Walsh hopes to challenge players

GAELIC GAMES CORK'S NEW HURLING MANAGER:NEWLY-APPOINTED Cork hurling coach Denis Walsh yesterday revealed he had jumped at the offer to manage the team and he was looking forward to working with the side over the next two years to bring Cork hurling back to the top.

“I was offered the job on Thursday evening and I took about two seconds to say yes . . . It’s a lovely honour for myself and my family and my club St Catherine’s, and for all the people who have helped me down through the years,” said Walsh.

“I got a fantastic response to my appointment – it’s been bit overwhelming – the phone nearly blew up there on Friday there were so many messages,” said Walsh at a lunch-time press conference at the Rochestown Park Hotel yesterday organised by the Cork County Board.

Walsh revealed he had asked his team-mate from the 1990 All-Ireland-winning Cork team, Pat Buckley from Milford in north Cork, to be one of his selectors and he will be joined by Gerry Ryan from Ballinascarthy in west Cork and Pa Finn from St Finbarr’s in Cork city.

Ryan won a Cork county championship medal in 1994 when he played full back with divisional side Carbery, while Finn has been involved with several clubs in the county over the years and was involved in coaching Cork camogie teams.

Walsh revealed he was still awaiting a reply from one other person whom he had invited to join him as a selector as that person was trying to sort out work commitments but he felt they had a good balance and he described his first three selectors “as very reliable guys”.

Walsh also indicated he would be asking the current training team of Jerry Wallis and Seán McGrath to stay on while he also said he would be asking 2008 captain John Gardiner to remain on as captain of the team.

He revealed he wants to get stuck into training with the players as quickly as possible in preparation for next Sunday’s National League encounter with Kilkenny which he admitted will be “a baptism of fire”.

Walsh was selected by a triumvirate of former Cork greats, Denis Coughlan, Jimmy Barry Murphy and John Fenton, under the stewardship of director general Paraic Duffy after delegates to the Cork County Board backed the idea at a meeting earlier this month.

“The question came up during the process, ‘did I want to take over before the Kilkenny game or after the Kilkenny game?’ My God, there’s no point in taking over after the Kilkenny game . . . Kilkenny are the number one team but what do we do? Just let them there?” said Walsh.

The new coach said he was impressed with the Cork performances against both Clare and Limerick which saw the striking 2008 players return to join a couple from Gerald McCarthy’s 2009 squad to win both games and he paid tribute to interim coach John Considine.

“Limerick under Justin (McCarthy) are in good fettle and they were very sharp yesterday and very strong and it tested the Cork guys and I must say they stood up to it. They answered a lot of questions about their resolve and the sharpness of their hurling and their fitness to last the pace.

“If you look at yesterday’s game closely, they came back from a position where you expected Limerick, being three or four points up, to go on and win it by six or seven but Limerick failed to score for the last 14 minutes and Cork came back and won it.”

Walsh, who revealed he had played with Seán Óg Ó hAilpín and Joe Deane, said he had met some of the players after the Limerick game and he was looking forward to getting on the training field with them as soon as possible.

“From my point of view, I can see exactly in relation to the players what it means to them to play for Cork – they will expect me obviously to move them on and challenge them and take them up another level again and that’s what I’m here for and that’s what I’m hoping to do.”

Walsh said he hoped to meet Joe Deane, Timmy McCarthy, Brian Murphy and Diarmuid O’Sullivan, none of whom have played for Cork this year, to ascertain their future plans but he admitted tough decisions will have to be made in relation to forming a 30-strong panel.

The chairman of the selection committee, Coughlan, said that he, Murphy and Fenton had been unanimous in their choice of Walsh and he thanked both Paraic Duffy, the Cork County Board and the players’ representatives for their assistance and goodwill.

He said Walsh’s career in both club and intercounty management, his inter-personal skills and most importantly, his in-depth knowledge of the talent within the county had led them to identify him at an early stage as the man to set “Cork’s hurling fortunes on the right road”.