Matthew Whelan's visits to Croke Park in his youth all mesh into one but there was enough for him to dream of representing the county there one day.
He recalls narrow defeats to Offaly and Kilkenny in 1997 and ‘98 respectively, the footballers’ near miss as Dublin scrambled a draw against them in 1999.
“I was only a chap that time and you can only remember some things,” he says. My head was probably stuck in a bag of Taytos!”
Whelan was part of the minor football panel that won the Leinster title in 2005 and played in a hurling/shinty international at headquarters a few years ago.
But, in this his 13th season, tomorrow’s Joe McDonagh Cup final against Westmeath is Whelan’s first opportunity to play for the Laois senior hurlers at Croke Park.
“It’s a summer time game, it’s a match in Croke Park in June. That’s a rare thing for Laois hurling teams in the last decade. It’s 2005 since they last played there.
“Finals are there to be won and it’s not just a thing that you go up to enjoy the occasion and get caught up in the atmosphere, you’ve a goal in mind, you’re going up to win it."
Whelan has been a rare constant in the Laois panel since he first joined up straight out of minor in late 2006. While others have shunned the opportunity to represent the county, the 31-year-old hasn’t rejected the advances of any of the numerous managers he’s had over the years.
“It’s just that I enjoy it. It’s a lifestyle choice I’ve made. It works for me personally.
“I’m a teacher, I do a bit of farming at home with my father, we’re dairy farmers, but I have the time I’m able to create to get off to training.
"I do know a good few players have a different type of career that they’re based in Dublin and travelling up and down, their bosses don’t totally understand it and I think it was also maybe a problem with you being a Laois player.
“If you played for Dublin maybe or Kilkenny, you’re seen as a top tier team. It’s an easier sell if they knew you were going back to training with one of those counties, they’d let you off.”
Despite relatively big days like tomorrow, it still probably lacks a certain allure for some players.
“That could come back to is the competition being promoted well enough?
“I think it has been promoted a little bit better as the Joe McDonagh progressed but it’s only on the back of criticism really, which is a pity.”
Prediction
With the margins appearing to be very tight between these teams, what chance a historic penalty shootout at Croke Park to determine the winners of the Joe McDonagh Cup? Don’t rule it out.
While the teams’ recent meeting in Portlaoise can effectively be written off as a dead rubber, Laois have been the more consistent team over the course of the competition, though Westmeath have been impressive when they’ve needed to be.
Ultimately, playing at a higher level all year may just be enough for Laois to sneak it.
VERDICT: Laois
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