An iconic image.
He didn’t know it at the time but Eoin Brosnan face-down in a sea of Tyrone men, in the 2003 All-Ireland semi, would become one of the defining GAA images of the last 25 years.
The Dr Crokes man was part of a Kerry side swept away by a young, vibrant Mickey Harte outfit that were much better than the trite ‘puke-football’ term implied.
The counties would meet twice more before the end of the decade with Brosnan never getting ultimate revenge over the Ulster side in Croke Park.
We spoke to the Killarney man this week ahead of Sunday’s All-Ireland semi final, and asked him his memories of the 2003, that incident, how he rates Sunday’s encounter and why Tyrone should not be held up as the poster boys for cynical play.
Eamon Fitzmaurice has been talking about that famous picture of you in 2003, and feels that a simple pass back to him would have prevented you being bottled up so famously. What are you own memories of being surrounded by Tyrone men?
At the time, it happened so quickly that it was hard to try and spot any pockets of space that might have been around the field. I think probably the way football has gone that the awareness of individual players at this stage not to take the ball into tackles and get into trouble is more prevalent than 12 years ago.
Video analysis and turnovers, as well, means players are coached to such a high level to avoid situation like the one I found myself in. I think the game has changed and the preparation to avoid something like that happening again has gone to another level.
Going back to before that semi final, it’s not something that we would have talked to about a great deal before facing Tyrone that day in team meetings.
What was your reaction when you saw the picture in the day’s paper the next day?
When it happened, I didn’t think there was that many around me to begin with. It was only one incident in the game, and it was captured brilliantly with that photograph, but there was a couple of times in the incident where a few Kerry players were going to break through the tackles and get away and breaking the line.
If we had that bit of luck no one would even have been speaking about that incident let alone 12 years later.
Does losing to Tyrone three times in five years still hurt Kerry people and the players of that era?
To be fair, 2003 was a big year and it was a turning point for Kerry. [We realised] that the strength and conditioning that we had been doing wasn’t of the level that was required.
I remember Pat Flanagan and Jack O’Connor came on board after and there was an immediate change in attitude and focus.
People had to buy into S&C where it had almost been sidelined before that. Armagh and Tyrone had been doing that since the late 1990’s and it’s not something you do overnight so they had a base of that built up.
The ’03 game was an eye opener and Kerry had to change and evolve to catch up. 2005 and ’08 were two great games and, to be fair, it was just a fantastic Tyrone team that was involved and history shows they are one of the best teams to win an All-Ireland but we were a decent side too.
It would be a source of disappointment that we didn’t beat them in Croker in one of the biggest games alright though.
What was the worse of the losses?
I wouldn’t say ’03 anyway because it was just that they were a coming team. We probably weren’t as prepared as we were in ’05 or ’08. Probably 2008, when we were going for three-in-a-row, was the largest disappointment.
Was it hard to get the head around losing to Tyrone to Tyrone again?
If we hadn’t been winning All-Ireland yes but we knew we were a decent bunch. and to be fair history shows that was a wonderful Tyrone side.
Any memorable incidents from any Tyrone game that stand out?
Not individual incidents but there are definitely sources of regret, like when Canavan got the goal in ’05 around half time and when Tommy McGuigan got the goal in 2008. They were real sucker punches.
There was probably a couple of unsavoury incidents as well, there was one where Goochs’s eye was hurt and the ‘win at all costs attitude’ where Colm (Cooper) was hauled to the ground towards the end in ’05 final.
There are no gripes though. They were better team than us and they were a fantastic side .
Why are Tyrone always dubbed the most cynical team ?
I don’t think they are the most cynical or anything like that, but they are ultra-competitive and and they play in a style that might not be the easiest on the eye.
But then look at last year’s All-Ireland final and, from a neutral point of view, I couldn’t see how it would be a great spectacle and I expect something similar the next day.
There’s been cynical play from Dublin, from Cork and from Kerry over the years as well as Armagh and Donegal.
What do you think of the Tiernan McCann situation?
It was unfortunate incident and I think the GAA have probably handled it badly themselves. I expect him to be fully playing and but it’s not like the negative reaction came from Kerry and I don’t expect Tyrone to be using it as a massive motivation on Sunday.
It was yellow card and it took the gloss off the result but I still think it won’t have any effect on Sunday.
Are Kerry people confident despite the history between the teams?
It’s a new Tyrone team and I think in that respect it is a little bit like 2003 when we were favourites and Tyrone kept us to six points.
It’s a dangerous one because Tyrone are U21 All-Ireland champions and that means they have a good team of young players and they have rejuvenated this senior team.
I still expect Kerry to win, but you never know.
