Brian Fenton ruled the skies in Croke Park for a decade so it's not perhaps that surprising that Ireland have called in the former Dublin footballer for a few tips on aerial battle.
The Raheny man’s decision last November, aged 31, to call time on his Gaelic football career, after seven All-Ireland, six All-Stars, and two Footballer of the Year awards, came as a huge surprise.
Just three months into his inter-country retirement, Fenton rocked up at the IRFU’s High Performance Centre to share his experience from over 10 years of high catches under attack from all angles.
With the new clampdown on obstruction being implemented by officials, back-field receivers and kick-chasers have had to make huge adjustments to their approach and technique under the high ball.
Ireland winger James Lowe spoke last week of how the classic 'Gaelic football' catch would now become a bigger part of rugby union so it only makes sense to turn to Fenton for advice.
"He's some man to win a ball in the midfield and, with the new rules, we were asking him for some tips and cues that he uses that helped him through his career," Ireland centre Garry Ringrose said.
"There's loads of crossover between high-performance environments so I was picking his brain a little bit and even on some of the aerial stuff so it was really cool having him in.
"It's just a massive challenge and right from the kick-execution to the timing of the chase, the entry into the contest, trying to win the breaking ball, there's loads of different aspects and it was just really cool hearing his perspective, what helped him through the years."
Born and raised in Dublin, Ringrose didn’t play Gaelic football in his youth, but was a big fan of the Boys in Blues as they dominated the
Read more on rte.ie
rte.ie
