 Welcome, welcome on and all to the DL Debate. Thanks so much for tuning in now on Highland Radio or back via the podcast. This is your weekly GA Roundup. I'm joined of course as ever by Joe Dex who's producing the show, keeping an eye on me. Thanks very much to Aivan Borland there and the Power Hour Plus putting the beats on as ever, getting things moving on a Monday evening. As I say, I have a couple of announcements just to make before we start. The show one is about a big night that's coming up on May 18th in the Mount Eregal, St Julian's College. It's a fundraiser evening, a night of legends. I'll be there but I'm not including myself in the legend category, let me tell you. There's some real legends coming in the form of course, the one and only Michael Murphy, Rory Cavna, Big Neil Galler, Colin McFadden to name but a few Charlie Collins is going to be comparing it, so get behind that May 18th in the Mount Eregal starting at half seven, tickets available for that night come along and support. We've got Dottie Gull's opening game in the All Ireland series. How this All Ireland series is going to go, we're not too sure as Dottie Gull fans, we live in hope but the first game is a way to clear, of course, got a bit of a tank in by Kerry yesterday in that monster final that is fixed for Saturday the 20th of May in Cusick Park and is thrown at 2 p.m. There'll be a two week gap then until we meet the Ulster champions, another handy one for us, either be Derry or Arma, they'll be coming to Balbuffet on that June back haul the weekend and Dottie Gull's third game against Monon will be the neutral venue the weekend of 17th of June. Tarone will start the All Ireland campaign against Connick champions Gullwy, a tasty game that that game has been fixed for Saturday the 20th at Pierce Stadium Salt Hall with a 515 thrown and the big Kerry mule clash one of that one of the highlights I think of those opening games is 3 p.m. Calarney on that same day. Now it was a busy weekend across sport, I was here there and everywhere I was up in Clonus on Saturday watching the remainder, I'm sorry excuse me coming up short against Monaghan, their coach friend Uncle Coyne, spoke to me after the game his interview will be coming up now soon and we also have a special live feature tonight really looking forward to this one, Burt and Donegal Hurlin legend Joe Boyle will be on the show to talk about his career, what a tale, what a man really looking forward to this, but first up I was in Lifford yesterday Clonus Saturday, Lifford yesterday to watch our ladies in Ulster Championship take a bit of a heavy defeat to our ma and after the match, they said well as the match wound down I spoke with Maureen O'Donnell and she summed up the game and also where Donegal are at currently. Donegal County Council's Culture Division launches the Donegal Baltina Arts Festival 2023, the Baltina Festival is Ireland's National Arts and Creativity Festival for older people, it will be celebrated throughout the month of May in libraries, day centres and cultural venues throughout Donegal. Featured events include craft and writing workshops, talks, music, dance, theatre and much more, so why not download the festival brochure at DonegalLibrary.ie or for further details contact us at 07491 75384. Hi folks, Farmer Devils here, I invite you to join myself and Jimmy Stafford this Monday night for another edition of the Monday Night Sessions and on the show this week we welcome the brilliant, the one for the road will also be joined by our draft singer songwriters Sean McMulligal and we've also got the very best of new releases from throughout the country, so and to Monday Night Sessions this Monday night between 8pm and 10pm right here on High Centre County, serving food you'll love till 9pm daily in Sarah's Kitchen and there's free admission entertainment every weekend. Yeah, absolute class, you know, we're just saying what a joy to watch, we're off our body out there, you know, she's just stealing the ball but you see that experience too, Rendyn, you know, she knows how to use the breeze, she's having shots from far out, she's just getting the ball and the right position, turning and slotting the ball over the bar and you can't defend that, Rendyn, you know, you can't. Most of her play here, as we've mentioned in the last night, you know, coming from Alex and me, I'll be trying to get Karen Godway on the ball but there's been very little impact on sides, we're forwards, our mad defence has been solid and then when they break, they're breaking in the space and there's so many dangerous players. Yeah, that's what I'm, I suppose, you know, we said maybe gonna have time, you'd be happy to be two points upwards, you see what the breeze has got out here today, like maybe Donnie Goll should have been ahead, maybe use the breeze to their advantage but, you know, our mad might use that breeze to their advantage and Donnie Goll just haven't been able to get on the side and that's just the bottom line here today, the firepower up front hasn't been there and haven't been putting enough scores on the board but then you're up against that class of, you know, Hemi Macken and Ifa McCoy and the likes of Captain Kelly Marlon on the other side, like our mad haven't changed really, their team over the last four years, Donnie Goll have lost enough, a lot of players are, and transition a lot of young players on their brand, not an experienced players. Gain the experience, which is good for Donnie Goll going forward but we'll not probably see a really strong Donnie Goll team for a number of years yet. Well, you think it's a really building process, this our mad team, further down the line and some of those household names you mentioned, you know, those branded forwards and particularly how, you know, you can see the value of that because in terms of having a response to Hemi Macken, we haven't had that type of player on the pitch that we would have had previous. No, that's the thing, you see, as I said, like our mad have three ulcer titles under the belt, one for four in a row this year, you know, and I can't see them being beat with the form, the current form they're at and then you look at Donnie Goll relegated division to, you know, a very poor league campaign and you know, just struggling even here in Championship games like this here and their own home territory and so, you know, you're probably looking at all our mad final now, but at the end of the day, you probably with our mad form out there today and the players and the bullies and players, what a rousing go there from Captain Kelly Malin there and that's the experience that our mad have, you know, there's a street to head for they out there, as you can see. So, how are Donnie Goll going to bring that gap good into an ulcer final today, difficult proposition? It's tough, you know, you mentioned, like, you know, and what do you do, but you've got to play the cards you have this year, you know, when he's got, he's been on now for a number of years and this is the first year where he's had a huge number of young and experienced players coming under the panel and at the other side of that losing a lot of experience. So, you know, every team will go through that at swings and roundabouts. You have to prepare for that, you have to prepare for the future and we have to accept we're Donnie Goll's at this stage of the game now, you know, we've lost players, we're re-gripping and reforming a new team and, like, you look out