Tonight Off the Ball spoke with Kerry legend Paul Galvin about his career, which is the focus of his new book ‘In my own words.’
Galvin, 35, retired from the Kerry senior squad last February after 11 years of service, which included four All-Irelands and three All-Star awards.
Though his retirement, announced one game into Kerry’s NFL campaign, came as a surprise, Galvin believes that it was the right time, saying “I’m one hundred percent sure I did the right thing.”
In the interview, Galvin reflected on his early days in the Kerry squad, spoking about breaking into the team quite late and adapting to Kerry’s tough training regimen:
“I was 24 when I made a breakthrough which is quite old.
“Those years [2002-4] were very good for me, very informative... I was learning an awful lot from the guys around me... it was a very hard, harsh environment.
“It was ‘get in there and do it’ and if you don’t there wasn’t a whole lot of love and support.”
Speaking about the changing nature of the game, he explains how Kerry had to change their approach in the years before their 2004 victory.
"The parameters of the game changed in the early noughties. Physicality, aggression and tackling took on a new emphasis and playing without the ball became really important, whicjh Kerry were never really good at.
"I think we also probably changed tack in terms of our conditioning. That physical conditioning conditions your rmind as well and you become a little more sure of yourself... you carry yourself differently"
Speaking about a two-month ban incurred after an altercation with Cork’s Eoin Cadogan in 2010, Galvin defended himself, though he says he no longer carries the affair with him:
“I in no way deserved a two month suspension after that incident in February... i did everything i could to avoid trouble. I got dragged into trouble.
“That wasn’t fair and that suspension wasn’t right.”
Though still assured that retiring was the right choice, he admits that the thought of another All-Ireland Club Championship has tempted him:
“I still think about winning things... a few of the Dublin clubs were in touch, the only enticement I ever felt the possibility of winning an all Ireland at the lever... but I never really felt strongly enough about it.”
Galvin's book ‘In my own words’ is available in bookshops now.
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