Bachelors Talk: Two Derry stags have hope against Kerry

The apology texts arrived steadily, but not with any great deal of shock. Karl McKaigue knew they were coming and, truth be told, he would have been disappointed if they hadn't.

As a servant to many masters for a long time, he knows well just how much sport can impact on a player’s calendar. Considered at one stage as a potential claimant to the crown of Ulster’s best dual player - most of the other contenders are his closest friends - McKaigue himself has had to send the same text many times over the years.

Weddings, stags, birthdays, the invites always appreciated but often ripped up by a big game for Derry or Sleacht Néill.

McKaigue was on the receiving end this time though for his stag in Sligo last weekend as some of the Derry players, including older brother Chrissy, had to give it a swerve following their All-Ireland quarter-final win over Cork the previous Sunday.

Indeed, if it wasn’t for a series of unfortunate events, he would have had to pull the whole thing anyway for his own preparation for the Oakleaf County’s battle with Kerry this afternoon for a spot in the 2023 All-Ireland final.

"Nobody has missed more stags over the years than myself through club commitments and county commitments," the physiotherapist told RTÉ Sport.

"Obviously there is bigger fish to fry, which is an All-Ireland semi-final against the reigning champions. That’s a good enough excuse to get out of one, isn’t it?"

Today is McKaigue’s 31st birthday and if fortune had favoured him, he could have been plotting how to take down Seánie O’Shea and David Clifford alongside his brother Chrissy, but he has now officially retired from inter-county duty after two serious injuries changed his envisioned destination.

The first came back in 2020 when he