Tohill: Brolly 'has become a bigger ego than he was'

"There were times when Joe didn't necessarily do the team thing, when he didn't necessarily want to put in the effort that we all demanded of each other. He didn't necessarily like towing the line."

Tohill: Brolly 'has become a bigger ego than he was'

By John Fogarty

Former Derry captain Anthony Tohill says his old team-mate Joe Brolly wasn't the greatest trainer and has a bigger ego now than he had as a player.

Tohill gave a frank assessment of the RTE pundit to the official GAA website as part of the promotion for his Bord Gáis Energy Legends Tour in Croke Park this Saturday.

Joe Brolly was in trouble again this weekend after unkind comments about Marty Morrissey.

"Ach, he was hard work!" says the Swatragh man of Brolly. "I'm sure people will appreciate what I mean with that. There were times when Joe didn't necessarily do the team thing, when he didn't necessarily want to put in the effort that we all demanded of each other. He didn't necessarily like towing the line.

"So if you were asked to go to the cone, Joe might have stopped short of it. If you were asked to go around it, Joe might have cut the corner. But he was a very likeable presence. He was an entertainer - as we all know, Joe is an entertainer.

"In those days...he has become maybe a bigger ego than he was in those days, he'll forgive me for saying that because there were many big characters in that dressing room and Joe was one of a number."

Tohill also says Brolly was "educated" by his team-mates having studied law in Dublin. "Really, in the early days, Joe had a very sheltered existence when he was down in Trinity! When he came up to Belfast, he had his eyes opened to student life. We educated Joe Brolly when he travelled in a car with three or four of us, or of the older fellas, to training from Belfast.

"But Joe was a good laugh. He was a fella that you knew that whether he was behind his name or in front of him, if you put it into space he would get it. He was very, very quick. We were blessed with forwards as we had Enda Gormley on the other side and Seamus Downey in the middle, who was very unselfish and who made that forward line tick.

"People said our forward line wasn't good enough to win an All-Ireland but they evidently were. Dermot Heaney was maybe the most underrated player that Derry ever had and Damien Cassidy was another. All great players. Brolly? I could tell you plenty of stories about Joe, but I better not say anymore!"

Tohill also recalls his trial with Manchester United's reserves in early 1995 where he met Alex Ferguson. "I played them two games and at the time, I felt I did OK. I was playing centre-half and I felt I was effective enough. At the end of it, Ferguson called me into a room and told me I was too old and inexperienced for what they required at the club. He said they would keep an eye on my progress and they would be in touch if required.

"I didn't go over expecting to get a contract. It would have been nice and maybe a part of me possibly did think I would get signed by Man U! But at the end of the day, if Man United need players, they go and spend a lot of money on them rather than taking a chance on a 23-year-old novice from Ireland who had no grounding or background in soccer."

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