DJ Carey, IT Carlow hurling manager, during the Electric Ireland GAA Higher Education Draw at Carlow IT in Carlow.
By John Harrington
Kilkenny legend DJ Carey is still regarded as one of the greatest hurlers to ever grace the game, but he’s not sure he’d thrive in the modern era because at the highest level the standard of hurling has improved so much in recent years.
He’s in a good place to gauge where the game is at having managed the IT Carlow Fitzgibbon Cup hurling team for the last number of years and believes hurling has made ‘monumental improvements’ in the modern era.
He’s well aware that the frequency of scoring and style of hurling at the highest level now isn’t to everyone’s liking, but he believes it’s a far more skilful and physical sport than it was in his own heyday in the ‘90s and noughties.
“I remember when I was playing the game, you had the older people in the game and they’d be giving out about our game, that there wasn’t enough pulling in the air, that there wasn’t enough pulling on the ball on the ground because that was how it was when they were playing,” said Carey.
“Would I like to see 15 on 15, of course I would, would you like to see the full forward playing full forward? Yes of course but the game has modernised and the game that I played, I wouldn’t last 45 minutes in the game today because the amount of running, the amount of physicality, the amount of skill that’s involved in the game now, it certainly has moved on a huge amount since my time and even more since previous to that.
“That doesn’t mean our game wasn’t good and the previous game wasn’t good, it was fantastic for the time. But you have sport science involved now, you have a coach for everything, a psychologist and all that so it’s a much more professional game now.
“It’s monumental the improvements that have been made. Lads are stronger, they’re fitter, they’re faster, they’re more skilful now, they’re brainier, they’re brighter. Like the game is just fantastic, when you have a guy who can put the ball over the bar from 70/80 yards out, on the run, at their ease, it’s a massive skill and no matter how good a ball is or bad a ball is, if you’re able to hit a ball within the posts, within 12 yards from 100 yards out, there’s some skill involved in that.”
Niall Brassil of IT Carlow is congratulated by IT Carlow manager DJ Carey following the Fitzgibbon Cup Semi-Final match between Mary Immaculate College Limerick and IT Carlow at Dublin City University Sportsgrounds.
Even though hurling is now a faster and more skilful than in his own day, there is one aspect of the modern game that Carey is not a fan of - the growing trend of players diving or simulating injury in order to win a free or pause the game.
“I’m not trying to criticise anyone in particular but over the last few years, I have definitely seen teams, you know guys taking off their helmets and going down on one knee, just wasting time and looking for players to be booked or sent off.
“I want to be reasonably careful because there’ll always be some wise-arse now who’ll say ‘aw you were a fair man to dive yourself’ but our games are not supposed to have diving. We have a manly game. You know, in hurling, you have a stick.
“A belt is a belt and if you’re hurt, you’re hurt in fairness, but there’s no need to be going down if it’s not a bad belt. I like soccer by the way and I follow it but we don’t want to be going down that road where lads are just diving.
“If that happens, it’s going to become more common and it’ll be a tactic in the game going forward then.”
Carey’s IT Carlow team reached the 2020 Fitzgibbon Cup Final where they were narrowly beaten by UCC.
The competition wasn’t played this year because of the Covid 19 pandemic, and Carey is excited about the prospect of it returning in January.
“I’m delighted to be involved. In our climate in the world at the moment with the pandemic and all that, it’s just fantastic to have sport because when you can turn on your television and there’s a hurling match or a soccer match or a rugby match on, it’s absolutely brilliant.
“During the lock-down, it was a disaster with no sport so I hope we’re not going to go back to that. Adding onto that, when you’re involved with a team and when you’re involved with the game getting better, it’s brilliant.
“Please God, we’re not going to have any hold-backs now and please God this will go ahead. Sport, in my opinion, is a great pick-me-up.
“I just hope we have no more setbacks because once we have sport and entertainment, it keeps us all in a better mood.”
