Kildare man getting to grips with Clare football

KILDARE man, Niall Browne is one of the three footballers to have linked up with Clare under the GAA’s parentage rule. Browne, who plays with Kildare junior club Two Mile House, started at wing-forward against Kerry in the McGrath Cup final. He ended up at midfield at the start of the second half, having also spent first-half minutes in the full-forward line. Browne, who works in recruitment in Kildare and Dublin, is eligible to play for Clare because his mother Nancy Hassett is from Cooraclare.
Before he joined the Clare panel he had travelled in Australia with county captain, Gordon Kelly and Ennistymon’s Laurence Healy.
“I went travelling with them in Australia for a good few months and I got to know them very well. We were all interested in football and spent a lot of time talking about it,” the 28-year-old former Kildare footballer told The Clare Champion.
This was how Micheál McDermott became aware of Browne’s Clare connection. Once Central Council allowed Clare to recruit players under the parentage rule last month, Browne, along with Adrian Cahill (Celbridge) and David O’Connor, qualified to play.
“I’d say maybe that Micheál must have got wind from Gordon about my connections. Micheál gave me a ring late last year to see would I give it a go. I thought long and hard about it because of the commitment involved but I said I’d give it a craic. I’m enjoying it anyway,” Browne said.
A source of some frustration is his club’s junior status. Two Mile House have threatened to emerge from the Junior A ranks in Kildare but have yet to manage it.
“We play senior league division two in Kildare. There are intermediate teams in the leagues below us but because we’ve lost three junior finals in the last four years, we’re still junior. We’ve beaten senior and intermediate clubs in the league but we can’t seem to win the junior championship final,” Browne sighed.
Although there is quite a bit of travelling involved, Browne said he is enjoying his stint as a Clare inter-county footballer so far and he said the training and preparation is of a decent quality.
“It’s been great. Between James Foran, Liam McHale and Micheál, the training is brilliant and the lads have all been welcoming and accommodating. There’s a very good bunch of footballers there. It’s great being involved and playing with good players. From that point of view it’s just very enjoyable,” he reiterated.
Clare are hopeful that the four McGrath Cup games they played will steel them for Sunday’s opening national football league game in Carrick-on-Shannon. Leitrim won’t be at the same level as Kerry but should be somewhere around the level of Waterford and UCC.
“The games were all very good. We kept going up a level each time. We played the two college teams first. Then Waterford was a step up and then Kerry was the ultimate step-up. We’re definitely learning a lot. There were a good 28 or 29 lads used. There’s great competition for places. There were a lot of good footballers that didn’t get a game at all against Kerry,” Browne pointed out.
Although he featured in a variety of positions in Killarney last weekend, Browne isn’t picky about where he plays.
“I’d play anywhere. I don’t really mind as long as I’m in the shake-up,” he maintained.
In fact, Browne said that if he isn’t a regular starter during the eight-game Division 4 league campaign, he will still give it his all.
“What I said was, I was going down there to contribute as best I can. Whether that means making the team or pushing lads as hard as I can, I don’t really mind where I play,” he stressed.
Although in his late 20s, Browne maintained there are plenty of areas where he must improve upon to cut it as an inter-county footballer.
“I’ve a long, long way to go in terms of improving but I’m enjoying it and learning a lot,” he said.
Growing up, Browne was regularly brought to Clare games so the county doesn’t exactly have to be introduced to him from scratch.
“Since I was young I would always have gone to Clare matches. To be playing with them is brilliant. There’s some brilliant footballers in that squad and to be involved is brilliant,” he concluded.
Although there has been significant player turnover inside the last 12 months and indeed that is an annual feature of the Clare senior football panel, Browne is committed to giving his best for Clare even if it isn’t his native county. Commuting from Kildare each weekend is testament to his dedication and it’s a link that he hopes will last a few years.