there, it's very positive there's some young, really young, great calibre players out there coming forward and these are the figures we have to work with now for the future and I'm trying to get back to where we were before, you know, Brendan? I definitely know the full side of these pairs because the rumors were going that someone may come back and, of course, you won't call me Charlie McLaughlin, but it seems like do you think time has been called on a lot of these players that it is a definite now that what panel Maxie Kern has, is what he has to work with? Yeah, I absolutely think that at this stage, you know, it's late for any game, any game to be coming on to the panel or any player to be coming on to that panel so late on the game, like, after also the championship, we finished out nine a couple of weeks, but there was a final problem between Dunigall and Arma, as we said, after that you go on to the All-Ireland campaign, like, you know, you need to be putting some solid performances under your belt before you go on to the All-Ireland championship, so the likes are probably Yvonne, you know, they're still playing club football, Yvonne's playing club football, Gerdin's playing club football, but, you know, at this stage, if they were going to be back, they won't be back, Brendan, you know? Great roundup for Maureen O'Donnell, as ever, she knows all about the lady's scene, sorry, I took an ad break by mistake there, not Joe Dex's fault, that's me getting used to these buttons before Maureen come on, you know, not to worry. As I say, on Saturday, we made the trip to Clonus, always strange go to Clonus when there's not much traffic about, and you have one of those easy runs in and out of Clonus, but Dunigall coming up a bit short against the decent, well-drilled Maureen side very per first half, they battled back well in the second half, and actually the chance of a goal late on in the game, to snatch her draw, but to be honest, Maureen was a better side, and after the match, I caught up with Dunigall, my coach, Brendan Colcoyne. Dunigall, Maureen, well-drilled Maureen, offensively, as you can see out there, it's well-drilled, so it's well-drilled. Look, keep him at home, that's the problem, especially here, with the way you open the yellow line. The first half, it was a difficult game to come back in there, but the sides in the second half have been a very tough, the first half against Maureen. Yeah, definitely, Brendan, I think that's what's going on pretty well, you know, we started very slow on the loss, and we were very fast in the first half, but it was clear to the guys who came out in the second half, and they gave it a good shot, and you know, we were kind of with them going down the straight, and you have to give credit to Maureen, and you know, I think they were a better team in the day, and they deserved to win, I don't think that's disputable, but we give ourselves a chance coming down the final straight, and that's encouraging from our point of view. We now have a quarter final, I think Brendan next week against Gavin, and that's going to be a big test for us, so you know, we know we've need to improve that the last couple of weekends just haven't been at the level that we think we're capable of, but the second half will give us some encouragement in that respect. Yeah, and Brendan, the game, and particularly the first half was dictated on kickouts, and particularly we couldn't get our kickout out. The pressure was coming on from Maureen, we went short a few times with game possession, but as if there wasn't enough movement from the lads, and the man on the ball was under pressure, and Maureen seemed to sense that, and really just attacked our kickout, and as a result we couldn't really get out of the pressure. Yeah, that's, you know, fair common to Brendan, you know what? We did struggle in the first half, and Manon dominated possession, and there we've heard dominated territory, so we were kind of camped in our own half and funded hard to get out, and when we did get on the ball, we just didn't get the supporter on the man in possession out of the ball, and that was a, you know, a problem for us, and we, you know, to be fair to Manon, they got turnovers in that area, and the one freezing that area, and took advantage of that, so, you know, something we're going to have to look at, we're going to have to be braver coming out of the ball, I thought we're better in that respect in the second half, albeit it was probably a bit easier with 14 men to get our kickouts away, kind of thing, but, you know, Pothricks are very good kickers, so he is, and we just need to maybe create more, you know, options for him, in that he can kick it out to Brendan. And I felt Brendan, even before the send-off, that we had really command the game, it was like a different running all, we were really coming up, Manon, we got back to that one point, deficit that we couldn't get back to, and at that point, you know, we had Manon rocked, but he went up the pitch in again, inside a couple of players, particularly in McGinty and Finn, they were real handful for defence, when they got the ball, you know, as if they're going to pull a shot, or get away a shot, or a foul, and that foul proved vital, because it gave them that two-point cushion to give. Yeah, they got a couple of late frees there, and, you know, the two aforementioned guys, McGinty and, you know, Finn, really, you know, they're two top players, we knew they were a threat coming into the day, Brendan, and that proved the case, and particularly McGinty, you know, he punished us for a free kick that was given inside 45, kind of yards, and, you know, okay, we can question some of the frees, and we try to coach these guys to tackle properly, and I suppose, you know, there's different interpretation of what a tackle is, and this is the ongoing discussion within the GA, Brendan, at all levels, kind of thing, so it is frustrating in that respect, but that doesn't take away Brendan, either, from the fact that, you know, yeah, we came back, we put in a better second half performance, but we didn't play well enough to win the game of Manna, and deservedly won the game. Yeah, and a potential goal at the end there too, Brendan, we often see, and I suppose, I was just saying in commentary there, you know, a deliberate pull down, when we probably could have snatched or draw, and, you know, in fairness to the effort to be shown in the second half, I think if we had a conjurer go, we would have deserved it, but prior to that as well, I think Dara Hannigan was inside, when we had turned over the ball as well, it seemed more dangerous to have the ball in your own 45 than anywhere else on the pitch, because of both teams' attempts at turning over the ball, but certainly we could have snatched a draw from the game. We could have led on with a couple of chances, you know, we're bearing straight down on goals, and it looked like a rugby tackle from behind, and, you know, again, what was the black card brought in for Brendan, and there's a yellow card like there, you know, and it's a crazy decision, and also that there was only four minutes of injury time, like there was an awful lot of time wasting in the second half, so there was, but that's all deviating from the point. We need to get our, you know, our show back on the road for next weekend for most our quarter-final, and, you know... That's looking like who? Looking like Kevin away, probably, unfortunately, after, you