GAA INTERVIEW FRANKIE DOLAN: KEITH DUGGANfinds the former Roscommon star the epitome of calm as his club St Brigid's prepare to face Crossmaglen on Thursday
FRANKIE: DO you remember him? At his best, he was the tormentor in the pale primrose shirt in Roscommon, at his worst he seemed the focal point for all of the frustrations of the county. He was gone from the scene before anyone really noticed, like the life and soul slipping through the kitchen door while the party was still in full swing. During Roscommon’s championship run last summer his name came up again and he was spoken of as a cautionary tale.
Frankie Dolan, what happened to him? – or – do you remember that evening he cut loose against Kildare? Or – in the All-Ireland quarter-final last summer when the young Roscommon champions briefly led the favourites from Cork. They could use Frankie out there today. What age is he now? Thirty – “Two,” he finishes, throwing his eyes to heaven.
Dolan looks trim and in good form and on an afternoon of giddy excitement on Lough Ree, he is the epitome of calm. On Thursday, Dolan will play in Croke Park for the third time in his life when St Brigid’s meet Crossmaglen in the All-Ireland club football final.
His first appearance at the ground was in 2003, when he scored 1-3 against Kerry in the All-Ireland quarter-final. His next came two years later. Roscommon met Dublin in the qualifiers and Dolan’s star had dimmed. He came on as a substitute. He has good memories of both occasions but admits he can’t quite believe he will be back there for the fabled March date.
“In some ways, I’m not that surprised. We have played the top teams over the last few years even in challenge games and we have often had the run on them. This team is only together since 2008. A lot of the team was there when we last played Crossmaglen. Robbie Kelly started before. Karol Mannion. Senan Kilbride. John Tiernan. But a good few were substitutes then. But then the other side is that you never think you will get to St Patrick’s Day with your club. You always associate it with city teams or the big clubs, or whatever.
“It is a fabulous stadium. When you play in Connacht, you never know when you are going to get back there so this is nice. Only one player was born outside the parish so it is very local and it does feel unbelievable, even though we knew we could compete against the best.”
Dolan was the star through a turbulent period for Roscommon football. There were a few memorable days – he rates Gerry Lohan’s last-minute goal to win the 2001 Connacht final against Mayo as his favourite match and he showed outrageously good form in the 2003 All-Ireland championship, firing 0-12 against Offaly in the qualifying series and 0-13 against Kildare a week later. That match was one of those minor classics, a dusty Saturday evening, the game moving tensely into extra-time thanks to a Dolan point and neither side in a mood to crack.
Towards the end, Dolan had a sideline ball and asked manager Tom Carr what he should to with it. “Just kill it,” Carr told him. Dolan hammered it over the bar. “Is that dead enough for ya, Tom?” he said as the fans roared in appreciation.
But for all the talent, Frankie’s reputation was for hanging with the troublemakers down the back of the class and he was released from the panel a few times after engaging in a difference of opinion with managers. He was also among a big group of senior players cut from the panel when John Maughan took over the team.
Maybe he did himself no favours but maybe things got exaggerated too. Once, when asked about his favourite place in one of those questionnaire articles that players are asked to do, Frankie elected Croke Park and Bozo’s nightclub in Athlone. It was a throwaway comment and Dolan shakes his head when reminded of it. But in a period when the prevailing attitude among football teams was for a monastic approach to life, Dolan went against the grain.
“When I trained with Roscommon, I trained hard,” he says now. “Probably picked up more injuries training than in games. But it was nice to have a bit of time off as well.
“When I played county ball, there was very little time off. And it is nice to have a bit of a social life and to go away with your buddies for a night or head off for a few days. Back then, it was busy enough. But now, I see guys coming in from county training knackered. They can hardly walk.”
And maybe the experience of being bounced on and off the county panel helped Dolan to realise what he wanted from the game. When Fergal O’Donnell took up the senior position a year after his memorable success with the All-Ireland winning minor team of 2007, Dolan opted out. His shoulder was constantly sore and he was tired and the thought of another gruelling winter of training and those punishing road trips in the league did nothing for him.
“I felt I just wanted to concentrate on the club. And I am enjoying it. I don’t miss the county at all. You know, you would be gone most nights of the week training and working, whereas the club is a bit more laid back.”
THIS WEEK ISan exception. The atmosphere around Kiltoom and Cam is giddy and expectant. St Brigid's are ambitious. Since 1997, when the club won its first county title for 28 years, they have been one of the most consistent teams in Connacht. The outskirts of Athlone has been decorated with bunting and good luck signs. At the entrance of the foyer at the Hodson Bay Hotel, a sign proclaims the cancellation of St Patrick's Day in favour of St Brigid's Day. This year's team have made it to the final in low-key fashion, overcoming the highly-fancied Nemo Rangers in the semi-final.
They studied Nemo’s flying performance against Colm Cooper and Dr Crokes in the Munster club final and decided the Kerry champions had made the mistake of sitting back in the first half. So they worked furiously from the start and kept their noses in front, with Dolan often dropping back from his customary poacher’s position. Dolan places himself among the veterans of a team, noting most of the players were substitutes when they last played Crossmaglen in the semi-final three years ago.
“These young lads are very settled and they have surprised me over the last few months with their attitude. They never lose the cool. But we have been together for a few years with a few exceptions. We lost Donal O’Connor, he played against Eastern Harps but went travelling. He is a serious athlete. He is coming back from Brazil for the match. We lost Darragh Blane a few years back, he headed to Australia. And a few have retired but overall they are very settled. So I think they will enjoy this. I remember being with Roscommon in Croke Park before and some lads were nearly intimidated but these young lads are very composed.”
Dolan plays down his contribution but it has been invaluable. He claims injuries and time have thieved the quick step that he enjoyed in his early 20s but still, he is no slouch and knows where the posts are. He was in Dublin last week to collect a monthly football award and met Oisín McConville, who will call the curtains on a glittering career after playing for Crossmaglen on Thursday. They talked about the difference not playing county ball makes.
Dolan watched the Kerry-Dublin league game a fortnight ago and was taken aback by the unrelenting pace and intensity of the game. “I reckon some of them are fitter than the soccer players in England now,” he says. He is not sure if the hyper-fitness and pressure is a good thing, noting, like a lot of traditionalists, the foot pass is disappearing.
He never officially retired and when he goes to see Roscommon play he still gets a few shouts from the crowd, telling him he should be out there. “You get loads of that. I just laugh. There are lads out there doing it and let them at it, I say. We have plenty of young lads coming through. You always end up back in your club and that is what happened to me.”
At 32, he is still young enough to make a comeback and his reappearance in the national spotlight this Thursday is bound to make that a talking point. “Ah, I don’t know,” he says quietly about the possibility of playing for Roscommon again. “Probably not, to be honest. I don’t think the hunger would be there for it. I know most of the guys and they are training, travelling the country at the weekend and I don’t know if that’s for me anymore. And it is a different generation of players now and I am happy to let them at it. You know, I had a great day at the Connacht final last summer, I was delighted for the team. I love a big game.”
And out of the blue, Frankie Dolan is smack back in the middle of one of the biggest days on the Irish sporting calendar. You can bet he will live every second of it. And if you were wondering what happened to him, well, here he is.
