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Gaelic football like what soccer used to be - David Bentley

Tonight on TV3, the premiere of an hour-long documentary called the Toughest Trade hits our ...



Gaelic football like what socc...
Soccer

Gaelic football like what soccer used to be - David Bentley

Tonight on TV3, the premiere of an hour-long documentary called the Toughest Trade hits our screens.

The premise of the show sees ex-Armagh footballer Aaron Kernan, Kilkenny hurler Jackie Tyrell and former Tottenham, Arsenal and England footballer David Bentley try their hands at a new sport.

Bentley lined out for Crossmaglen GAA, while Kernan linked up with Sunderland AFC and Tyrell tried out baseball with the Miami Merlins.

Tonight on Off The Ball, all three joined us to let us know how they got on outside of their comfort zones.

"I'd seen little bits and bobs [of Gaelic football] when I was a kid, when the BBC had it on years ago but I didn't know too much about it," Bentley admitted of his week with Crossmaglen.

"It was a great experience. Things like that are exciting. Certain things you get offered are a bit standard and boring and this definitely wasn't."   

But Bentley, who spoke to us last year about falling out of love with football, also feels that the GAA maintains some of the qualities that "soccer" - as he now calls it - possessed in the past.

"It's an old-school way. Soccer, it's the way it used to be with the commitment and family environment that they play within. It's the whole community."

Tyrell, who swapped a hurley for a baseball bat, compared the level of conditioning needed in comparison to his normal role in hurling and how he coped with the technique of pitchers.

Crossmaglen clubman Kernan also gave his take on Bentley's experience at his club and also felt his Sunderland stay was "brilliant".

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