Fitzgerald: future bright for Cork

CORK U21 hurling boss Ger Fitzgerald last night said last winter’s acrimonious senior hurling strike should be left in the past and that he is determined to focus his energies on his new position within the county.

Fitzgerald was appointed as the new U21 hurling manager at Tuesday night’s Cork County Board meeting, filling the post vacated when John Considine’s term of office drew to a close after last June’s Munster U21HC defeat against Tipperary.

Fitzgerald served as a senior selector under former Cork boss Gerald McCarthy until he resigned last March, and will also be joined on the new U21 management team by fellow former senior selectors Teddy McCarthy and John Mortell.

“What happened last year with the senior setup is well-documented at this stage. I think there certainly are lessons to be learnt from it all by everyone in Cork GAA. But it’s in the past now and I believe it is better to be left there. I’m very pleased to be taking up the new position. There were two things which really attracted me to it.

“Firstly I think there are a lot of good young players in circulation throughout Cork at the moment. There’s real potential there for this U21 side. Secondly there’s a really good U21 management team put together to do the job. I know Teddy and John very well of course, but you’ve two other very good guys in Don Cronin (Cork minor manager in 2007) and Dara Holland. We’re really looking forward to it.”

The past season has been filled with disappointment for Cork hurling with the senior side’s All-Ireland qualifier exit coupled with poor underage showings in the Munster championship. But despite the county being without an All-Ireland U21 crown since 1998, Fitzgerald insists that the future is bright for Cork hurling.

“I think there were very good players at minor and U21 level this season, but it was just unfortunate how they fared out. The U21’s were very unlucky to lose a magnificent game against Tipperary after extra-time, while the minors could easily have beaten Tipperary in the drawn game. It was disappointing to lose but those matches showed there was talent.

“And while we might not have had success at U21 level in recent years, a good few players have come through. The likes of Shane O’Neill, Patrick Cronin and Cathal Naughton have gone on to do very well at senior level. What we need is more and more players coming through. You look at the successful counties like Kilkenny and they have loads of players coming through. That’s the benchmark.”

Fitzgerald believes that everyone associated with the U21 setup has a role to play if Cork are to be successful in the grade once more.

“This isn’t just about the selectors doing their job. There are a lot of stakeholders here. You need an input from the county board with how they structure fixtures, from the clubs as regards releasing players, from colleges who’ll have them for the Fitzgibbon, from the players themselves and from us as a management team. The gap between minor and senior is now absolutely massive. So there is a big role for the U21 side in developing players. It’s very important to try and securing success, but unearthing talent for the senior side is also crucial.”