a race to recover a manuscript that could rewrite what we know about the mind." Brown shared on X a link to Deadline's story about the show, along with the message: "Netflix knows the secret." The report said Brown and Carlton Cuse are sharing writing and executive producing duties, while Cuse will be the show-runner. No casting has been announced yet, but Oscar-winner Tom Hanks played the renowned Harvard symbologist in the big-screen adaptations of Brown's books The DaVinci Code, Angels & Demons and Dante's Inferno. Ashley Zukeman played the role in the 2022 Peacock limited series, The Lost Symbol.
The Irish Sun
27-04-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Garry Ringrose reveals priceless advice from ex-Leinster captain after first Champions Cup title amid seven-year wait
GARRY RINGROSE remembers his first Champions Cup win. Europe and he was just 23. 2 Leinster last won the Champions Cup in 2018 Credit: SPORTSFILE. 2 Garry Ringrose wants to end the seven-year wait Credit: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile But if there was ever a risk that he would think that rugby was easy, 'So we'd gone through the celebrations in Europe and I was asking Nacewa . . . because in my head I'm thinking of all the greats that won in Europe and had a chance of a double.' Leinster had twice before failed to do the double and Nacewa — who was in both squads — set him straight. Read More on Leinster Rugby Ringrose continued: 'I was asking, 'How come they didn't do the double? And, he said, 'Because it's unbelievably hard to do'. Just give it absolutely everything. Your prep, give it absolutely everything on the day. And then I suppose the result is, well it will be what it'll be if you can do those two things.' And this is why he will not look back on his first Ringrose added: 'I just wouldn't ever look back at my last ten years in a negative light considering how lucky I've been to be in the teams and enjoy any success. 'I wouldn't take for granted even one knowing how hard it is to get there and win. I wouldn't take one Champions Cup for granted. Most read in Rugby Union 'You get a little taste for that success and that's what drives you, motivates you to keep going.' Since that 2018 victory, Leinster have lost four finals, one semi-final and a quarter-final. They also reached the semis in 2017, with Ringrose a breakout star . The squad is now preparing for next week's last-four showdown with Northampton Saints. Ronan O'Gara bizarrely ends press conference after 23 SECONDS amid La Rochelle's continued poor form If successful, they will be through to their fourth final in a row and a shot at a fifth cup win — their first since 2018. Ringrose is now 30, but the landmark birthday did not mean a period of reflection on his career. The Dubliner explained: 'I've been lucky to enjoy some unbelievably successful days. But when you fall short, it kind of increases your appetite to go out there and give it another rattle. 'There is a semi to attack and that's where my head is at. But if you're asking me what I remember from Bilbao, it was the lap around the pitch afterwards and certainly the changing room afterwards.' GREAT EXPECTATIONS Ringrose is now focused fully on Saturday where the majority in attendance will expect to be entertained. Expectations are high after Leinster scored 114 to zero in their last two ties against The mammoth points haul is impressive. But so to has been the defending as no team in the Champions Cup had ever kept a clean sheet in 30 years of knockout games. But Ringrose is not getting carried away. He added: 'I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for a Glasgow or Harlequins review . Because it would have been too easy to think we were good, because they definitely did not perform to the levels that they are capable of. 'We challenge ourselves not to be delusional in that perspective.'