know, today, we could have got a home quarter-final if we got a result, but unfortunately, now we'll have to travel to Kevin. We know that we had a real tough encounter with them, ding-dong battle with them in the league earlier on, and, you know, we know we need to be better than we have been this weekend and last weekend to get a result there, so a bit of work to do, Brendan, but listen, encourage in second half performance. Yeah, but it worked to do, indeed, for Donny Gall miners, but we're going to switch our attention now to... Well, it's a man that actually played for Donny Gall miners, a bit of a dual star, but we're going to work on his drift on Harlan today, but we certainly have to touch on his football career as well. It is Bert and Donny Gall, man, Joe Boyle. Joe, are you hearing me there? Hey, I'm Brendan. How's things? Joe, thanks so much for joining us. Joe, phenomenal story. I was just looking at your career and life and times. Joe, when still going strong as well, making a big impact now, you've moved outside of the county. Joe, really fascinating to get your views and some of your stories and your ideas and your inspirations on life, indeed, Joe. But funny, I was just thinking back to my dad and your dad, of course, might be having a pint, looking down at us now. Joe, two men have worked together, Jimmy, from years back. Of course, I was lucky enough to play with your brother, Manuel, Dason Harlan himself, by the way. I played a wee bit on the Rage for Bert. Not that I was any good now, Joe, but you had Eveline and Margaret there as well. It was a good time to be growing up, Joe. Sport was huge in the house from early days and at Bridgend School, Joe, and your influences that started you playing, Harlan and G.A. All right, that's right, Brendan. Hey, and I suppose, as you mentioned there, you know what family interests like, and as you say, Eveline, Margaret and Chris there, and then Manuel, of course, as well, you know. And I remember it's funny when you're thinking back, you know, I was going to games and I remember Manuel be going to all the Danygall and Bert Harley games, you know. And I remember I used to tag along with him as I did and I used to always throw the pair of boots and the shorts and socks on the back of the car just in case I was short any night, you know. But not a lot of great, great, great memories, Brendan. As I said, I was all over the county watching Bert and Danygall. And then, as you said there, then I suppose, you know, going to primary school in Virginia, you know, Colin Davis there was massive influence. Like, you know, when starting off there, he did Trojan work with, especially for the board, you know what I mean? And like he would set up on their age, turning in there and board on a Saturday morning and then at schools, school leagues and stuff, you know, lunchtime leagues after schools, you know, he did massive amount of work with us, you know, and then the one there, then he would have took us to Endor, poorly down the youth club and weren't fought there, like, and then we would went to leagues around County Derry and up around Anthrum. So as I said, you know, he was a massive influence in the career to start. I think anybody came through Virginia and school, you know, had a hurl in their hand at some stage, like, you know, if they carried it on or not, it's different, but a lot, a lot of boys, you know, would have went through Virginia and school and Colin Davis was a big influence there, you know. Yeah, yeah. Joe Fonnie had spoke to a couple of people around Bert, not about you. And quite a few of them said the same thing. He used to be down around the pitch, mad keen to be playing and talking about and mad keen, obviously, to go up and play for Bert and getting the senior team. But on their age, Joe, you were a leader, you know, often captain and, listen, you were playing a bit of Gillick, playing a bit of Hurlin, but you were always going to excel in the, a Bert team that was really just dominating the Donegal Hurlin scene. I love Brendan. You know, it seems like yesterday, to be honest, because it's a long time ago to go out, I suppose, you look back, but no, like I used to be down around the pitch high and to be honest with you, you know, watching the bullies train, that's what I loved. Like, you know, going down there and just being part of them, watching them bullies, you know, you had that many lads, like that I looked up to, to be honest, you know. And I suppose at that time, I used to go and I used to collect the slitters for the bullies, you know, and they used to always give me a slitter down the train and then for doing it, you know, stuff like that. And I would go home then and pretend to be one of the bullies, you know, in the garden. And I suppose that's, like, any young child in schools, it's a common occurrence around the county and that would have been me, you know, and the one thing I always wanted was to take captain Burt in the county final and that's been honest, like, you know, I'm on a county title and sure, like, you know, nothing else I could ask for, probably at that stage, you know, then I go, oh, probably wasn't in the red area, you know, it was just Burt, Burt, Burt, like, so to play with some of them boys then, you know, was certainly a dream come true for me, you know, Eli? Yeah, before you got there, just to, as I said, minor level, you're actually in the dirty golf football minor squad, you must be in handy as well. Of course, Darren McDermott was getting involved in the, in the hurling, Paul Killahan as well. Things was, things were beginning to get good organised and you won an All Ireland minor B, must it give you a lot of a belief as well to go among a major competition like that? I definitely look, as you said there, I suppose around that time, you know, like Paul Killahan, he'd been probably knowing more for the football, obviously, and things like that. I had to remember the All Ireland 92 team, and I suppose when he came in, he became a coaching officer, I think, and then he got all like, and then even the Hyundai Ulster, but, you know, when he came in, having himself in PGO Brian, and that came in to the, to go over the under 21 team, to go over the minors first, actually, and then to go over the 21s, and we kind of brought that, we were a professionalism to the thing, and for us, as young boys then, we thought, you know, this is great, like, and led a lot of things that probably we weren't doing under age, hurling-wise, and then he got all for a while, and they brought that to the table, and, you know, we went on, and we beat some great teams, like, along the way, and things like that, and it gave you that wee bit of belief and a bit of momentum then, when you were going on to play Senior Hurling, and Darren, at the time, was over the Senior team, I think, when I made my debut, Darren was over the Senior team, and, you know, I remember the phone call, I had, obviously, no mobile at that stage, I'm giving away the age here now, I suppose, but it was, he rang the house, you know, and I remember my mother saying, Darren, if Darren's on the phone, she says I went down the stairs, and, you know, it was great, I got the call-up pieces, your company training, you know, and I couldn't wait. I was up in Drumbow, and I would get it, and went up to Drumbow, and the training with all the boys then, at that stage, you know, was just brilliant, to be honest, Brent. Yeah, not that maybe Drumbow was just the best place for