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"He started doing press-ups" - Michael Lyster on "loose cannon" Joe Brolly

As our Drive For Five Special continued apace, Michael Lyster kindly joined us in studio. The for...
Raf Diallo
Raf Diallo

17.56 29 Aug 2019


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"He started doing press-ups" - Michael Lyster on "loose cannon" Joe Brolly


Raf Diallo
Raf Diallo

17.56 29 Aug 2019


Share this article


As our Drive For Five Special continued apace, Michael Lyster kindly joined us in studio.

The former Sunday Game Live presenter knows all about broadcasting on All-Ireland final day.

And almost as importantly, he knows what it's like to work alongside the inimitable Joe Brolly.

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He shared a few colorful memories of sharing a studio with the ex-Derry All-Ireland winner.

Great Guy

Lyster explained why Brolly is such a challenge: "Because he's such a loose cannon and hard to handle. By the way, just to make it clear, I get on very well with Joe. He's a great guy.

"But he's like a Jack in the Box going round the place. Before you go on the air with The Sunday Game, you go through all that mechanical procedure of rehearsal and things that need to be done.

"And you need your analysts concentrating on the gig at hand, and listening to you and all that. One Sunday, he came into the studio at Croke Park. The first thing he did was he put his bag down and he started doing press ups.

"And I'm looking at him and I'm thinking, 'What is he doing?' Other days he'd come in and he wouldn't let the make-up artist comb his hair because he didn't like the comb or something.

"So you would be coping with all these kind of things. Sometimes just exasperated with it and sometimes just half-giggling to yourself because there would be a funny side to it.

"But you knew when you went on air, you got a performance out of him. You knew you got something out of him. You knew you didn't have somebody sitting there thinking, 'Jaysus, would he ever say something?'"

He also described Brolly as "very intellectual" and "very knowledgable about football".

You can watch the full Michael Lyster chat as part of our Drive For Five Special:


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