Last month, the hurling world lost a true star when Tyrone hurler Damian Casey sadly passed away. The 29-year-old Dungannon native was seen by many as the greatest hurler ever from Tyrone.
People came out in their hundreds for Damian Casey's funeral. So many who knew him spoke of the impact he made on them. Tyrone footballer Niall Morgan maybe said it best:
"For such a high-profile person I never heard anybody say a bad word about him. No ego, no nothing. He was almost a protected species in Dungannon. Everybody looked up to him in Dungannon so much, he will be sadly missed."
Casey's scoring stats speak for themselves. Across league and championship, in 100 games, he registered 39-908 for Tyrone. One of his final achievements on the pitch was winning the Nicky Rackard Cup with Tyrone in May. In the aftermath of that victory, Casey sat down with our own Paul Shaughnessy to discuss Tyrone's season and his own love for the game. Casey spoke of what Tyrone will need to do next season, and it's so sad to think he won't be there to inspire them.
PS: What was it like being crowned Nicky Rackard Cup champions?
DC: ‘’We had bad defeat last year to Mayo in the Nicky Rackard cup final. We were well beat, and we said in the changing rooms after that game that we would be doing our utmost to get back to Croke park. And thank God we got back there. We had bad defeat to Roscommon two weeks prior to the final and then we had gear ourselves up against a very good Donegal side in the semi-final in Carrickmore where we got over the line. Then we reached the final and we probably learned a lot from last year against Mayo and we were totally different team and probably put in one of the best performances since I’ve been involved with Tyrone from the very start right until the end’’.
PS: Was the Mayo game in last years Nicky Rackard Final a reference point?
DC: ‘’Leading into the final it was a reference point we were at the start of a journey getting to that final and maybe weren’t expected by a lot of people to get to the final. Once we got back into pre-season, we set our targets of getting to a league final and we achieved that by winning 3A and took every game as it came. There wasn’t much of a break between league and championship. We played the league and then flew out to Warrackshire a week later in the first round of the Rackard''
PS: Did Tyrone do anything different this year?
DC:' 'I suppose when Mickey [McShane] and his management team came in last year they were late coming in and didn't get to do the work done that they wanted to get done which was only natural it was short period of time to our first game so we done what we could. Then this year us and management team learned from last year. We put our shoulder to the wheel and we worked hard. There was comradery in the group and we built serious momentum along the way. Maybe before we didn't believe we were good enough but the management instilled the belief into us that the quality was there''.
PS: What kind of a manager is Michael McShane?
DC: ''Mickey is top class, he's brilliant. He came in and it was probably a new set-up for him and has done done terrific work with Slaughtneil. He came in and instilled that confidence and professionalism into our group and made us work hard that's what he always wanted us to do and let the hurling take care of itself. Going to training was enjoyable and a bit of craic aswell as putting in a shift which made lads buy in to our set-up''.
PS: What's it like with Tyrone senior hurling team being made up of four clubs?
DC: ''The lack of clubs is a challenge. We're pulling from four clubs on our senior team. There is a couple of other clubs that have started up in the past few years but in regards to contributing to our senior team they wouldn't have any players playing on the county team that hasn't came out yet but it will do hopefully in the future. It's always going to be a challenge when you look at Tyrone footballer I think they're picking from forty eight clubs with the bigger pick your obviously going to have more quality. In the past ten years we haven't done too bad with it.
PS: Where is Tyrone hurling now for you?
DC: ''After this year it's in a healthy enough place but you can never rest on your laurels. We can look back on 2022 and say that was a great year we need to build on it, go again and take that next step. You can always improve that's what we will be looking to do and staying in the competitions we're in''.
PS: Should Ulster Senior hurling championship be brought back?
DC: ''Why was it got rid of I don't know. Ulster hurling maybe at the minute isn't top of the pile of course it's not top of the pile but it's certainly not in a bad position. For the likes of ourselves playing Down and Antrim would improve us and we could learn from them. So I would certainly be in favour of bringing the competition back.
PS: Do you pay much attention to your scoring stats where you've scored 39-908 in 100 games?
DC: ''I don't much attention to it being honest. It is a nice record and it is certainly one to be proud of whenever I retire or finish up. At the end of day you want trophies and medals."
