Unlikely leader realistic about Rebel hopes

HIS name wasn’t even mentioned when everybody was speculating about the successor to Bertie Óg Murphy as Cork hurling coach.

But, when the name of Donal O'Grady entered the public arena just before Christmas, he was ratified by the County Board in double-quick time. Unique in the sense that he is the first to be able to pick his own selectors (apart from county champions Blackrock still being allowed to name their own man), he never had any ambitions to take on management at this level.

Even after the initial approach, he wasn't sure that he wanted to take it on. "In the last couple of years, it's more the schools I have been involved with because of pressure of time," he explains. "If I was to put my hand on my heart, I'd have to say that I didn't lay it out as an ambition."

A number of factors had to be taken into consideration, primarily his job as a secondary school principal, as well as family considerations. He heads up Gaelcholáiste Mhuire AG, which is the Irish-speaking unit of the North Monastery and his duties entail a lot of work outside of school hours. Ultimately, he decided it was a chance not to be turned down.

O'Grady's only previous involvement in coaching at senior inter-county level was limited to working with the Cork backs in 1997. Eleven years before, he was a selector when Cork won the All-Ireland final under the management of Johnny Clifford. And, as a player, he won his only medal two years earlier, after having been on the losing side in the 1983 final against Kilkenny.

Readily agreeing that Cork have dropped in the pecking order in Munster, he feels there is little enough between the leading five counties. They will be working off a lower base than the others, Limerick particularly, whom he views as "slight favourites" for the Munster championship. One thing that he emphasises is that he will be working as part of a team.

It won't be a case of him holding court in the middle of the field and the other selectors huddling in the dug-out. Sean O'Leary, John Allen and Fred Sheehy were picked for their expertise and he was delighted by the nomination of Donal Collins. The days of a selection committee being imposed on a manager are outdated. More pertinently, there was no way he would have taken on the job without having the freedom to pick his own men.

He also brought in two physical trainers, Gerry Wallace and Sean McGrath, conceding that he doesn't have expertise in this area. The challenge facing the management is no greater, he maintains, because of what happened before Christmas when the players went on strike in pursuit of improved conditions.

As manager, the pressure he feels is when the team takes the field, explaining: "At some stage you might miss the move you should make. That's the pressure that is on the management team and the pressure of getting it right coming up to the game. "Traditionally, there has been fierce pressure on any Cork hurling team that has gone out. People have such expectations because of the past.

The ordinary supporter feels Cork are one of the premier hurling counties and that they will always be up there."

The reality is quite different. Compared to other years, he feels that the current team "may not necessarily be as good". "If you look at Munster from the neutral point of view, you look at Limerick with three U-21 titles, which is a difficult achievement, so they have a base coming through.

You look back to Cork's success in 1999, which was the product of U-21 teams before that. Waterford made the breakthrough last year so they'll obviously be hoping to build on that.

"Then you have Tipp and Clare. Clare were All-Ireland finalists last year, Tipperary champions the year before. Both are very strong and both have a young hurling base Tipp particularly. You have a group of teams 'up' there and for the first time in a long time, you'd probably be saying that Cork are just below the four of those."

Making a point of thanking the clubs who have put their grounds at their disposal, O'Grady says Cork were slower than most counties in coming together

"We're training under lights but at times the lights only allow you a limited amount of stick-work. Being realistic about it, you don't see yourself trying to avoid relegation, but, we have not looked that much at the League.

"It will be all about monitoring progress, looking at the match you have played and the match you are about to play."