Hurling, as I remember it, the whole county was training them. You know all about it yourself, right? Well, it was bad enough for football, but in a skilful game like Hurling, where you need the surface is way more important, you know, I mean, that thing, when you think about where it is now, Joe, with the training centre and convoy, and the pitches and the way they're laid out, I mean, they basically stuck two sets of goals in a field in that, that big field that was going on down the hulsh, that was, and so did all, and then everybody was playing in the one, Joe. It must have been a bit of a disaster at night, and the ones that were up there, trying to get a Hurling match going. I love Brent, I love night and day, you know, the difference, you know, if I think of young boys, or I went up to training in that, and that now, they would look at you, they probably wouldn't go out on it, to be honest with you, like so, you know, but at that time, I remember it, I didn't care less, like, to be honest, you know, and it probably wasn't the most best service in the world, but at that stage, I suppose, as a 17-year-old, being called up to the team, you know, I didn't care where it would have been if it was out in the back garden, and you know, that was massive, like, it didn't really bother, but as you said it there, and I look at the centre of excellence, convoy now, and stuff like that, it's night and day, and we did a lot of training, I suppose, around O'Donnell Park at the time, to be out in the back pitch there as well, you know, and would have played the games in the main pitch, so, you know what I mean, that that was a brilliant place, all together, to be doing your training and playing your games, you know. Yeah, and Joe, listen, you obviously, what a time you had with Donegal, you know, 17 years for all Ireland's, you know, and many other things in it, but on the Burt thing, there was 16 in a row, titles won there, Joe, there was a time that Burt was Donegal, and I was trying to get my head around that, you know, it seems crazy, but in many ways I suppose Burt then, you trained as a club and as a county in one, and I suppose you trained at Burt a lot of the time then, was it? So that kind of total, I suppose, team, being all Burt lads, it must have been a, I suppose, a strange time in many ways, but I suppose it suited in terms of, if you had had half the team in, it would have been more trouble, the fact that it was the whole team, you could literally do Burt and Donegal at the one time. Aye, look, I suppose I was only, kind of around that time, I was coming into the tail end of it at that stage, I suppose, but as you said, it's kind of benefited both really in many ways, you know, because they kind of tied it in, like Burtron was Donegal for a long time, like, you know what I mean, but I suppose when Nye started to come around, started to come on the scene then, you know, you had a unflux of boys there, like James Yedonale and that, from McCool's, Danny Cullen, Kevin Campbell, these boys, Colin Brannock, Eugene Oregon, you know, they were starting to come and around the place then, around the area, so I suppose he started to bring in a few more boys from different clubs, which, look, came here, only strengthened us as well, you know, but for a long time, as you said, it was just all Burt-like, and look, it's only benefited Burt as well, I suppose, and Donegal, to have that as well, but they certainly flagged for a long time there, you know. And after that, I suppose, you said that period, there was a couple of seasons where you didn't want it, but then there was a five in a row again, Joe, you were one of the main men at this point, you were captain, and kind of leading a bit of a new wave at Burt. I look, Brendan, like I suppose, you know, when I started to come on there, maybe you always heard that Burt's vanished, you know, and you would have heard it a lot of times that she was vanished now, and look, a few of the boys might have been coming towards the end, and then there was maybe a couple of us younger boys coming in at that stage, but I suppose, like, people thought that that was the end of it, like, and we went there, I think it was 2010, you know, for the first time, and I don't know how long, Burt never made the final, you know, and this was how, like, Burt were vanished, Burt were vanished, and that's all we heard, but you know, I suppose that we kind of had still as few experienced players, and Mickey, and Nile, and Cairn Dowd's, and these boys still about to place, like, and that, and then myself, and Enda McDermott, and Benny Harrigan, these boys were in around there as well, and then we were lucky because and our younger generation kind of came on that stage as well, we liked the Cricky McDermott and Rona McDermott, Derek Grant, these kind of boys, so we were lucky then that they came on, and we had a great team, we went on to 1-5 on our own, I was fortunate enough, you know, to be captain of that team a few times, like, so that was obviously, you know, massive for us, and that's something that kind of sticks out my head, you know, because as I said, when I was going down to Burt Pitch, as a young boy, all I wanted to do was to be there on county final day for Burt Glick, and to lift the cup, you know, was just probably separate, extra special as well, and to go on and 1-5 on our own, and around that, when you hear so much stuff that we were kind of gone, you know, to come back and do it was brilliant, Brynn. Yeah, yeah, and you had an Auster title in there as well, Joe, Mickey McCann was on the way about a game, they were short, you landed, you had four points, you were only 16, and then Auster, a club game, that's the first time they got a real sense that this young boy is going to be a serious hurler, and we more averted back to that, the half-backline after that, but that was his first memory of you really coming down, sitting down a marker, but you lifted an Auster title, of course, and all that in junior 7s as well. Aye, as I said, as you were on there, I suppose you remember that game, I was half-forward, I think, started off half-forward for a while, and I think it was Paul Killen actually moved me back in the under 20s, 21s at the time, under the half-backline, I kind of stayed there then, and Ray Jurick, who would put a big influence there as well, he kind of preferred me in the defence as well, and Luck, I suppose, the rest of his history, I stayed there then to the day, I suppose, but Luck, no. Aye, we won an Auster junior in 2011, Brendan, and it was Craig and Keekums from Antrim, we played, we actually went to a replay of that game, and we beat them in the replay, it was a massive game, that big for the club as well, he was an Auster title, and we went across, and I think we played for Hungales over in Birmingham at the time, but it only gave us a week to prepare because of what he called the replay, so it was kind of rushed in and went over, and I suppose I'm making excuses, but Luck, things just didn't go to plan for us, and we were beating the day and things like that, but that was always something that kind of stuck out, I thought we could have maybe went further in that competition as well, and maybe got to an All Ireland semi-final or something, but no, the 7s then, you mentioned the 7s, the 7s was great because you know yourself, going down to the 7s, they were a great weekend, and we were going down for many a year, and I suppose we were, unfortunately, never really