GAA:Dónal O'Grady today confirmed he will make an unexpected return to the sidelines after agreeing to lead the Limerick hurlers next year. O'Grady, who won the Liam MacCarthy Cup both as a player and manager with Cork, has not managed an inter-county team since leading the Rebels to All-Ireland glory in 2004.
Speaking on Radio na Gaeltachta's An Saol Aneasearlier today, O'Grady said his appointment will not be formalised until the Limerick County Board meets later this week.
He confirmed a one-year deal has been agreed – the Limerick board were understood to have been keen to tie him down to a longer term contract - and he is looking forward to the challenge, starting with winning promotion to Division One of the National League.
“Limerick are in Division Two and maybe that will be the first challenge – to get out of that division,” O’Grady said. “And, I have to say, the job was somewhat more attractive as the team will not be meeting Cork in the short term and you could take your chance in terms of the competition.”
O’Grady said he believed Limerick had a “mine of talent” but the team lacked experience. He said he was hoping to address those two areas when he takes charge of the senior panel. As manager, he said his role would be to put a foundation structure in place to help the team improve.
“My belief has always been that if you get the small things right, the bigger things will look after themselves,” he said.
“A team is like a pyramid where the base has to be right in terms of training and logistics. These are things that may have been missing and [addressing] that is my role for the year.”
The RTÉ analyst said hurling was not as strong in west Munster as it once was but he is confident Limerick and Clare would be in Division One before long. He added he was looking forward to getting to know the players, identifying the talent, and putting a strong panel together.
“The first thing to do is to get to know the players and then to get the strongest panel possible together. I never give my players targets – to win this or that - my one goal is always to discover the potential in each player and once you do that there is little more you can do.”
Asked whether players would be allowed to play both codes, a contentious issue in the past, O’Grady said it would be up to each individual to make that choice for themselves.
John McIntyre’s reappointment as Galway hurling manager for another two years will be rubber-stamped at a meeting of the county board this evening. McIntyre has already served two years in the post, but unlike his first term, the position will be reviewed at the end of 2011.
The Tribesmen, beaten by Tipperary in this year's quarter-finals by a single point, haven’t won an All-Ireland hurling title since 1988 and the county board have backed the Offaly native to bring them back in from the cold.
“We need continuity as there is a plan in place to take Galway hurling forward in the coming years,” explained hurling board chairman Joe Byrne.
