Ronan Mullen

I can't remember the last sort of time that we had a superstar who was sort of really open during their career.

You know, it's it's it's it's a shame.

You know, I read back a lot of the old sort of interviews that were around all Ireland finals in the 90s.

Particularly during that period when, like, this is part of the reason we remember the 90s for Hurling was because all the iconoclastic sort of counties came along and changed things around.

But also because their stories were being kind of actively told as they were doing it.

So we all got to know them in real time.

Clifford, in the small exposure I've had to him, is like...

perfectly nice talks in a very honest and kind of open way but you just know there's a whole treasure chest of stuff there that he's never going to say this side of retirement but I think we'll take his football over his stories just for the moment

What's an interesting sort of context for that is obviously last year was the first year with the amended rules.

And I know people will always come up with their theories as to other rules suit this.

But one of the things that Charlotte Bourne said, I can't remember when he said it, was that around the time that he was putting the FRC together.

And he was in communication with Jim Gavin.

Gavin asked him, what kind of game do you want?

And Charlie Portis' reply was, one where David Clifford can drive.

So, like, literally speaking, the game is literally tailor-made for him.

But I don't think there's too many people out there that would begrudge a player of his sort of very unique skill set having it rewarded.

Yeah.

One of my abiding memories of the Gooch is like the late era Gooch when the game had changed and I remember 2015 All-Ireland Final when he spent the game running backwards after Philly McMahon and Philly like kind of mauling him as they went back up the pitch and just his energy being drained and that was obviously a way to go after a team that had a player of that quality is target them and make them go backwards and

and get them to do things that they just do not want to do so yeah I'd say he's a little bit aggrieved by the David Clifford rules yeah that's a very interesting thought yeah the framing the way you said it out there probably looking at the greatest player we've ever seen and yeah

Yeah, that's the end of the World Snooker Championship.