Conor Whelan

Whereas now it's just literally game on game on game where you're nearly not having the chance to even process a game hardly.

I think our team in 17, the reason we were so close, like we went to the Fenway in 2015.

Do you remember that Leavenside thing?

Oh yeah, yeah.

We went on that together.

Then we, in 2017, we went on our team holiday

And then the following year we went to San Francisco as well.

So we're very close because we spent a lot of time together outside of Hurling as well.

And I think it definitely makes the group closer and makes it more... As you said, you're going training, you're playing a game, you're on the bus home and then that's it.

You're not...

You're not getting as many chances to go out together or even get to know people outside of the performance environment that is training and games.

it just happened so fast and then your round robin starts like you have your games in the round robin format and then if you make a Leinster final you've that Leinster final in two weeks if you win your Leinster final you're four weeks off if you lose you're out again in two weeks so you literally have to process losing the Leinster final all the analysis of that and then dust yourself off and go again in the space of two weeks for another quarter final against it's usually a very very good team like so yeah

Yeah, it's definitely a challenging format.

Now look, there's obviously pluses to it, there's more games, and that was the objective behind it as well, so pros and cons, I suppose, really.

I'm working with Castle Group, they're a construction company in Galway.

So working in occupational health and well-being.

So I have about 350 people working for them.

So I taught English and history for three years, not too far away from here in Ballygar.

And yeah, just decided I'd go back and go studying again.

PhD?