How Glen Rovers reemerged as a force by keeping a lid on their opinions

"There was bitching going on, players had too much to say."

Richie Kelleher adopted something of a tough love approach when taking the reins six years ago. Picture: Jim Coughlan.

When Richie Kelleher came in as Glen Rovers manager ahead of the 2014 season, there was one issue he quickly set about addressing.

Having been in and around the camp in 2010 and ’11 as a selector, as well as time spent on the sideline carrying hurleys, Kelleher felt the players were doing a bit too much talking for his liking. There was, he added, too much bitching going on.

Following on from a 2010 campaign where the Glen reached the county decider, the club’s first final appearance in 19 years and involving many of the players who’ll step inside the whitewash this weekend, 2011 did not go well.

“I don’t know if it was us [the management] or the players, but we just weren’t gelling. We played Killeagh below in Midleton in the first round of the championship and won very, very well, [but] it didn’t feel right,” Kelleher recalls.

“We played Blackrock in a league game out on Church Road and it kind of festered. There was bitching going on, and it was never the same. 

We were 10 up against Cloyne with 10 minutes to go in the fourth round of the county championship and we lost that match because we weren’t united, players had too much to say, too many opinions.”

Kelleher did not want this being a theme of his time at the helm and so adopted something of a tough love approach when taking the reins six years ago.

“We knew that before we came in we were probably underachieving. Players had opinions, spoke a little bit too much. Their job was to get fit, get aggressive, play hurling and see where it goes.

“I would have said to them, if you want to come and talk to me, we’ll have a chat one-to-one, but we don’t have any of these big group conversations and throw it out to the floor. We don’t do that because players, in my opinion, lost the plot. They think they know everything — they don’t. Their job is to be the best hurler they can be.

That was kinda our thing when we came in; tell them to shut their mouths; get them aggressive; get them playing hurling, and see where it took us. And we know where that took us. We have had a great journey. We’ve won matches and we’ve lost matches, but we did it together, as a team and as a unit.”

The manager credits this collective shift in attitude as key to their success and consistency of recent years — Sunday represents the Glen’s fifth Cork hurling final appearance in seven years.

“I have this big thing about bitching, we have stopped it for years and it has turned the whole thing around. Why would you bitch to your own teammate? If he is doing something wrong, support him, get behind him, and that is what we have tried to do. And it is working for us. The players have worked so hard.”

He is confident their semi-final performance — a come-from-behind win over Erin’s Own — will serve them in good stead for what will be the 11th county final meeting between the Glen and the Rockies.

“Prior to last Saturday, our last knockout championship match was Borris-Ileigh in the Munster club last year. That was 10, 11 months ago. We won our three group matches this year, brilliant, but there is a safety net there because you know it is not knockout.

“Last Saturday was knockout, there was an edge to it. And from our part, there was rustiness, which was our fear going down.

“That 60-odd minutes will really stand to us on Sunday because we know the pace now and I think we will be that bit fresher this weekend.

“I met [Blackrock manager] Fergal Ryan three or four years ago. We had won two county titles at that stage and they were on the road. He was saying, they wanted to get to where we were. I was saying to him, go back to when we were playing against each other, it was the Rockies who were winning and we weren’t.

“They do deserve a county but hopefully it is next year or the year after.”

With tickets for Sunday at an absolute premium in the club, Kelleher is sorry for those who will not get a ringside seat at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

“We obviously take Covid very seriously, and I know it can’t happen, but I would just love if there were crowds down there because we won matches where the crowd got behind us. We do have a vocal crowd, sometimes maybe too much, but that is passion and that passion flows from the supporters into the team.”