won it, and we got to have a couple of finals, and we defeated and stuff like that, but to go down, I think this year, and we didn't really expect much from ourselves either, we went down and we kind of got our team together nearly the night before and things like that, and we went down with no expectation in some ways, and we got to the final against Keri from our man, and it was brilliant to have won that, for going up for so many years, and I think Maki was actually in goals in that team, and we nailed you there, and boys like that, and Murray McGrath and these boys, and it was brilliant to have won that as well, and for us going up years, we had a couple of younger boys on as well, you know, as well, doing the Germans and that, so no, it was great to get over the line, and that as well, Brendan, and all that. Special moments, Joe, the All Ireland weekend, the balls about it, and the teams up, and I've played in them 7s a few times either, they were some of the best weekends of my life up there, you know, it was just, the crack was unbelievable, but there was such a buzz about doubling this special memory for you to lift that competition. Ah, I look, as you said, the weekends, just like, you know, from start to finish, we used to go up in the Friday evening times, and we would come home in the Sunday after the All Ireland final, and sure, like, you know, we had great memories of it, like I went up as a young boy as well to start, and she's just, it was brilliant, I loved every man of it, you know, and be able to go there and play against all our teams, and I suppose the 7s was a bit more relaxed, you know, and things like that, and obviously there's a gap between games and things, and you would have, you know, mingled with all our teams and boys you met anew from playing against them, with County and stuff like that, so it was great, and then obviously you went out and you had your crack in the Saturday night and went to the All Ireland final on the Sunday and stuff, so, you know, the crack home and the bus, we used to take the bus up and things like that, so it was great, great memories, and I was supposed to get over the line then, and there, and the near the end was probably extra special as well to get that pedal as well, you know. Yeah, and Joe, listen, this is like phenomenal stuff at your county hurling group, before I get there, Ronan McLean wouldn't forgive me if I bypassed a bit of football there, and Burt's rise in the football as well, he's at a good side of one stage there, Joe, lifting the intermediate, got the senior quarter as well, I think back in the day, and the Tasmanian devil, of course, orchestrating all, and him and McLean had the same things to say about you, Joe, about never missing training, and you're reading the game and your attitude, you're great around the group as well, in terms of mingling and helping boys in that, and both of them said the same things about you, which is a testament to you, but you were mixing the two, did that have its drag as well, the fact that the football was going well, and you were supposed to perform multiple times throughout the year, in terms of football and hurling? You know, something, Brendan, and you hear this a lot, and suppose the day of the dual players kind of gone now, even obviously at county level, it's nearly completely gone, but at club level, it's kind of gone back a bit as well, you know, and to me, at that time, I just love playing for Burt, you know, be it hurling or football, it didn't matter to me, but I suppose I thought at that time, one kind of complimented the other in some ways, because we would have been known then in football, everybody would have been pretty fit, because you've been playing, obviously you're hurling on your football, and you could have been out a few nights a week, and suppose the chat had a bit of burnout and stuff, but it didn't really, I don't think it didn't really hinder us in many ways, you know, because, as I said, the both managers kind of knew they lucked out, if you were tired at night, you took a rest from one or the other, and you work together, like, you know, and for me, it can work, like, you can work, definitely with the both, and look, we've got a great run in that. We won the Football Junior, I think, 2011, that was the first time I think Burt ever won a, won a, you know, a title, a football senior title, sorry, you know, and then went on then, obviously, 2016, we won an intermediate final, and beat Malford after a replay, which was a brilliant game as well, and things to get at, and went on, obviously, the year after, the junior, I think, Colin McFadden had a underscorer for Schmeichels in the quarter-final, and be just by a point, I think it was, but look, to me, in a way, I think that both can complement each other, like playing hurling and football, definitely, like, you only have to just look at Schlock, Neil there, they're not a big, big parish or nothing like that there, and what they can do, so I'd be all for playing, playing both, in a way, as much as you can. Yeah, good man, good man, that was the body, allows it, Joe, no body. Joe, the All-Irelands, you've won leagues as well, with Donny Gall, the first ever All-Ireland title, you were captain at the time, Joe, can you talk us through just those, I suppose, the brilliance of that time, and how you hurling and Donny Gall started on the up and up, and it's continuing now? Ah, it's a luck, Brendan, I suppose, around the best thing I think that came in was probably the Nicky Rackard, the Laurie Maher, and the Christian Ring competitions, because, like, for a young boy growing up and Donny Gall was playing hurling, you know, I never thought that you'd probably get to Crow Park, play hurling in Crow Park, like, you know what I mean, that was kind of, you know, probably wasn't realistic in many ways, so to get that opportunity then, that, you know, that your grades, the teams you were playing more against were obviously, you know, you were competitive games, you know what I mean, so you get that opportunity, look, if I put the head down as a team here, we can reach an All-Ireland final and play in Crow Park, so in 2000, we obviously won the league for Wallace, and we went on then, and Ray Durek took over there, and like, he did mighty work as well, like, and Ray won the beat for Common and so we did, and now he's actually captain that year, like, Ray beat the captain, was great as well, like, to go up to the steps of the Hogan stand, but we beat our strongest comment team, and thinking back, I suppose, going on there, we weren't probably overly confident, you know, we're going on as big underdogs, and to give them, you know, to beat them that day was massive, really, for us, like, you know, to give us that confidence, then moving on, we won a couple of league titles and stuff after that, then, and I think that was a massive day for Denny Goehrling, really, to get over the line that day against the Russ Common team, you know, and Crow Park in a final was massive, really, Brendan. And Joe, what was that? How many times have you played at Crow Park? Was that one of your first times, or can you remember your first time? Because I just remember as a wee lad, myself as a wee lad. I just remember my debut there, it was actually the old Crow Park, you're on a bit of rage, now I'm showing mine, so we're going back a bit now, it was actually 1998, it was, and I remember just hitting that place, it was such a magical place, because