Clarinbridge connection inspiring Aaron Niland's unorthodox free-taking technique
GROWING UP AS the younger brother of a Galway hurler, Aaron Niland was always mining for information.
All he ever wanted to do was hurl for his county so he’d grill Evan, almost eight years his senior, trying to figure out every last detail. What’s it like playing in front of big crowds at Croke Park? Or Pearse Stadium? What’s Cathal Mannion like? Pádraic Mannion? Conor Whelan?
Niland’s distinctive free-taking technique is something of a Clarinbridge special, gained from the same information-gathering process. The 20-year-old lines up facing away from the target, peeking back over his shoulder for a look at the posts.
It’s a similar style to that employed by Evan and three-time All-Ireland camogie champion Carrie Dolan.
“She would be Evan’s girlfriend. She’s going out with him nearly as long as I have been born at this stage. I don’t know him without her,” says Aaron.
“I’d say they get ideas off each other as well, about frees, so I think that is where it all started.
“I would be more similar to Carrie and the way she turns her back to it. I don’t know why. It’s just the way it works out.”
Starting off, Niland copy-and-pasted Evan’s technique. He tweaked his setup over the years, but it has never strayed too far from the original.
“I’ve gone back a little bit more to it. I don’t know why. I feel more comfortable like that. It’s a little bit of a take of his,” says Aaron.
“Because we’re both left-sided, a similar playing style as well, so I copied what he was doing and got used to it. That’s what I would have practised growing up and then it’s sticking to that.
“I have my back to the goal a bit more. It’s the way I turn my neck or something, I find it easier to look at the goal like that. I know it looks a bit weird sometimes, but if it works, I don’t really care.”
It certainly has worked, inheriting inter-county free-taking duties in his rookie year and compiling a 1-8 Leinster final haul, which included 1-6 from placed balls.
That should be that for Galway. Aaron Niland lashes a penalty to the net. They are closing in on the Leinster SHC title.📺Watch live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
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It feels a little bizarre to Niland succeeding Cathal Mannion – a childhood hero of his – on frees.
“You are not going to take the frees off Cathal Mannion,” says Niland. “He’s probably the best player in the country.
“The way it fell, I happen to have them now. I’m sure he’d be throwing them over too if he had them.
“Watching what Cathal does in training every day is a joke. He’s just different. He has a special talent. You can’t teach it, can’t teach what he has, so getting to play with him is absolutely fabulous.”
Before the Leinster final, Galway had their share of Croke Park pain to conquer. Niland may be in his first year starting, but he also felt that burden, having lost a pair of All-Ireland schools finals there with Pres Athenry.
The 14-point victory over Dublin was “one of the best experiences I’ve ever had”, yet Niland is aware there are no guarantees of future glory.
“It can give you a false hope too. You can think that you’re going to win something every year, but that’s not the way it goes.
“Look at the last time we won a Leinster and all that, but hopefully now, we’ve got a taste for it, we know we can do it, so we can push on from here.
“It was a massive one. Winning something together as a group, it actually brings you so close as well. Getting a little flavour within the group makes us hungry for more.”
Galway's Aaron Niland loved his Croke Park experience after starring in the Leinster SHC decider #RTEga pic.twitter.com/eUfvXfD0rv
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Niland lined up with some strapping on his ankle, having sufficiently recovered from the injury that restricted his involvement in the U20 All-Ireland final defeat. That afternoon against Clare, with the game already turned against them, he was called upon off the bench for the salvage mission.
“The 20s was a tough one to take. We have a few regrets from that,” says Niland. “We would like to have given it a better go than we did. It was such a good group,
“We didn’t have a full team all year with the 20s. A bit disappointing because them lads put in all the work and they are trying to get as far as they can to get everyone back on the field to give it the best go, and we weren’t able to give them that.”
The four-week break to an All-Ireland semi-final against Cork is something Niland acknowledges can go both ways.
“It can be a good thing and it can be a bad thing. Sometimes you can go back and be a bit slower getting up to the pace of things, but it’s all how bad you want it at the end of the day
“We’ll keep our head down, do as much as we can do, and try and be in the best shape we can be.”
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