When: Friday - 7pm
Where: RTÉ Two and RTÉ.ie GAA Media Player
CLICK HERE FOR GAA MEDIA PLAYER
Note: Programmes will be available live and on-demand either worldwide or restricted to the Island of Ireland depending on the content of each individual programme. See GAA Media Player for details on each individual programme.
PUNTER v PUNDITS: THINK YOU KNOW YOUR ONIONS?
Have you ever read a GAA article and thought to yourself, 'I know more than that eejit'? Have you made a fortune on GAA betting and fancy demonstrating your genius to the nation? Do you like the idea of proving once and for all that you really know your GAA?
If so we want to hear from you!
This summer The Road to Croker is looking for ordinary GAA fans to show the hacks who knows best! Every week in the Punter v Pundits competition, a well known GAA journalist will go head to head with one of you, the ordinary punter, attempting to predict the results of all the games of that weekend.
Send us a written email or a video telling us about your love and knowledge of the GAA. We also want to know where you are from and if you have a particularly interesting job. Most importantly, tell us why you should be given a chance to get your 60 seconds of fame on the airwaves.
Send your email to fintan@loosehorse.ie and be in with a chance to bring honour and glory to your county and parish!
PROGRAMME DETAILS
Programme Twelve: Friday 25 September
On the final Road to Croker Anthony Daly, Michael Cleary and Denis Walsh look back on the hurling year and assess the state of the hurling nation in the wake of Kilkenny's four in a row. The programme will also be reviewing the football year after the All Ireland Final between Cork and Kerry and assessing whether the qualifiers have achieved their goals after 9 years in existence.
The Road to Croker travels north to Belfast to take in a cross community initiative that has boys from East Belfast playing hurling with their West Belfast neighbours. It also look forward to the All Ireland Ladies football final and catches up with the oldest referee in the country, 72 year old Patrick Archbold in Cavan.
Programme Eleven: Friday 18 September
The end is in sight on The Road to Croker as Cork and Kerry go head to head in Croke Park on Sunday with Sam Maguire awaiting the winner. The stakes couldn't be higher. Local rivalry and national glory all come down to 70 minutes of football and whoever blinks first will fall.
One man who carries a great deal of expectation on his young shoulders is Paul Kerrigan, who will line out in the Cork half forward line. A revelation all year, Kerrigan is one good performance away from an All Star and possible an All Ireland medal.
If he feels nervous he can always go to his father for advice. Jimmy Kerrigan was a corner back on the Cork team that finally broke Kerry's grip on Munster in 1987 and then went on to win two All Irelands in 1989 and 1990. Paul can only dream to emulate his father's achievements.
Father and son took time out from preparations to talk to The Road to Croker about living in Kerry's shadow, learning from your father, and getting nervous watching you son!
Programme Ten: Friday 11 September
With Kerry facing their old rivals Cork in the All-Ireland Football final in two weeks' time, the border tensions are at an all-time high. Billy Keane, the publican, writer, son of John B Keane and most importantly a cute Kerryman, is on a mission. Billy spends a day in Cork city looking for new recruits for the Kerry Supporters' Club. Complete with a life-size cut out of the much despised Paul Galvin, Billy might well be asking for trouble, but has he bitten off more than he can chew?
As usual, RTÉ’s The Road to Croker is the place to be for the start of the weekend action, and this Friday’s programme also features:
The Clare Under-21 hurlers have reached their first All-Ireland final against Kilkenny on Sunday. Darach Honan from Clonlara is the star player and The Road to Croker dropped in on the small Clare village to find the secret to hurling’s new boywonder as well as hearing Clonlara’s amazing story, with six players on the panel!
Cork dual star Briege Corkery is well used to big days in Croker. The stonemason will appear in another All-Ireland Camogie final on Sunday against Kilkenny, but not before she finishes that wall!
Kilkenny haven’t won a camogie final since 1994 but a star player from that year has brought them back to the big time. Ann Downey is now manager of a new generation and she explains why it has been so long and why this could be their year.
