Kingdom calling as Buckley takes on coaching role for coming season

LEADING GAA coach Donie Buckley will link up his native Kerry’s League and Championship bid in 2011 — but he will not be formally joining Jack O’Connor’s management team.

Castleisland Desmonds man Buckley has succumbed to the lure of the Kingdom after persistent efforts from O’Connor to get him on board. But the former Clare and Limerick coach will not be joining O’Connor, Ger O’Keeffe, Diarmuid Murphy and fitness coach Joe O’Connor until February’s League kick-off.

Explained one Kerry insider: “He will be involved in a coaching role on an occasional basis, coming in at specific stages of the season in the way Pat Flanagan did for a couple of years. However he is a completely different type of coach to Pat.”

Buckley was targeted by Jack O’Connor once the Dromid man agreed to remain at the helm for another term. There was no agreement initially but Buckley has come around to a part-time involvement with the Munster champions.

He is likely to meet with O’Connor and his selectors early in the new year to hammer out the details of his role next season. The Clare-based engineer is regarded as one of the most innovative football coaches in the GAA, and was a key part of Limerick’s recent resurgence which brought them to the last two Munster finals.

Meanwhile, new Tipperary hurling boss Declan Ryan has drafted four new players into his panel ahead of next year’s All-Ireland title defence.

John O’Neill, Michael Gleeson, Sean Carey and John Coghlan are all talented All-Ireland medallists from the underage ranks and will add fresh impetus to Ryan’s squad.

Forward pair O’Neill and Carey, as well as defender Coghlan, played under Ryan in 2007 when Tipperary won the All-Ireland MHC crown.

Clonoulty-Rossmore clubman O’Neill and dual star Carey, from Moyle Rovers, then went on to play key roles in this year’s All-Ireland U21 final victory against Galway.

Coghlan, from the Moyne-Templetuohy club, missed out on the final through a controversial suspension but was in superb form throughout the season. Coghlan and Carey also made history in 2010 when they won Munster U21 medals in both hurling and football for the Premier County.

Gleeson, meanwhile, is the son of Thurles Sarsfields manager Michael, who was recently-appointed as Tipperary selector alongside manager Ryan and coach Tommy Dunne.

Gleeson scored two points when introduced as a substitute in the 2006 All-Ireland minor final and has been in superb form at midfield for Thurles Sarsfields in their march to next Sunday’s AIB Munster club hurling final.

O’Neill was called into Liam Sheedy’s 2010 Tipperary panel but the vast majority of his season was decimated by a cruciate knee ligament injury. However, the former Harty Cup winning forward made an impressive comeback and finished the season as an All-Ireland U21 medallist, having appeared as a substitute in the final against Galway.

Tipperary trainer Cian O’Neill oversaw a squad fitness test at University of Limerick on Sunday, and players have received individual strength and conditioning programmes before collective training resumes in January.

One notable attendee was midfielder James Woodlock, who missed the 2010 campaign after suffering an horrific leg break & last year. Woodlock’s recovery is almost complete and the Kilkenny-based Garda, who lined out in the 2009 All-Ireland final, is targeting a return to the starting line-up next year.

nThe Irish handball squad to compete in next month’s USHA Junior Nationals in San Diego has been announced: Boys 19 & Under: Caolan Daly (Tyrone); Boys 17 & Under: Killian Carroll (Cork); Boys 15 & Under: Darren Doherty (Monaghan); Girls 19 & Under: Lorraine Havern (Down); Girls 17 & Under: Catriona Casey (Cork); Girls 15 & Under: Lauren O’Riordan (Roscommon).