Comrades rejoin the battle

THERE was a time when they were as close as peas in a pod. That brilliant St Finbarr’s side of the late 70s/early 80s, Donal O’Grady was the tough, hard-jawed full-back, John Allen the tall, bearded, commanding figure outside him, in the centre of the half-line. Before that decade was out, however, the partnership had broken up, their paths drifted apart.

“We were both still living in the city, but we were never involved with the same teams,” John Allen explained. How then did they end up back together, O’Grady as manager of the Cork senior hurling team that this weekend will be attempting to wrest the Munster crown from Waterford in Thurles, Allen as one of his four horsemen?

“I was really surprised when he asked me to be a selector, to tell the truth. In fact when he rang me I thought he was ringing to ask me to be the masseur again. I was kind of thinking would I say yes or no. Being a selector hadn’t occurred to me.”

It’s not surprising however that it would have occurred to O’Grady. When Cork won the All-Ireland with a bunch of kids in 1999, John Allen wasn’t just their masseur, he was also their friend.

Following the flare-up at the end of last year, when the hurlers went on strike, the managerial deck was cleared completely. O’Grady was the surprise appointment as new manager.

He’s a shrewd guy, the former ‘Barrs and Cork full-back, and knew that he would need someone riding shotgun who already had the trust, respect and confidence of the players. Who better than the former masseur, a man he knew so well himself, having soldiered together through those early years.

“We’re getting on fine, he’s doing a very professional job, very thorough. He’s strict, very strong-willed, doing a very good job, and I must say I’m enjoying it. It has been excellent so far.”

Oddly enough, while Donal O’Grady quickly recognised his man in John Allen, in their playing days Allen never saw the managerial potential in his former defensive partner. “I never saw that coming. When you’re playing with fellas like that, do you look at these things at all? He has a role with the team, you have a role, and unless you socialise together you never get to know him that well.”

Like the canny men who made the appointment however, John did note the development. “Donal has always been involved in the nitty-gritty. Jimmy had him as backs coach for a few games in ‘98, he’s always been involved in coaching. On a personal level, when you see that he’s gone to Youghal, gone to Blarney, is now in the North Mon, doing a wonderful job in all those places, it’s obvious he has the personality and the will to turn around situations that maybe need to be turned around. He’s certainly done that so far with this team.”

The biggest thing O’Grady did was to bring this Cork team back to basics. KISS, the little acronym with the big message, KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID, formed a major part of the new manager’s philosophy.

“I’d been involved for a number of years in a different role, but this year the amount of time we’ve put in is huge,” says Allen. “Donal has put in massive work on the basics, which maybe a lot of coaches overlook, thinking that inter-county coaches shouldn’t have to do the basics. But our game the last day, probably a lot of it was won on basics, on tackling, hooking, blocking, giving good ball. From that respect, we’re certainly not over-confident, but we’re working hard and I hope that all the hard work will pay off.”

The new management team also used the Allianz League to good effect. “We looked on the league as a blooding opportunity for players, played at least two new players in every game, gave every player in our panel at the time at least two games. There was no way we were going for consistency, we were trying to see the best players for the positions, and that’s the way it turned out. When we sat down to pick the championship team, we were finished in ten minutes. We’d seen enough of everyone we wanted to see. We were happy enough that every one of the fellas we were sending out were the fellas we felt were in the best form.”

The old role is gone for John Allen (“thank God!”), but he has settled comfortably into the new one. Doesn’t feel at all more exposed, head on the chopping block. “No, it’s the players with their heads on the chopping-block really, and Donal. Everyone wants to talk to Donal, after a game, before games. He’s in the front-line, we’re in the background. We’re making the decisions too, but he’s the one going to get the flak, or the praise, whichever way it works out. I don’t feel any pressure, I must say, I’m enjoying being involved. The time commitment is huge, but for the few years that are in it, I enjoy it.”