John Muldoon defines Connacht Rugby. The hard working flanker from a hurling background is as close to a man of the region as you can get. So much so that the former Galway minor almost didn't play rugby, only learning of the sport because of the Lions in 1997 when he was 15.
Until then, like most people from Portumna, hurling was the sport of choice for Muldoon. So it makes sense that Muldoon's sporting hero from his childhood would be a hurling legend.
So when Sky Sports got him in an interview and asked him that question, that Joe Cooney was his answer tells you everything you need to know about Muldoon's upbringing and character. But obviously that wouldn't do for Sky Sports:
Sky Sports collared him for an interview once, one of those set-piece Q&As. They asked him to name his hero and he answered Joe Cooney, the famous Galway hurler. Politely, they stopped filming and asked him to name somebody that people would know. He said Muhammad Ali, but he didn’t mean it.
Be sure to check out Denis Walsh's brilliant profile with John Muldoon in the Sunday Times.