Programme Nine: Friday 4 September
With all roads leading to Croker this weekend for the All Ireland Hurling Final between Tipperary and Kilkenny. The Road to Croker is the place to go to get the big weekend started as the programme is packed with features and analysis of the biggest game in the hurling year.
Eddie Keher has won six All Irelands for Kilkenny but the build up to the big day has changed a great deal since his first final 50 years ago. These days the media hype is part of the game and Eddie Keher went along to the press night as well as casting his eye over training to see how his successors are preparing for the big day. He talks to Jackie Tyrell, JJ Delaney and Michael Kavanagh ahead of his 10th All Ireland Final appearance.
Tipperary’s Nicky English has also been there and done it on All Ireland Final day. He goes through the day itself, remembering his finals as player and manager and explaining all the routines and rituals that the players will go through on Tipp’s first All Ireland day since 2001. He remembers in particular his own big day nerves which almost always involved getting physically sick.
The programme also goes back twenty years to the All Ireland of 1989. That year Antrim caused the shock of the decade beating Offaly to earn a place in the final. Star forward Olcan McFetridge, goalkeeper Niall Patterson and manager Jim Nelson cast their minds back, in particular on one of the greatest goals ever scored in Croke Park!
Rackard Cody is a busy man these days. A member of the Kilkenny backroom team, his job is to mind all the trophies the Kilkenny hurlers win. He has had 11 to take care of this year, including Liam McCarthy. RTÉ's The Road to Croker caught up with him and his trophies and found out what the famous cup has been up to all year.
The programme will also be analysing the strengths and weaknesses of both teams in the company of GAA journalists Michael Foley and Gavin Cummiskey, along with some of the champion Punters from the series, as we try and figure out who where Liam McCarthy will be heading on Sunday evening.
Programme Eight: Friday 28 August
All roads lead to Croker this weekend as Kerry and Meath go head to head for a place in the All Ireland Football final. As usual The Road to Croker has features with the some of the biggest names playing on Sunday.
Most of Meath's hopes of toppling Kerry rest on the young shoulders of Cian Ward. The ice cool Ward has been their top marksman all year and he tests his accuracy of a different kind on the clay pigeon shooting range. He tells The Road to Croker about the pressure of last-minute frees and why Meath have succeeded in the qualifiers this year.
Kerry goalkeeper Diarmuid Murphy is chasing his fourth All Ireland medal between the sticks this summer. He had to wait a long time to get his first team chance, being understudy to Declan O'Keeffe for years. Murphy tells the programme what kept him going through those hard years and learns from Kerry goalkeeping legend Johnny Culloty how times have changed for Kerry goalkeepers.
Next weeks All Ireland Hurling Final will be the last time we will see players not wearing helmets in Croke Park. From next year helmets are mandatory in all games. The Road to Croker talks to Dr. Stephen Beatty who has treated many seriously injured hurlers over the years about the new rule. A promising hurler who had his career cut short after a serious eye injury also tells his story.
Croke Park last weekend hosted a novel race with Olympians like Derval O'Rourke and David Gillick leading their teams in an interprovincial relay in front over 50,000 spectators. The Road to Croker went behind the scenes for the day with David Gillick as he made his Croke Park debut, and delves into the historic associations between athletics and the GAA.
As usual a Punter and a GAA Pundit will be analysing the case for victory for both Kerry and Meath in the big game.
Programme Seven: Friday 21 August
The Road to Croker is winding its way towards its destination! With the All Ireland Hurling Final contenders confirmed and the football semi finals about to throw in, only a few teams can still dream of glory in September.
This week it's Cork v Tyrone and two of the best players on show give exclusive interviews to The Road to Croker.
Cork's flying wing back John Miskella thought his football career was over a few years ago but he is now two steps away from an All Ireland. He tells The Road to Croker about why he walked away and why he came back.
Tyrone's total footballer Joe McMahon has been razor sharp this year, and he talks beards and brothers from the barbers chair as he gets his championship haircut before the big game on Sunday.
The Down minors completed their recovery from Swine Flu with their weekend win over Dublin. A special feature looks at the possible consequences of the disease for GAA teams at all levels.
