Dave Heffernan, a Connacht Rugby hooker, reveals his lifelong ambition to play for Mayo's footballers in MacHale Park and the special significance of the upcoming clash with Munster at the historic venue.
Dave Heffernan always dreamt of playing for Mayo 's footballers in MacHale Park - doing so for Connacht Rugby will be the next best thing. In fact, Heffernan has already played there. The hooker grew up steeped in football. He lined out for Ballina Stephenites up to minor level and got to play in the famous Castlebar ground when his team won an under-16 county championship final.
'It had always been a dream of mine to play for Mayo - and play for them in McHale Park - I never got to do that, the door closed for me there but hopefully now I can get the chance if selected,' said Heffernan of Connacht's newly announced clash with Munster there in March. it'll be a special occasion for everyone involved in rugby in Mayo, but especially for the guys who have been involved in both sports.' Among that number is a hero of his, David Brady, who lived nearby when Heffernan was growing up. His own father, Ivan - the goalkeeper in the 1974 under-21 title winning team alongside the late great John O'Mahony. 'He was always my hero growing up, he still is,' said Heffernan of his dad. 'And that's probably why I wanted to play for Mayo as well from a young age.' Ivan was also a back row forward with Ballina, the club of current Ireland captain Caelan Doris. When push came to shove and Heffernan - who was a centre-back or full-back as a footballer - had to pick one sport over the other, his dad had sound advice to impart. 'There was never any pressure from him in terms of which way, he just kind of said whoever forces you to make the decision, go the opposite way,' he recalled. 'And it kind of did come to a fork in the road where the Gaelic side of things were saying, 'Look, we need you to make a commitment, one way or the other'. 'Obviously, with rugby, you've got a very short window from underage to academy to try and go pr
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