Clarke has no regrets
September 15, 2010
Down's Marty Clarke
The An Riocht clubman's decision to return home late last year has paid off handsomely with him having contributed enormously to Down's surprise run to next Sunday's All-Ireland final against Cork. However, he revealed yesterday that there were a number of other factors behind his decision to turn his back on life as a professional sportsman.
"For me, it was mainly non-football related, coming back to my family, my girlfriend and my home. It definitely wasn't going well for me in the final year (at Collingwood) and that also contributed to my decision to come back home," he told the Irish Independent.
"I have full-time work at home, coaching around the schools in Down, and that's been a success for me.
"So, I don't really look on it as a right or wrong decision. The fact that it's going well with Down made me really enjoy my time at home, but it's more about off-field factors than on it, and always has been."
The Footballer of the Year contender admits he learned a lot from his three-year stint in Australia.
"I took home a fair bit, in terms of the weight training and that. I was able to taper my own programme along with Paddy Tally (Down trainer), but the weights in Australia are not that far advanced compared to the GAA," he said.
"Everybody has their own programme and it's a case of following it strictly and approaching it in the right way.
"But, in terms of overall fitness, I'm only starting to get it right recently. It's just been 10 months since I got back and I'm only seeing out games properly now. The main thing I took from Australia is using my voice on the field in training and in games. That's a big focus over there. In previous years, I wasn't doing that as much."
The Mourne County playmaker feels Down have got the rub of the green this year and is hoping their luck won't run out in the final.
"I think we've been lucky in the back door and had a gradual upward curve in terms of the difficulty of teams we have played. We met Longford, they're a Division 4 team, and then Offaly from Division 3.
"Sligo will be in Division 2 next year and we were lucky enough to get them on the rebound after their Connacht final defeat. Then we played Kerry with a couple of men (Paul Galvin and Tomás Ó Sé) missing.
"That was a notch up again slightly and Kildare was another slight notch up on that Kerry team. It's been good preparation for Cork, who are seen as favourites, and it certainly doesn't get much tougher for us.
"But we've shown good form and built up momentum. We'll go in there with all guns blazing." Tweet