And with the construction industry in disarray there is one building boom still going strong as hurling walls pop up all over the country. Hurling Development Co-ordinator Paudie Butler and Kilkenny selector Michael Dempsey explain the benefits.
As usual a punter and a GAA pundit will be analysing the case for victory for both Tyrone and Cork in the big game.
Programme Six: Friday 14 August
Limerick hurlers Niall and Ollie Moran have had an up-and-down year with injuries but as Limerick head into the All Ireland Semi-Final it's all coming together nicely. Now they face their first cousins from Tipp, Eoin and Paul Kelly, with a place in the final at stake. The Road to Croker went to the Moran household in Castleconnell to catch up with their preparations.
They say he is very laid back but there is nothing relaxed about Lar Corbett once he steps over the white line of the hurling field. Having had a super year so far, Corbett is now plotting the downfall of Limerick. He tells The Road to Croker what it's like growing up in the home of hurling, Thurles, as well as the trouble with being a speed merchant.
The Galway camogie team still have the All Ireland in their sights but three of the girls with very famous relatives have big shoes to fill. Ann Marie Hayes, Aislinn Connolly and Brenda Hanney also know a good bet when they see one, and they broke The Road to Croker bank at the Galway Races.
David 'Shaper' Reynolds was one of the stars of Offaly's historic Leinster football win in 1997 and was victorious again this summer as the caddy for Shane Lowry as they won the Irish Open golf tournament together. On The Road to Croker this week Shaper relives two very different sporting successes.
As usual there will be analysis of the big game between Tipperary and Limerick with the infamous Punter v Pundit showdown.
Programme Five: Friday 7 August
John O'Mahony is a busy man these days. On Sunday his Mayo team face Meath in the All Ireland quarter final but occupying his time from day to day is his job as a TD for Mayo (they really aren't on holidays you know!). The Road to Croker spends a day with John as he deals with everything from the REPS scheme to Mayo training and plenty more besides.
Only a madman would stand in the way of a small hard ball travelling at 100mph but that's what two of the country's top hurling goalkeepers do all the time. Clinton Hennessy and Brendan Cummins will be in action in the All Ireland Semi Finals over the next two weekends but they took time out to talk about the art of the goalkeeper.
As Kilkenny prepare for the All Ireland Semi Final against Waterford they would do well to be inspired by Martin White, who won All Ireland medals for Kilkenny in 1932, 1933 and 1935. Martin turned 100 last week and was presented with a special medal by Brian Cody and Kilkenny star, Tommy Walsh. The Road to Croker was there to find out what keeps Martin young.
Frank McNally of the Irish Times pays tribute to the long suffering GAA supporter, who suffers the slings and arrows of his obnoxious and loud neighbour, but still remains dignified to the end.
In the regular Punter v Pundit slot, Mairéad Coyne of the Killary Adventure Company will be hoping to show that Cian Murphy of the Star doesn't know it all when it comes to predicting match results.
Programme Four: Friday 31 July - WATCH NOW
A behind-the-scenes look at a hectic week for Ireland's most famous playing surface: Croke Park.
Kilkenny men rarely approach big games in Croke Park with a sense of anxiety, but this week Richard Hayden has been an exception to the rule. As Project Manager for Sports Turf Research Institute, he has been the main man in the reinstatement of the playing surface at headquarters following the U2 concerts.
He has battled the weather, the clock and the resident protests in an attempt to hit his deadline and have a brand new pitch ready for the All Ireland Football Quarter finals, and The Road to Croker's cameras have been by his side rolling day and night.
Richard says: “Even at the outset, the timeline was challenging. But with all the delays, we have been working non stop to get back on track. All going well this week, I will definitely be going to the games but I will be looking at the turf, not the game. Kilkenny lads have a good track record here so hopefully we will be celebrating a success story.”
Richard began his career as a greenkeeper on Mount Juliet and is now a renowned specialist in his field who has worked on stadia ranging from the Camp Nou in Barcelona to the new Wembley stadium in Europe.
With Limerick still in the football and hurling Championships we talk to two guys who are straddling both codes: Dr. Stephen Lucey and Mark O'Riordan. They tell The Road to Croker how they pick each other up after a bad day by sending the other a comforting text. Are they serious? We're not sure either.
