Veteran Meyler bringing it all back home

John Meyler has a dream to follow with his beloved Wexford hurlers.

They face the next test in their development against Galway tomorrow, writes Jim O’Sullivan

SOMEONE with a warped set of values might consider it vanity — offering your managerial services to a county you are not living in, though it’s where you come from.

But, that’s exactly when John Meyler did late last year when he approached the Wexford executive with the desire to coach the senior hurlers.

Except that he did it out of a sense of loyalty, simply motivated by a desire to help.

Meyler, a lecturer in Business in CIT, came to Cork in 1973 to study science and won a Collingwood Cup (soccer) medal with UCC, before joining St Finbarr’s during a period of huge success for the club.

He represented the Rebel County in senior hurling, coached Cork minors and was a selector when the senior hurlers went on strike.

Notably, he helped Kerry achieve their first Munster championship victory in 67 years.

Last summer, after watching Wexford fail to Clare in the All-Ireland quarter final, he made up his mind to do something about it. After talking with some close friends that evening, he was encouraged to go back. It was time to go home.

Over a period of weeks he devised a strategy — and won the approval of the board.

Management had always interested him from the time he joined the Barrs and was allowed to coach. He remembers bringing an Under-16 team to a county final and another to the final of Féile in 1983

Looking in from the outside, it perturbed him to see Wexford teams struggle. He didn’t understand the underlying causes but from his time in Cork, he saw how thing were done and “done right”.

Apart from the quality, there was an intensity in approach which always impressed him.

It’s something he has been attempting to replicate in Wexford.

“What you have down here (in Cork) is what you have in Kilkenny as well — a fierce culture of winning. But, you also have a culture of working hard. No matter how bad you are this year, or maybe you haven’t won the Munster championship or the All-Ireland, you go out next year saying that we’re going to Croke Park in September. Cork don’t live yesterday — they live for tomorrow.

“Maybe one criticism of Wexford is that they would look back to ‘56, ‘60, ‘68 and ‘96 (the years of their only Liam McCarthy successes). That was all they ever spoke about, whereas Cork have won three All-Irelands since 1999 and they’re looking at the next one.

“The strong are looking at tomorrow, and the weak tend to look backwards and glorify themselves.’’ Meyler’s two selectors — Willie Sunderland and Nick Byrne — were strangers. What he looked for was “total honesty, total objectivity and no baggage” and he believes he has found that mix.

He explained: “We didn’t want anybody who had rows with players before, with selectors or clubs.’’

And he includes himself in that: “I think they look on me as a Corkman, though I’m not! They see me as an outsider coming in. That was probably one of the first plusses we had in the management set-up.’’

Tomorrow, in Nowlan Park, Wexford play Galway in the quarter-final of the Allianz League. It’s the first time since 1996 that the county reached the knockout stages (when, by coincidence, they met the Westerners in the quarter-final and lost 2-15 to 1-10).

Meyler sees it as a reward for a lot of hard work and the honesty of the players’ approach.

“After we were beaten by 11 points by Waterford in the first round, the doom and gloom merchants would have said: ‘Here we go again, the old story with Wexford.’ But, what I saw that day was fierce heart, effort and commitment. What I also saw was a lack of hurling. At that stage we had no hurling done and that was my mistake. I realised that and I told the players.’’

The following week, they lost to Kilkenny by six points in the Walsh Cup, but it meant they were better prepared for their second-round game, away to Clare. The game had added significance because of their blow-out to the Banner in the Championship last year.

“We beat them by two points and it was the momentum that day which pushed us. The win was more important than the hurling — a case of hooking and blocking. I call it the ugly side of hurling.

“It wasn’t skill definitely but it was heart and commitment. After that we said we would go and do more hurling. The emphasis up to then had been on fitness.’’

Any time he’s asked if he has introduced any new players, he points out that the like of Stephen Banville (promising so far at wing-forward, but currently hampered by a hamstring problem) has been around for the past few years. And, the encouraging feature is Banville and others like midfielder Kevin Kavanagh are all in their early 20s.

“I think we have the nucleus of a good team,’’ he says, stressing the importance of having Damien Fitzhenry, Declan Ruth and Rory McCarthy still involved from 1996. Meyler rejects the view that this game is a stepping stone for the Championship.

“Every game is important. We’re not looking at next week, or the week after or whatever. We need to win matches, to get into the habit of winning. You look at Cork and Kilkenny at the moment, they have just stumbled into the semi-finals, but they are still there.

“Everybody is saying they are concentrating on the Championship whereas I think we need to concentrate on the next game — not to lower the standard of the last game we have played in — which was the Cork game really. Every game is vital.’’

The goal he has set for himself and his team is “to be able to compete” this year. Of course he has ambitions, but he’s a realist.

“George O’Connor (‘96 star and current Hurling Development Officer in the county) said that if we compete this year ‘you will have done your job.’ But, we all like to win every match.’’