Gary Sice’s Corofin are back again.
If ever a man embodied the spirit of what a club would mean to a community in an ideal world, it’s Sice.
Sice, who turned 39 a fortnight ago, was like a man possessed in last Saturday’s Connacht semi-final victory over Ballina, delivering hits and closing players down relentlessly.
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He set the tone for the Galway champions. and everyone else followed.
With Sice leading the way - and fellow veteran Michéal Lundy not far behind - the Corofin attack taught their Ballina counterparts a lesson in urgency and hard work when your team is out of possession.
Sice also ensured there was zero complacency or any hint of a slack attitude from the first whistle, and he did it with actions rather than words.
With the breeze at their backs, Corofin had to start with a bang.
Sice, with all his experience, knew that and he was on it from the word go, rifling off shot after shot from play and frees with the breeze at his back and tackling anything that moved.
Corofin had to press high and punish, which they duly did.
Colm Parkinson has a running theme on Twitter: ‘Oul lads still doing it for their clubs,’ but there can’t be many doing more at the level Sice is.
It would have been easy to drift away in his mid-30s after Corofin's history making All-Ireland three-in-a-row (2018-20).
It would also have been easy to drift away in his mid to late 30s when the tide finally turned in Galway in late 2020 - after Corofin had annexed seven county titles in a row.
In came Moycullen (2020 and 2022) and Mountbellew-Moylough (2021).
Kieran Fitzgerald - another Corofin legend - finally left the club stage in April 2020 at 39 years of age.
Sice has now matched him age wise.
No doubt success helps to prolong careers and winning camps tend to be happier camps.
A few weeks ago Sice landed his 13th Galway senior championship medal and spoke about the death of his wife, Bevin the previous year after a battle with cancer.
“It has been a tricky three or four years for me,” he said, holding his daughter Sadhbh.
“Football has been a place to go and the club has looked after me outrageously well. I’m so grateful to everyone in the club.
“The family at home have given me the space to train, train properly and to get the body right and give as much as I could for as long as I could was the goal.
“I met my dad (Jimmy) out on the pitch (after the Galway final) and it was just special.
“There have been tough times, very tough times and I’m just grateful to everyone who helped us through it.”
What else could the Corofin newbies like five point Jack McCabe and seriously impressive midfielder, Patrick Egan do but follow Sice's lead in training and matches.
Razor sharp McCabe looks a big prospect inside, while Egan absolutely oozed quality with his ability to stand his man up and take him on.
Corofin’s skill level as much as their athleticism and work rate contributed to their 16 point tally and a four point victory over the Mayo holders.
Their display, fronted by Sice, won’t have gone unnoticed by the other clubs still in the All-Ireland race.
The other 11 teams still standing are: St. Brigid’s, Scotstown, Trillick, Glenties, Glen, Dingle, Clonmel Commericials, Rathgormack, Castlehaven, Kilmacud Crokes and Naas.
Roscommon’s St. Brigid’s are going to have to bring war to stand a chance in the Connacht final.
Seeing four time Galway hurling All Star and All-Ireland winner Daithi Burke coming in for Corofin in the closing minutes of the Ballina victory told another tale in a game, which wasn’t totally put to bed until late on.
Most clubs would have reached for a totemic figure like Burke much earlier in the match.
The fact that Corofin toppled an extremely well coached Moycullen in the Galway final - albeit Sean Kelly was out injured - is another indicator of the levels they’ve found again.
Moycullen won Connacht last year and gave Glen their fill of it in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final.
At one stage they had nine players in the Galway squad, as well as adding former Offaly skipper Johnny Moloney to their side this year, although their talisman, Sean Kelly missed the County final encounter with Corofin due to injury.
Sice has a serious support cast in two starting Galway defenders, All Star Liam Silke - who will boost the county if he returns next year - and an established county star in Dylan McHugh.
It’s easy to get all misty eyed about Corofin but their mixture of high intensity attacking football with a real hard edge is how most fans would love to see their own club play.
There is nothing naive about them though.
They know exactly when and how to foul and have no problem doing it - like every top side that ever played any serious sport
It’s just that they;re relentless and they play such high quality running and kicking football, which tends to see them excel at Croke Park.
Anyone who thought Corofin’s hunger might have been sated by a first Galway title since 2019 got their answer on Saturday.
Pedigree naturally leads to ambition and success.
The standards demanded in the club are huge and Sice sets the tone.
Corofin manager Kevin Johnston, who has also won county titles in Sligo (Tourlestrane) and Mayo (Ballintubber) noted that Sice is first man at training and the last man to leave.
With the emergence of some fine young talent, it already looks like Sice’s legacy will go beyond his own generation and into the next one.
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