it had been a wee boy watching games, I actually watched a lot of hurling games there, my mum was from Galway, and I used to push over the turnstile, it was at a couple of Ireland semifinals and finals supporting Galway, so to be honest, I never thought I'd play there, Joe, well, maybe in my heart somewhere, as a young boy growing up I did, but you never know where the world will take you, so that aspect of it as well, Joe being in there, and again, going back to what we were saying about Drumbow, that pitch that's there, you know, that just encourages skill for hurling, so to be up there and do one of the competition for your county at a national level, it must have given you a great satisfaction, and as you said, the fact then that you had, you could aim for a competition properly, and that's where Donegal are at now, you don't know that they can properly compete, that's vital as something I suppose that the football's trying to sort itself out as well, and a lot of people are trying to cling on to things, but for you, that experience, Joe was supposed to play in a crow park, and all that that brought with it as well, it must have been a magical time. Ah, definitely, it definitely was, Brendan, you know what I mean, I remember, I think it was the Lorry Maher final, the first time we ever got there, like, and looked, you know, to be honest, you were really just happy to get there, in some ways, like, and you were kind of all a bit displaced, and you were looking around, and we were actually beat by, on that day they got a couple of goals near the end of the season. I suppose the next time you end up, you kind of knew that, like, you know, we need to win here as well, like, you know what I mean, and he didn't probably take as much on board, in some ways, but no, that day against Roscommon, you know, it was massive, I think, like, you know, we played really well, like, you know, some of the work rates from the forwards, and I remember vaguely, like, you know, some of the work rates from the forwards on that day, and we got her about a lot too, you know, where the man sent off, and I think there was a high ball in the square, you know, and the keeper was taken out of it, more or less there by, you know, and the ref let it go, and stuff like that, you know, we got her a bit of luck as well that day, and to get over the line, as you said, like, you know, in the national stadium, you know, and luck to us, you know, all our family and friends, and that, we're all there, and people from your club and different things like that, so it was really special, Brendan, to be honest, and I think it kind of gave Denny Goll-Hurling a wee bit more profile, you know, moving forward, it kind of brought things on, and, you know, all you want to do is give every young person, and then I got all the chance to play hurling, you know, I heard Colin McFadden on with you there a few weeks ago, and he said he never got the opportunity to play hurling, like, you know, and to me, that's kind of sad, because I think that everybody should get the opportunity to play hurling, no matter what club you're from, like, you know, I mean, it's no matter where you're playing or what club you're from, you know, I think that everybody should be given that opportunity, because, like, you know, it's just fantastic to be able to go out there and play, you know. Yeah, it was a very special game indeed. Just talking about Mickey McCann, one of the things he did say about you was that, you know, you'd rest all weekend for the game, of course, you were working with Mickey, and then he would say, you enjoy the wee night out, and you weren't too easily got on a Monday then, a lot of the time that was his reading, is this true or false? I think so, but it's true. I would say, I would say in fairness, Brendan, he wasn't far wrong, and had he listened to plenty from him afterwards, you know, but no, look, Mickey, like, he was good to me, you know, in fairness, but can you hear, I always say, I'd never make out the times there, I suppose. I lost the wrong on myself for maybe a couple of years, you know, and look, I don't hide from the fact, you know, and Mickey, and around that time, was a big help to me, you know, even when he was county manager, and Ardall there towards Ardall's, and Ardall's reigning as well, you know, I suppose, probably, you know, my commitment levels were maybe made a draft of it, and stuff like that, so, you know, the boys always kind of had me back, and thank God, you know, I turned it around and got back again, and got back playing, but, you know, I always appreciated that, because even we've worked with Maddox, and China, and that around, and he was like, you've seen your Harlem manager at the time, and different bits and pieces, so, the boys always had your back, and that's the great thing, too, about the GA brand, and, you know, I suppose, at that time, if they didn't really care, and let you go, you don't know where you would go, like, you know, so, they always had your back, and, you know, family and friends, and stuff as well, it was very, very fortunate that I had so many good people around me at the time as well, and thank God, Brian, you know. You're very honest, Joe, in mentioning that, because I think we often hide from the fact that, you know, you can take a dip in life, and you, at the time, you were thinking, you were pulling away, you were enjoying nights out, and you were, kind of, almost going to turn your back on it, and if you had a, it made a lead, and a bit of a spiral, but as it was, as you were saying, your club and county mates and the people around you, all kept, kept you on the loop, kept coming down, saying, let's go, let's go, and pulled you back out of it, it's a good message to anybody in there that's, you know, we all go through with a dark, dark time from the dark periods in life, but you were in one, and you managed to pull out it with the help of your friends. That's exactly it, Brendan, and to be honest, you know, maybe times I would have put a rang up, and I would have said maybe I'm not, I don't know, ready to go retrain or something like that, and, you know, the likes of, you know, as I said, McKee and Ardall's, kind of, over the teams of county-wise at that time, and you know, they were always kept in the loop, come ahead, and they'd call over the road there, it would have been, you know, he would have been a piece of kit man there for a number of years, and he would have come over and maybe collected me, and said, well, let's go, let's go, you know, and stuff like that, but I suppose it's important to suppose anybody, like, it's just to keep going really, like, and they have that, you know, I could have pulled away, and as I said, I don't know where things probably would have ended up, you know, you just don't know, but to have that, you know, the GA there, and the boys that have played way, and the management, they kind of, you know, they kind of looked after me in many ways, you know what I mean, and look, we got back, and got back and joined me, football, and me hurling in different bits of pieces, and family life, and stuff like that there, you know, and have a great family around me, as I said, you know, and I'm lucky enough now to live on my own, you know, have a great fiance there, and Maria and her wee son, Bobby, so just shows, you know, and get married now, and a few ex-girlfriends as well, so look at how it just shows you how it comes around, and things to get at, but not. As I