Joe Brolly Defends Connolly And Destroys Spillane
Without fail, The Sunday Game throws up some talking points every weekend, but last night in particular, the Diarmuid Connolly saga came to the surface once again and resulted in remarkable comments from pundit Joe Brolly.
Dublin boss Jim Gavin, renowned for his typically not so interesting post-match press conferences gave everyone something to talk about yesterday evening after his side hammered Westmeath in the Leinster semi-final.
Gavin slammed the treatment of Diarmuid Connolly in the broadcast media after his altercation with a linesman against Carlow, and made reference to former Kerry great Pat Spillane.
Gavin, in pursuit of a third All-Ireland title in a row, stated at a press conference rather than a typical post match interview that:
"What concerns me is how his good name was attacked. Before we even saw the referee's report, we have the national broadcaster, both Pat Spillane and Colm O'Rourke, particularly Pat, who had a pre-determined statement."
Obviously, the Dublin manager's comments were going to spark debate and both Brolly and Dessie Dolan agreed that Spillane was overly harsh in his criticism of Diarmuid Connolly.
"You have to say, it was like watching counsel for the prosecution. Pat had everything on but his Kerry blazer and his Kerry tie. I thought to myself after, the CCCC are going to act here."
Host Des Cahill asked the former Derry player turned pundit does he blame Pat Spillane for Diarmuid Connolly's suspension, to which Brolly replied with:
"You were expecting that the Dubs could think, 'that's the end of the matter'. But once it had been jumped on - and it looked to me that Pat was reading out a script - and as soon as I watched it, I thought, they will have to go for him now."
Both Spillane and Colm O'Rourke were heavily criticised for their criticism of the St. Vincents club man, and Dessie Dolan, who was inducted into the Leinster Hall of Fame on Sunday in Croke Park feels Spillane's comments were "pointed toward Diarmuid Connolly getting a suspension."
To summarise all that - Connolly is suspended for 12 weeks, and Brolly believes that Pat Spillane can be blamed to a certain extent.