Rugby matches in GAA grounds are the opium of the people.
A couple. Ballina RFC is the big one. Mayo produced a couple of capped internationals too through Gavin āSalthill Knocknacarra brown envelopeā Duffy and Dave Heffernan.
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Doris is from mayo
Where is Johny Concrete from? Any famous players in 80s 90s from Connacht?
Noel Mannion, Eric Elwood, Ciaran Fitzgeraldā¦Simon Geoghegan 
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This is rugby country
Mick Galway
Is Knebworth in Sligo?
Galway City. Think heās from Salthill.
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Wasnāt Geoghains father from the famous rugby stronghold of Corofin?
One of the great Aussie centres of that era (Tim Horan maybe?) also had a father from Corofin.
Hes living in Salthill anyway.
Him and Jason Little were an incredible centre pairing. They played alongside each other in schools in toowoomba, clubs with Souths in brisbane , state with Qld and then for the wallabies. Telepathic understanding.
Bad knee injuries finished both. Telepathic indeed
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Heās from Newcastle. Former Aussie captain Stephen Mooreās father was from tuam.
Connacht go from crowds of 100 in midweek afternoon games 25 years ago to 25k in mayo. Remarkable really. Deserves a play or something.
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I was introduced to a Galway man once who told me he was big in āWegiansā. Da fcuk.
Yeah - itās fairly impressive. Usually looks like a decent atmosphere at home games too
Wegians sold their soul when they let soccerball be played on the hallowed turf of Glenina. Iām sure your mate left that detail out.
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They should be a case study. They were a running joke in the 90s, always advertising games on media and with road signage, then had some header dressed as an eagle on the sideline (cc @count_of_monte_crist) but bit by bit they slowly attracted support. I think just the guarantee of regular competition, plus the social friendly time of Friday night games. Once they snuck into the European cup it went nuclear. Toulouse got a crowd 8k I think one Friday night. Unheard of. Long gone are the days of touring wallabies and all blacks sides giving out about walking on dogshit there. They are very welcoming to everyone, very kid friendly, thereās a bar there with enough socialites to keep people happy. The provinces fit rugby just right.
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The mother from that way too. I met the family a few times. Came close to signing for Munster, gaffney sent him jersey with 2 on it during tentative negotiations
He was on aust 20s team that played this irish team in ballymore, was at it
Gavin Duffy mentioned earlier on there, few others some may recognise
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Irfu pulled the deal if Iām not mistaken
The mother is a mayo woman afaik.
Was almost certain that Moores father was from Galway City. Had Woodquay in my head. But very much open to correction.
I remember being in ātownā about 25 years ago one fine Saturday afternoon, Donāt know how I got wind of it, but Connacht were playing a crowd from wales in the Sportsground. I decided to head up. The proceeding hammering that Connacht got was watched by about 150 people. As a lifelong Galway United supporter I was well used to derisory crowds, but this really was father Ted stuff.
But now, 25k in the heart of Gaelic football country is some going. Mayo is a big untapped market imo. Thereās literally nothing going on up there most of the time. Connacht could make hay there.
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