said, I was very, very fortunate and very lucky to have good people around me. Fantastic stuff, yeah, that's what it's all about, same as, Joe, we're not about the friends and family. Joe, it's just thinking back, and I know you're not going to mention this, the final against Mayo, and we were, we were lucky we're heading for defeat, and you conjure up a goal out of somewhere, an absolute cracker of a goal to pull us back into the game, and we go on and won the match. What's your memories of that game, Joe? Because that goal just stands out in my head so much. I look around and I suppose we were kind of getting outrun, to be honest, in the first half, first 15 minutes, and at that time the water breaks were in, you know, you were 15 minutes, then you got a water break, and we were glad to see it at that stage, you know, because we were sixes and sevens, and Mackey kind of called us in, and James and Gabriel, you know, and they got us together, and they said, look, boys, you know, we have to make a few changes, and they did, like, you know, and for me, I suppose the goal here, I don't have the goal there, and at that time, you know, I suppose I was feeling as far as I ever was feeling, you know, when I was kind of up and down the pitch from wing back and stuff, and I got myself into a great position, and to be honest with you, I thought it was closer to goal than it was, so I had a goal, and thankfully it went under the net, you know, and remember Mackey saying, to be after you're lucky, that's under the net, he says, you should have tapped it over the bar with luck, it kind of brought us back, and then we got tagged on a few points in the halftime, a couple of points, I think we were two points down just that, then we got ourselves together and regrouped at halftime, and you know, it was a great victory, because, you know, me and over a fancy team at that stage, and it just shows you how it goes, I'm playing with most of them boys now, down here, so luck, that's the way it goes, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, it just shows you how you can turn. Joe, just for Leitham Alleylands, was there any that you savored more than other, is there any that you thought that you weren't expected, the one that just came through you had left four? I'd probably go back to the rest common one again, Brent, and then this is only me chatting personally, like, and it's not to do with me being captain or not, it's probably just, I think at that time, we probably lacked that wee bit of belief, you know, going in against maybe teams like Bruce Commons, Mayo's in these teams, you know, like, you know, beating them, we weren't really beating them at that stage, you know, and to get over the line against them, like, you know, that day, massive like, and I don't know, I was down there a few weeks ago, then they all played cross common, and then I could do it just a couple of weeks ago, and they were never in trouble, you know, so it shows how far it has moved on, like, you know, the boys had a comprehensive one against cross common a few weeks ago, they got a couple of goals near the end, I know it's common, it could look a bit better, but no, I think we've moved on a lot, and it just shows you that it's moving in the right direction, Brent. Yes, indeed. And listen, Joe, you just, I didn't realise this about what you're at now, you said obviously about Maria, and we, baby Bobby, down there, you're a happy man, you were in Galway travelling up and down, and you've ended up moving out to Mayo near Nock, which is handy for a man that goes to Mass a few times a week, like, I know you do a lot, Joe DiWardy. Joe, you're down near the Connick Centre of Excellence there, Terine is the club, is it? That's right, Brent, yeah, Terine. And listen, Joe, honestly, I thought at this point, when you pulled away there, I thought this man's just going to enjoy his life now, put the feet up. Little did I know that that's certainly not the case that you are excelling down there with this Mayo club, winning championships and Connick titles, and even getting to an All-Ireland-Hurling final. Talk to me about this. Hi, look, Brendan, again. Look, I was travelling up and down from, we were living in Galway, me and Maria was living in Galway at the time, and I suppose I was travelling up and down to play for Bork and play for Denny Gaul. And look, I'm getting no younger, I suppose, and things to get. And just the travelling stuff was taking us tall, and then obviously we had, the wee man was coming along the way and different things. And I just thought, you know, we were settling, and we've got a house here in Mayo, and we're settling down. I thought, look, it's time to make a few routes here and get to know a few people and things, and there's no better way than the GA to do that. So look, it was a, look, to come here, I'm behind Bork through and through, and it was a massive, massive decision to leave your home club. But look, it's something that had to be done, and they're in a good place as it is without me. So look, as I said, we moved on, and I'm very fortunate I moved here. As I say, I'm probably very lucky to play with some great players and being in some great teams as well, you know, and no one better than this terrain team as well. Like, you know, there's some brilliant, brilliant players, and the club has a whole welcome to me, and things to get. And we went on and we won two, I think we won the last two Mayo Hurley titles, and we won two Conuct and two Maria titles, speaking Galway opposition and the final and stuff. And we went the whole way to the Ireland final intermediate, this year, in Crow Park as well, you know, and we were pipped in the line by a monoline team from Limerick, who, you know, they have boys on there that won lane McCarty medals for Limerick, and I think three of them are on the Limerick panel this year as well, the Hurley senior panel. So look, shows you the caliber of players we were playing against, and we kind of just, near the end, we just never got over the line. We had a couple of misses in that, and they tagged on a couple of great scores, you know. But no, it was disappointing, I suppose, that we didn't get over the line, Brendan. You know, we had the opportunity, and them opportunities don't come around too often, to be honest, but look, we're back turning again this year. The boots are back out there again, you know, and I'm tapping about playing a bit of football, club football there as well, and things to get as well. So look, as I said, if the body's well then, why not? And I'm enjoying it as more now and ever. So as I said, I'm very fortunate, Brendan. Joe, that's absolutely phenomenal. Honestly, after looking at your whole career and all that you've done in 17 years, we've done it all, and everything you've done with Burt, and playing football, honestly, I could not believe what's happened here. And I suppose, Joe, in many ways, I don't worry about England as a young lad, back in Northampton, playing sport over there. I couldn't imagine not being over there and playing sport because of everything it did. It must have been a brilliant way for you to, I suppose, get known in the community and make new friends, and, you know, nothing better than your club mates and you coming down and being able to add a lot of value to them. It must have been a great chapter in your life that not only you're on with a very successful team, but everything else that that brings with it, the sport and the