Longford star Mickey Quinn spoke on OTB AM this morning about his viral GAA skills videos doing the rounds on social media, while he remembers clearly his first attempt at one in particular five years ago.
The ex-Aussie Rules player joined Ger Gilroy on the show, and spoke about his inspiration behind getting out and recording some skills videos that are a bit different from what you ordinarily see on a GAA pitch.
"One of the joys about it is, a lot of the skills you're seeing are not really skills you're going to see in a gaelic football game, but I think everyone's hoping that when the games start back that we hopefully will see something new and created over this time.
"I think it was 2015 I was doing it, [at] one of the International Rules training sessions after training. Niall Morgan was in goals and I came in and done it, it flew straight into the top-left corner.
"Pádraic Joyce was one of the selectors at the time and he took out the camera and said 'Jaysus, do that again!' And so when I went to do it again I just swung at fresh air and missed it the next time!
"So that kind of put it to bed for a while, I said 'No, it needs a bit more work now!' And me as a back getting in that position, you get a rush of blood at the best of times, so to try something like that, you need maybe someone like Jamie Clarke with that bit more composure who is getting in close to goal more regularly.
"I'm yet to come up with a name for it! It just comes round the back from the right hand through the legs and you kind of hit on the half-volley with the left foot.
"I'm right-footed but whatever way I did it, I found it easier going from the right to the left foot, whereas most people would probably prefer to do it the opposite way around with their stronger foot."
Quinn says seeing video clips of a certain former Chelsea striker helped in his preparation for another one of his videos.
Skills Challenge 3: What’s your fanciest Flick-Up????
(Take 27!!😅🙈) @gympluscoffee pic.twitter.com/8z4dnjYJci— Mickey Quinn (@mickeyq06) March 21, 2020
"I saw [Didier] Drogba doing it and it took me a long time to get it. It's a bit of fun now... there's a few other guys that responded with different things. It's brilliant to see different players with different tricks.
"It's skills that aren't really practiced. Most coaching at the moment is your handpass, your kickpass, a catch, and even a pick-up, and that's really it!
"Even where I'm coming from on the teaching or coaching side of things... be creative, try something new. There's lots of different skills that can be done, but I think it's something not encouraged enough, or not practiced enough to try different things.
"It's frowned upon... stick to the basics, the simple kickpass. It probably comes in waves where people go out and do the simple thing right and that's the focus.
Great to see loads of GAA Skill Challenges out there at the moment 👌 Get creative and try invent a new skill! Worth a try in a game??😏 Lots more coming in the next few days with a some prices up for grabs too! @niallmorgan01 @Pa_Collum1 pic.twitter.com/q50Oywhi9V
— Mickey Quinn (@mickeyq06) March 19, 2020
"Play to the structures, don't give the ball away... whereas this could be a change in gaelic football when things do come back , that things might be more tested and tried out, to change things up a little bit."
The Killoe Young Emmets' clubman says it's important to find small ways like this to keep occupied over the coming weeks and months, with sport postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"Just trying to find a bit of routine at this stage and having a bit of fun with different skill challenges kept my mind occupied and kept me busy for a while!
We're back with an #OffTheCouch skill challenge!
The PE teacher and Longford footballer @mickeyq06 has a mix of drills to keep our minds and bodies active!
Test your reactions and hand-eye coordination - and if you have kids get them involved too! https://t.co/iFuzrxVzVq pic.twitter.com/D63oiX3NWG— Off The Ball (@offtheball) March 30, 2020
"I think probably when you're missing sport the next best thing you can have is some form of a challenge that can bring out that competitive nature that you're missing.
"Whether you see someone else doing it, or you're doing it yourself and trying to be a front-runner in some form of a challenge, because I think that's the nature of the beast.
"When you don't have that competitive nature of playing games week in week out, you need something to keep you ticking over, whether it be skill challenges or running sessions, something to do to give you that little bit of a buzz."
