Kieran Shannon: Davy Fitzgerald curveball further proof of the draw of women’s GAA 

Just as it seemed as if Davy was finally going to step off the inter-county carousel for a while, he’s gone and hopped back onto it

When it appeared a while back there that Davy Fitzgerald was going to be the Galway senior hurling manager, a Spurs fan of our acquaintance quipped, or at least predicted, that it would go much the same way as Jose Mourinho’s stint at Tottenham. The old Midas touch was gone, it would all end up in tears.

As it transpired it didn’t even begin. King Henry, deciding he was no longer going to wait for Brian Cody to vacate his rightful throne, was the preferred choice of the Tribesmen, a measure of their boldness and ambition and also how Fitzgerald’s stock had fallen from where it was a couple of years ago.

But just as it seemed as if Davy was finally going to step off the inter-county carousel for a while, he’s gone and hopped back onto it; clearly, to paraphrase Robert Palmer, he’s addicted to the buzz. Next season he’ll find himself in the Deep South, as opposed to the south-east or the west or the mid-west where previous or desired posts have been.

Word of his new project was hardly a wow moment in the mode of Shefflin to Galway or Davy to Waterford and Wexford or Mourinho to Man U, but still it has a bit of electricity and intrigue about it. 

Like Jose, he’s still box office, baby. But more than that it’s a statement, and a significant one at that. Say what you like about Fitzgerald but he is one of the most important hurling minds and coaches of the last 15 years and the fact that for 2022 he’s taken those talents — and the profile that comes with them and him — to the female game is further proof of the draw and stature women’s GAA now has.

The officers behind both Cork senior women’s teams are certainly pulling out all the stops to ensure that there is only a kick on and no drop-off following the impressive work and tenures of Paudie Murray and Ephie Fitzgerald by recruiting heavily in proven expertise in the men’s game.

Not only has manager Matthew Twomey — a selector to Murray in recent years — secured Fitzgerald as his coach (that was part of the attraction of the gig for Fitzgerald, to be freed up of managerial duties and get back to pure coaching), it has also emerged on Monday that the team’s head of S&C will be Paudie Kissane. 

The former All-Ireland-winning footballer is another high performer, his day job being in athletic development and training while he’s coming off a magnificent coaching job in guiding Éire Óg to the senior football grade in Cork. He’s also collaborated successfully with Clare men before; to this this day Colm Collins and his players will credit Kissane’s work with them in 2014 as a pivotal moment in their success, a legacy that continues to this day.

The ladies footballers have also combined continuity with experience in the men’s inter-county game. Shane Roynane was a selector and coach during Eamon Ryan’s time and,  after compounding his reputation as one of the leading coaches in the women’s game from his stints with Tipperary and All-Ireland-winning Mourneabbey teams, last season he managed the Waterford footballers. They were happy with him and he was happy to stay with them but once Fitzgerald stepped down he felt he had to go for the Cork job for fear it wouldn’t come around again for another five years.

It could, of course, be said that it wasn’t exactly the boldest of leaps to leave possibly one of the weakest three counties in the men’s game to team up with one of the strongest three in the women’s game. But it’s not just Roynane with Cork that illustrates the lure and credibility ladies inter-county football now enjoys.

Mick Bohan is one of the most respected and leading coaches in all of Gaelic football. In 2016, following in the footsteps of Kissane and Fitzgerald, he coached Collins’ Clare to an All-Ireland quarter-final and promotion to Division Two. Leaving that project to assume the management of the Dublin ladies team was no backward or even sideways step for him, and with it he’d take that Dublin team and the sport itself to new heights. 

When Meath foiled the five-in-a-row last September, the indications were from Bohan’s honest and emotional interviews that it wasn’t just “the end of the road for probably half a dozen of that group” but possibly him as well. The time seemed right for something new for both parties, that counties operating in the top two divisions, as well as some of the leading and ambitious clubs in the country, would be seeking his services in the autumn.

But no. He’s staying on for 2022. His outlook would appear to be like that which Morgan Wootten, the great De Matha high school basketball coach would say when he’d resist offers from illustrious colleges and even NBA franchises: Why mess with happiness? 

Even more so, where else would he work with better, more diligent performers? Bohan remaining in the women’s game as much as Davy Fitz coming over to it is testament to the calibre of athlete and competitor and performer now operating in it.

Even those who have transferred the other way will testify to that. Fitzgerald has traded places with Roynane, taking over from him as Waterford manager. 

Meanwhile,  Paudie Murray will coach the Cork minor hurlers next year after a decade with the Cork camogie team. 

In an interview with me last month he spoke about how coaches who shy away from involving themselves in the women’s’ game are missing out. 

“I’d say it to anyone: go and train [one] because it puts you into a different environment where you have to learn quicker.” 

Joe Quaid, who has gone back into the women’s game by taking over the Kildare camogie team, has previously spoken about how coaching the Limerick camogie team prepared him better to coach the Westmeath hurlers to promotion to Division One better than any club or county U21 gig in the men’s game could.

 “Manage an U21 team and you could be finished after one match. With the camogie, you’ve to plan a pre-season, a league campaign, provincial championship, then the All-Ireland series.” 

And you’re dealing with top players whose officials now seem to be finally matching their ambition.

A year on from 20x20, not only can she now see it. A Fitzgerald wants to be part of it with her too.