The attitudes and lack of effort many footballers show towards training is extremely detrimental to team spirit, according to Alan Quinlan.
The former Ireland international was on Friday’s OTB AM and questioned the apparent lack of effort Arsenal players put into their performances.
The Munster man never experienced a lethargic dressing room and couldn’t imagine having to play in a team where players weren’t putting in maximum effort.
“I was in a dressing room of high achievers. Someone like John Hayes didn’t say anything but I tell you if he did open his mouth and you weren’t pulling your weight you’d know about it.
“I’ve sat in a dressing room and have known that we’re not playing well and that things are going bad and we’re forcing it.
“I’ve never sat in a dressing room where I’ve looked around and people have infuriated me because their attitude or desire or pressure or work ethic isn’t right. I’ve never been in that dressing room,” Quinlan said.
The former flanker questioned whether many soccer players put their all in when they had the safety of knowing they would be paid handsomely regardless of whether they performed or not.
“I’m sure these guys train hard - to a point. But do they really hurt themselves? Do they really care?
“That was always the case and the worry about overseas players coming into the provinces here when I played was, ‘How much do they care?’
“Does it really bother them? They’re on a big salary. They’ll probably be gone two or three years down the line.
However, a certain former New Zealand superstar proved to Quinlan that overseas players can make a massive positive impact.
“You look at someone like Doug Howlett who came into Munster and stayed for such a long time. He was a superstar, record All Blacks try scorer. We went, ‘Wow.’
“He came in and trained like a champion. His attitude was 100%. He had his game face on out on the pitch. He had good fun off of it.
“You just love being around people like that because they actually wake you up sometimes if you’re lackadaisical about training.”
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