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19th September 2020
10:05am BST

"It takes a bit of time," he said, "but it does turn around. For me, it turned around in the fan's forum. I was on a fan's forum and I was listening to Alby Mathewson talking. And, all of a sudden, I'm thinking, 'Do you know what, I'm looking forward to tomorrow'. "Because there are so many people that love this province and the guys love doing their job on a day-to-day basis. I still want to be part of that, and I enjoy this job when I come in on a Monday."[caption id="attachment_216244" align="aligncenter" width="2048"]
The Ulster squad huddle together following a Guinness PRO14 game at Kingspan Stadium. (Credit: Sportsfile)[/caption]
Such were the power of Mathewson's words that Ulster captain Iain Henderson had them ingrained in his thoughts as he answered a question about Toulouse forward Jerome Kaino.
While speaking about Kaino's competitive nature still burning bright at the age of 37, Henderson harked upon Mathewson (35) and his similar qualities.
"I'm not sure if any of you were at it, but there was a fan's forum and Alby was there. Alby was talking about how he still had the desire to continue to play, and continue to compete. "He feels that he is competing and obviously is, getting selected last week. He has a real edge about him. A real desire to win those battles, week-in and week-out, which he is and which he's continuing to do, and rightly so. He should continue to play while he's doing that."McFarland spoke, during the week, about people being hung up on what hospital people were born in, rather than the qualities and commitment they bring with them. "People’s identity comes from spending time with each other," McFarland observed, "from forging the bonds so that when they go onto the pitch, they're willing to go into places they wouldn't do normally." As he has shown at Munster, and is showing at Ulster, Alby Mathewson is that guy willing to go into places others would baulk at. He is out there pushing for his, and his team's, best every day. Whatever part he is being asked to play, he will play it with gusto.
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