You’d have to go a long way to wind Peter Duggan up.
He’s happy as Larry, he’ll tell you that himself and he goes with the flow without a care in the world. What’s the point in taking things too seriously?
Clare’s inconsistent form in recent years bothers him alright, Limerick IT’s recent exit from the Fitzgibbon Cup has left its mark but he doesn’t strike as the type of lad who’s going to dwell on them for too long.
More in his line to control the controllables. That’s all a man can do.
Winning an All-Star last year went down a treat over the winter but Duggan goes against the in-vogue-only-in-the-GAA notion that because it’s a team game, you can’t admit to have enjoyed these individual accolades.
That meant so much to Clooney-Quin, and that means so much to him.
“The day after the All-Stars, Ryan Taylor who’s on the Clare team, his family have a pub inside in Ennis – The whole of Clooney came in, there must have been the bones of 250 people to congratulate me inside. It was little things like that, I just smiled inside as happy as Larry,” he said to us at the launch of Bodibro at Future Proof Media.
“If you’d to see the smiles and it wasn’t just me it was Mam and Dad inside, that’s what makes it so much easier to go back. Imagine how happy that was for 250 people to see me (win an All-Star) after knowing me my whole life. Imagine the whole of Clare being able to see after winning an All-Ireland or Munster. That’s the things that will drive you on.”
He’s a man who sees the best in everything. Even when he talks about Clare’s agonising loss to Galway last year, even when he talks about getting knocked out of the Fitzgibbon Cup by one point, even when he’s on about training at 5.00 in the morning and even when he’s talking about the demands on inter-county players in the modern game.
Duggan will give it all a chance.
“You’re gone a lot of time with inter-county hurling and there’s no way around that. There’s some days you find hard and others you find easy. There’s little things you find that make you absolutely love it again though. Last year I got asked to do a few things from kids in the club. It’s just them little things that you love and think, ‘That’s cool. I would have loved that when I was younger.’
“Fergal Lynch from back in the day is my clubman and if I asked him to do something and he did it for me I’d think, ‘Oh, this is the best thing ever.’ I’ve had that from kids in the club, even something as small as signing a sliotar. When you see the expression on their faces, it makes everything so much easier. You enjoy going to training sessions because you know by going you’re improving. You find some way to enjoy them even though when you’re out running there’s some parts of it that aren’t enjoyable but you have to find the parts that really are and the reason why you do it.”
He’s living the dream he dreamed since he had a size 26″ hurl. The next dream he wants to live is the dream of an All-Ireland with Clare and after that, it’s a personal venture he’s made for.
“I’ll relax for a month after (finishing college in three months time) and then go on the hunt for a job and we’ll see where it takes me. I’d say long-run I’m going to start up an aul landscaping business in a few years time.”
“I’m in LIT for six years and the books were never really a strong point for me. I never really cared too much. I loved going out labouring. I loved being told to go away and ‘do that’ and I’d if I started up my own company I’d have no problem in asking someone other lads to do it,” he says with a laugh.
“Just seeing the finished product of a job. I worked for a few years now in maintenance for the county board and doing the fields for the Clare GAA in Cusack Park and out in the Centre of Excellence out in Tulla. I’m thoroughly enjoying it and I’ve also done different days here and there with other people and contractors and stuff like that. When you go into a job and you see a lawn that has weeds and moss everywhere and then when you leave you see a job accomplished. It’s the same way as if you go into a game and you end up coming out winning, it’s just a nice feeling. I wouldn’t get that same feeling when I complete a profit and loss account!”
That’ll only benefit the hurling too.
Would you believe I’ve done labouring for many a summer and I’ve found going to training on days I’ve been working from 7am to 6pm, I found I’ve nearly more energy than days I’ve been sitting down doing nothing.
“The way things are gone now most inter-county players are teachers you get that little bit of time off and you’ve more time to go do your food prep and things like that. I think as an inter-county player you should go away and do what you want to do. I’ve taken my time, I’m 25 now and only just finishing up in college this year. It won’t affect me overly if I do start up a company before I’m finished hurling because I’ll get through the labour-intensive part of it. I only enjoy it anyway and it wouldn’t bother me too much.
If I’ve to take off a Friday before a big game, look it will be alright. Or a Monday!”
Not a bother on him. There never is.
As for those famous 5.00 training sessions with Davy Fitzgerald in LIT, you already know how Duggan found them.
“Only because it suited all of us with college. There’d be a lot of lads in final year they’d have missed so much that you don’t want to be missing too much college. We’d try and get down there early and make it easier for everyone. I’ve never minded early mornings at least you’ve the evenings off then and you can relax for the evening.”
Clare hurler Peter Duggan was speaking at the launch of Bodibro, High Performance Sportswear, 2019 GAA range. Bodibro specialises in personalised orders of training and match day gear for clubs, teams and colleges across Ireland. To find out more visit www.bodibro.ie.