camaraderie and the friendships. Exactly, Brendan, like, and, you know, it can only give me a new lease of life in some ways as well, you know, probably going on in my head. I kind of had to prove myself in some ways again, you know, you're down here, and, like, I remember going to Trinidad, and at that time, a lot of the Trinidads would have been unplanned with Mayolek, you know, and, sure, I thought she was right. I was playing the games without the Mayoleads, and the next thing they all came back, I think that at that time they had something like 14 boys on the Mayole panel, and all these lads landed back, and I thought, gee, Chris, I'm going to have to, how am I going to get this team, you know? So, like, it's like anything, you have to knuckle down and fight for your place and things to get. But as you said, outside of that as well, it's great, you know, to get to know people and look the community and the club welcomed me. We opened arms, and they were great to me, to be honest and still are. And things like that. And remember, it was funny, we went down into the shop one day, and she said, what's keeping you? And I was on chat with all these ones, and she says, geez, you know, more people here now than I do, so it's just the power that the GAs, I suppose, in many ways, you get to know a lot of people, and they get to know you, and sure, look, it's great, isn't it, to have that opportunity as well, Bryn? Yeah, Joe, it's massive. I mean, if you're meeting Galway sides and meeting Limerick sides, you know, it's phenomenal stuff that you're competing at that level, and that's just how you ended up. So is that Maria's home club? Would that have been her club that you ended up there? That's where her family's from? Well, they would just be from... It's in the Paris there, Bryn, because it's really, they're a Harlem only club, and then it's a football only club, you know what I mean there? The football only club would be Eastern Gales, there, where they would be from. So then the local Harlem club then would have been Terrain, where I'm playing there as well then, so look, as I said, I'm very fortunate to be able to play for them there now, and look, you never know down the road what way things work out. Maybe the Romey man might go and play there and things like that, you know? So please God, but look, that's the way it went, and I was very lucky, you know, to probably, again, do such a good club as well after probably moving away from Bort, you know? As I said, it's a Harlem match, you know, it's very small, there's no shop, or it's just a small village, Bryn, there's no shop or nothing there, it's just kind of really the church in the Harlem, and that's all they do, really, and look, sure. I couldn't have came to a better place in many ways to be able to love the Harlem itself, and as I said, and to go there and play, it was brilliantly. Yeah, yeah, well, Bobby, some career to look at when it comes to yours, Joe. Joe, you just mentioned the Nicky Riker there in Donegal, they've been at a couple of games in that, you know, they're playing some brilliant Harlem, as you said, controlling games, they're steady now in Division II, B, Joe, which was a situation where a few times Donegal got up, they couldn't handle it there. Now they're very stable, very comfortable there, in terms of the championship, and how do you say, do you think it's going to come down to this dress rehearsal and then a final with Wicklow, is that the way you're saying it? Aye, aye, I would say so, Bryn, and to be honest, let's see, look, I've seen them there last two weeks ago, now it has Bryn, but no, very, very impressed, like Mickey, and the way he brought James in this year there is to help Gabriel with the coaching and stuff, and no, they're going very well, and some young players probably running but a new blood under the team as well, and that's really helped things for Mickey as well, you know what I mean, a few of the board boys there, Connor, and Lea Malog, and then you have Rory there from Southampton, and stuff, and a couple of our young boys, which is helping, and he's still the old heads, like the Deccys, and the Stevie Glespie's, the Crickies, the Ronan's, the Danny's, these boys still around there, look massive on nets as well, you know what I mean, so, no, I'd say it's the last game in O'Donnell Park against them, and Wicklow will be a bit of a shadow box, and I would say they say the least of it on the net, and down the business then, and a few weeks after, and then the Nicky Rackard final, but I know, look, Mickey, you know, still he has to get over the line against Louth, and not disrespecting them, but look, by all accounts it's between Danny Goal and Wicklow, and I would give them a massive chance against Wicklow as well, you know what I mean, they're playing some great stuff, so I actually think Crow Park might actually suit them, there was some flying machines there, and out the manners as well on the team, so, no, I'd fancy them to go all the way this year now. Yeah, yeah, just, the last game was, that was the Fermanagh game in the park, what a game of hardland, that was a 2-0, because I'd been watching football for a few weeks, and it was like the difference between two teams just going at it, compared to the out and out tactics of football, and where things is at, in many ways, I'd say at the weekend, our miners lost, our ladies lost heavily, they're in a rebuild, their seniors, of course, are in a serious moment of trouble, and that is going to take a bit of time to get around, so in many ways, the hurlers are flying the flag. Joe, we're down to the last minute here, Joe, I just wondered, do you want to wrap it up, any message for any, the body's still good, any message for any young hurlers, budding hurlers coming through, just about playing for Donegal and their application to the game? Hi, look, Bryn, as I said, yeah, I was very fortunate to be playing great teams, with great players, and any young boy coming through there now, look, there's great opportunities there now, like I think back in my career, and I think Jesus, I was very lucky, and not just because I won titles, and played with great players, and won cups and stuff, but the friends I made out of it, and I know people might say this or that, but some of the friendships I made out of it, not just from, obviously, my own club, but quite small over the county, and memories I have with them boys, and things they got, games, and nights out, and after games, and things that happened, and stuff they got, some brilliant, brilliant memories, and friends that I have there for life, so I find myself very fortunate, and as I said, it's certainly not over yet, I'll give it an hour, an hour battle for a year. Well, Joe, listen, the way you're going, anything's possible, Joe, anything's possible. Listen, that was an absolutely brilliant career story there, live stories here in the DL debate. Joe, wish you all the best in the future, and thanks so much for joining us this evening. Brandon, thanks, it's a pleasure, thanks for having me on, thank you. Top man, Joe Boyle there, fair play there, wrapping up the show there, folks, so I want to thanks Joe Jax for producing, stay tuned for the excellent Monday night sessions, I'll speak to you all next week. Till 9pm daily in Sarah's Kitchen, and there's free admission entertainment every weekend. Hello, how can I help you? I'm looking to claim on my insurance policy. Okay, and what type of chip do you need to claim?