‘Self-critical’ Mooney primed to reach his potential

HE won back-to-back Hogan Cups in his school-days; captained the Down minor team; had a stint in the AFL; and Benny Coulter describes him as the best midfielder in the Mourne County since Dan Gordon.

Yet despite his many accomplishments, Caolan Mooney insists he’s his own biggest critic, and doesn’t come across as false modesty on his part.

Part of it is the role of his father Ciaran, who has helped steer his development as a footballer from the very beginning and is Rostrevor’s selector these days.

He isn’t afraid to tell his son if he needs to buck up his ideas, but a high level of self-criticism seems inherent to Mooney’s personality regardless.

“I think I’d have grown up playing Gaelic anyway but I probably wouldn’t have pushed myself as hard without him.

“Along with myself he’s my harshest critic. It’s good to have, he’s not going to blow smoke up my arse.

“If he says nothing after a match I know I’ve done alright. If I come home and he starts talking I know there are things he wants to point out. I’ve a lot of respect for what he’s done.”

While self-criticism can potentially be crippling, it can be empowering in the right circumstances. Tyrone legend Cormac McAnallen rated his performances after matches (he gave himself 6.5/10 after the 2003 All-Ireland final despite a stellar display). Mooney is similarly minded, but notes that he’s well-aware of his potential at the same time.

“People might say you’ve played well, but in your head you’ll know what level you can actually aspire to. If you listen to all that you’ll think you’re better than you actually are.

“If you don’t believe in your own ability it’s a negative start. I have to trust in what I can bring to the table and trust that I can fulfil the role expected of me by coaches and management.

“If I don’t do that, that’s when my critical side comes out. I probably start to overthink things, it’s the way I’ve been since I’ve been younger and it’s stayed with me.”

Mooney, who was hospitalised in the Royal Victoria with a fractured skull after an assault in late-December, saw the lockdown as an opportunity to work himself into fitness.

“In a way I was happy enough when the lockdown happened as it gave me a chance to get back to fitness after what happened.

“I did a lot of long-distance running as endurance wasn’t really my strong point. I had to go into lockdown with the attitude that I’d come out of it fitter than I went into it because otherwise I’d have wasted six months going through the motions.

“I pushed myself to get back to match fitness. I got a couple of injuries when I was back playing with Rostrevor which is to be expected, but touch wood everything’s alright and I’m getting back to the levels of last year.”

Mooney joined London side Neasden Gaels when Down exited the championship last summer and spent a couple of years in Australia playing with Australia. He also spent the summer of 2016 in New York, but he’ll be around home for the foreseeable future as his girlfriend is expecting their first child.

“I was intent on staying here this year no matter what happened. I think my day of travelling to other teams is over as my missus is pregnant, so it’ll be nappies and bottles from now on.

“I can’t wait, my sister had a child last year and seeing her about the house made me happy, so I’m looking forward to having my own and bringing them up in the world.”

Down are favourites to prevail in this weekend’s Ulster Championship quarter-final clash against Fermanagh, and they showed what they can do when they play to their potential in a hotly contested qualifier clash against Mayo last year. They lost by five points but Mooney says the main difference on the day was that their opponents were sharper in front of goal.

“The only difference between us and Mayo last year was shot efficiency. We were very wasteful whereas any time Mayo got our side of the ’45’ they were getting scores,.

“We left a lot of chances behind us and I suppose that’s the difference. In Division Three if you miss chances you can get away with it but as you go up levels teams get more clinical and you’ll get exploited if you miss chances and Mayo did that. A lot of young boys are coming through so hopefully they’ll have learned from the experience.”

Two key players who won’t be available for selection are Connaire Harrison and Darren O’Hagan. Harrison is taking time out to recover from an ongoing battle with osteitis pubis, while O’Hagan is getting surgical intervention to deal with torn cartilage in his knee, a broken wrist, and hip problems.

“I had osteo pubis last year myself but not to the same extent,” said Mooney.

“It’s a hard one to get over but Connaire is approaching it well. I think it’ll be good for him to have the break.

“Darren was initially going to try to play and that’s just the type of him – if he’d one leg he’d still try to play. His knee wasn’t feeling right against Meath, however. He’s given everything to Down since he’s been involved since 2010 so if any man deserves a break it’s him.”