John O'Dwyer: I haven't brought myself to watch All-Ireland replay defeat
Tipperary forward John O'Dwyer says he will watch the All-Ireland Final replay defeat to Kilkenny in September for learnings, but not just yet.
The All-Star was part of the Premier side that narrowly missed out on glory the first day when Hawk-Eye ruled out O'Dwyer's late free from almost 100 metres.
Technology said it was wide, the Cats lived to fight another day and they made no mistake the second time around.
Speaking to Independent.ie at the launch of the Fitzgibbon Cup, the Killenaule clubman says he has not watched the disappointing defeat at GAA headquarters.
Tipperary and Cork IT forward John O'Dwyer in Croke Park at the launch of the Independent.ie Higher Education GAA Senior Championships yesterday. Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE
"I've watched the first one but not the second one, not yet," he said. "I will watch it, try and look up where things went wrong."
With regards to that agonising free, O'Dwyer was sure he had scored his eighth point of the game (he hit 0-05 from play).
"I definitely thought it was over. I couldn't have hit it any better. It was a bit higher than the post."
With third-level action soon to get underway, the UCC sharpshooter is in little doubt as to the key difference between Fitzgibbon and inter-county hurling.
"The biggest difference is the weather. I know the (National) League is played in wet, dirty weather, the same as Fitzgibbon, but championship hurling compared to Fitzgibbon hurling is different because the ball is slowed down, the grass is long, wet, mucky."
"It's not about how good a player you are it's how hard you are working this time of year."