Vinnie Murphy, Declan Darcy and Tommy Carr recall that great Dublin Kerry match in 2001. (The first one, not the replay. The one that got Dub fans to take a trip to Tipp.) You'll remember Vinnie's super sub performance and that divine Maurice Fitz point to level the match in the dying minutes. Relive it with these three key players.
And Billy Keane demonstrates how to spend a day out without spending a penny.
Programme Three: Friday 24 July - WATCH NOW
Kerry’s Tadhg Kennelly talks openly about his reasons for swapping Bondi for Ballybunion. Speaking about players going over to Australia to try their hand at AFL, Tadhg says: “I’d never say to any kid not to go to Australia. It’s a massive opportunity. The one thing I would say is to be very careful about what clubs are approaching you. There is a lot of clubs over there that don’t have the resources and that don’t have the facilities to make it, but if you go through the right networks, the right people and the right clubs, it’s a great opportunity for kids and it’s something that you can aspire to do.”
On AFL training camps here in Ireland, he says: “There is a right and a wrong way in as far as you don’t want people coming over from the other side of the world and basically doing what they want in Ireland. Running clinics and running camps and whatnot on Irish soil is something that should never ever happen.”
In the interview, Tadhg also talks about the death of his father and Kerry's search for some form.
Also in the programme:
As the Dublin hurlers go in search of an All Ireland semi-final appearance we look back on some of the harder times for the capital's hurlers with Jimmy Grey, Dessie Fergusan and others.
Last week the iconic Cork hurlers crashed out of the Championship. We were behind the scenes every step of the way. The Cork logistics manager, Martin 'Gatchy' Walsh, is the man who keeps the whole operation running like a well-oiled machine and we spent the day with him in Thurles.
After Damian Lawlor's humiliation last weekend the punters now lead the so-called experts in our predictions quiz, Punter v Pundit. Cliona Foley of the Irish Independent has some catching up to do on behalf of the GAA journalists. She is up against a tuba player from Dublin!
Programme Two: Friday 17 July - WATCH NOW
In tonight's programme, The Road to Croker will be hanging out with the Bradley family: Antrim manager Liam, and Derry sharpshooters Paddy and Eoin, ahead of a big weekend for the family. Liam has led Antrim to their first Ulster Final since 1970 on Sunday while his sons will play a key role as Derry look to progress to through the qualifiers.
Also tonight, Munster and Ireland rugby star Tomás O'Leary shows he is still well able to handle a hurl... but then he was an All Ireland winning Minor captain for Cork in 2001 and with a father like Cork's Seánie O'Leary, he didn't lick it off the stones either!
Mayo's run to the All Ireland Final in 1989 is also remembered in tonight's programme as they prepare for another Connacht Final showdown with Galway. And the Punter v Pundit showdown continues with two more wannabe Mystic Megs gazing into their crystal balls for the weekend action.
Programme One: Friday 10 July - WATCH NOW (Ireland only)
Opening the first episode is comedian and TV presenter Patrick Kielty who, when he comes back to Dundrum in County Down, is still "Paddy Kielty who played football for Dundrum, who goes to the pub and buys my round", despite his high profile career and celebrity lifestyle. In this programme he talks about how his first stand up performances were about the GAA and claims the phrase 'who does yer man think he is' was coined by the Association. Kielty was pretty serious about his football, winning an All Ireland medal for the Down minor team in 1987, and earlier this year, his club Dundrum named their pitch after his father, Jack Kielty, who was murdered by loyalist paramilitaries.
Also in tonight's programme, rival net minders, Waterford and Tipperary goalkeepers Clinton Hennessey and Brendan Cummins, explain the pressures on a hurling goalkeeper ahead of their clash in the Munster Hurling Final and how they came to be the guardians of the net.
The programme also asks why it has been 10 years since a Leinster team won an All Ireland. With Leinster football going through a serious drought, Dr. Pat O'Neill diagnoses the problem while Meath tough guy Colm Coyle prescribes the cure.
