Cats’ favourite Corkman
Many in the room knew O’Flynn from his day job at Kilkenny CBS and his successful stints at the helm of James Stephens.
Yet, few were convinced about the new alchemy he was preaching.
O’Flynn, you see, was not just a hurling man, he was a sports man. Though he had achieved underage GAA success with Nemo Rangers in his native county, his speciality was in athletics, specifically the triple jump.
He won six national titles in this event alone, had represented Ireland in the code, and was national coach for three years. He also dabbled in soccer for a while; he was capped three times by the Irish Universities and spent a year in the League of Ireland with St. Patrick’s Athletic.
Central to his beliefs was the need to construct a strong foundation of physical training, utilising new techniques and technologies to build for the year.
In those early days there were few disciples for his new creed.
“Here was I going into the dressing-room to talk to players, some of whom were legends, and trying to impose this regime of training. It was unheard of. In fairness, they took to it. But, I know there was a certain amount of suspicion about it, maybe not so much among the players, but from people behind them who were very cautious about it.
“In the lead-up to All-Ireland final that year, people were very wary about the work that was being done.
“But, actually getting to the final and then winning the next year kind of established the routine and it moved on from there. In terms of the training that has moved on, there is more and more of an acceptance by the players of what needs to be done.”
The arrival of O’Flynn was not an accident. Shortly after Ollie Walsh took over as Kilkenny manager in the autumn of 1990, his first port of call was to the Cork man.
Serious thought followed for a week, knowing there was at least the possibility he could find himself on the opposite side to Cork. But, he took it on, regarding it as “a great challenge”.
“At the time, Tipperary and other counties had gone forward in relation to the training of teams. It was a bold move on Ollie’s part. Paddy Buggy was chairman of the County Board at the time and they took a chance on it. Thankfully it worked out, but it could very well have ended with the first championship game,” he recalled.
“We played Wexford and they were leading 0-13 to 1-9 with time almost up when DJ took ‘a step or two’ and saved our bacon. I honestly think that would have been the end of training for another while, that it would have set us back for a while. Instead, it gave us great encouragement and we got to the All-Ireland final that year against Tipperary. Basically the team didn’t believe in themselves, but it actually ‘made them’ for the following year.”
In 1992, Kilkenny beat Cork, and for O’Flynn it was a real baptism of fire, something that happened sooner than he had expected. But, like everybody else who has ever been involved against his native county, he quickly learned to put native loyalties aside.
Kilkenny were again successful the following year, but Offaly ended thoughts of three-in-a-row by defeating the Cats in the 1994 Leinster final.
Nowadays, preparations are not merely confined to the tough physical grind, three and four nights a week, often in the cold and rain. Players’ diets are monitored on a continual basis. The GAA world has caught up with O’Flynn’s imagination.
“It’s a total lifestyle, not just the times you meet them during the week. It’s their whole life. It’s no different to lots of counties, even those which are less successful. Fellows give their life to it. Everything revolves around it.”
Wearing his Cork hat, he was delighted to see them get back on track, feeling after last year’s League final that they could have done well in the championship.
“Unfortunately all the happenings [off the field] tore the whole thing asunder. That’s not a glorious chapter in Cork’s history, but I’m delighted they have come out of it.
Even to get to the final has put all that behind them and they are going forward, which is great. Hurling needs everybody and it certainly needs Cork.”
The loss to Cork in the final four years ago gives Kilkenny that extra incentive, he says, conceding that the degree of confidence amongst the public did affect the team.
“It got to the players, I have no doubt that it did,” he explains. “It was on the back of beating Clare in the semi-final and at that stage they were ‘the’ team to beat. It was a huge bonus to the team, plus the fact that they were playing Cork. Performances up to the final had been very good, but the combination of these factors got the general public ‘going’. They got hugely involved and maybe too involved. It became a carnival atmosphere.
“You knew it was happening, but you were powerless to do anything about it. It’s not as if you can switch off and go into secret training or something like that.
“This time the build-up is very good, but there is that caution.
In any dressing room, a previous defeat is always a motivational factor.
“That certainly would be very much in the minds of the lads as well.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
