Pat Spillane aims cheeky dig at Joe Brolly over ‘name dropping’

Both Pat Spillane and Joe Brolly were very positive on the current state of Gaelic football, following the first few rounds of the provincial championships.

The fellow Irish Independent writers, and All-Ireland winners, both penned columns which were full of praise for the fresh excitement in the sport which has been initiated by the new laws, including the 2-point arc and the 3v3 rule.

There have been some cracking games so far, including Kerry vs Cork, Monaghan vs Donegal, and Armagh vs Tyrone.

Brolly, long a critic of ‘negative’ football tactics, wrote: “Football is coming alive. Training is fun again. Boys are undergoing a cultural transformation, from dullness and routine to excitement and self-expression.

“A corner-forward can play like a corner-forward again. A midfielder can play like a midfielder. A full-back is a full-back. Athletes are making way to footballers. The era of the robot is over.”

Spillane espoused similar views, but at the top of his column, he could not resist a cheeky dig at his colleague for what he perceives as a tendency to ‘name drop’.

He said: “A friend texted me during the Cork-Kerry match the weekend before last saying the game was exciting but the football was poor.

“Now, I would love to take from the Joe Brolly playbook, name drop and say that the text came from a notable Irish sports personality, or indeed a top politician.

“But the truth is the text came from a neighbour whose judgement, if I’m honest, I wouldn’t really value. When it comes to sport, I’d listen to his sons and wife first.”