Shane O'Neill: The Limerick man trying to defeat his own
MAROONED: Former Limerick hurler and Na Piarsaigh manager Shane O'Neill will lead Galway against his native county on Sunday. Picture: Tommy Dickson
Shane O’Neill is in maroon this weekend as Galway hurling manager.
A strange colour for a former Limerick player and Na Piarsaigh stalwart? Perhaps. Though the bib is less of a surprise to those who know him.
Damien Quigley, a teammate with club and county “always regarded him as someone who had the capability to go into team management - if he wanted to.
“He’s a very intelligent guy and if he puts his mind to something then he’ll do it properly. He’ll apply himself and do it to the absolute best.
“That was how he played, and he played for years. We went senior in 1995 and he didn’t miss a minute’s championship until he was taken off late on in a game one year; apart from that he played every minute of every senior championship game we played for 17 or 18 years.
“We got over the line and won the county in 2011, so he got a county championship medal and a Munster club medal, he played the following year because he’d trained for the Munster and All-Ireland club championship.
“We got beaten in the All-Ireland semi-final by Loughgiel but because he’d trained all that time he was very fit in February so he rolled into the next season as well.
TJ Ryan knows O’Neill almost as long as Quigley. The three men shared a county dressing-room for years, after all.
“I played underage and senior for Limerick with Shane,” says Ryan.
“He was a very solid guy, he’s a partner in a solicitor’s practice here in town so obviously he’s very intelligent, very capable.
“People would sometimes ask me, ‘did you always think such-and-such would make a manager or a coach?’, but often you’re too young when you’re playing to get a handle on that.
“But in hindsight, in Shane’s case he was a leader and someone who could get people to work with him, so it’s not a surprise to see him as a successful manager.”
O’Neill’s leadership as a manager within his own club stands out for Ryan: “What Na Piarsaigh have done for the Limerick club scene is that they’ve raised the bar.
“If you’re with a club in Limerick then you know you have to get your house in order to compete with the likes of Na Piarsaigh, because you know they’re going to be at a certain level.
“For me that’s a good thing, raising standards. And in fairness to Shane, doing it with your own club can often be difficult enough because every club has families and internal politics, all of those things going on.
“Since they won the All-Ireland club everything about Na Piarsaigh has pushed on - the teams, the facilities, everything, they have a good few on the Limerick panel as well.
“They’re top of the pile and every other club is measuring themselves against them.”
Quigley fills in the detail of that journey, and journey is the appropriate word.
“Shane was playing in 1993 and I remember thinking ‘this guy is the real deal’. That was intermediate, which we won in 1995 to go senior.
“At senior, it wasn’t as if we were getting to county finals all along and losing them narrowly. We got to a couple of county semi-finals in the 90s, but we were borderline good enough - a good Patrickswell team beat us in one of those games by a couple of points, but they went on to win three titles in a row.
“But for a long time we were playing and a county senior title wasn’t on the agenda at all. In fact, a couple of years it was more a case of ‘let’s keep up senior’ rather than winning a county.
“We had 10 or 11 years of going nowhere, realistically speaking, and then we got to the final in 2009.”
Even then the experience was a harsh one. Na Piarsaigh lost to Adare by 17 points and scored three the same day.
“Two years later we won our first, and Shane was there, having played all those years up to that,” says Quigley.
“Winning an All-Ireland club was huge, obviously, and he nearly won a second one. Cuala beat us in a replay and they got a break because Mike Casey couldn’t play the second half of the replay: they hadn’t threatened a goal in Croke Park or in the first half in the replay, but when Mike went off they got two goals and won the game.
“So there could have been a second All-Ireland club won.
“Yes, Na Piarsaigh had a very good side - and still do - but you can see the influence of management on all teams. Very good teams don’t always have very good managers, or managers who don’t maximise what the team can offer.
“It’s fair to say that Shane maximised what he could get from that team.”
Ryan was surprised to see O’Neill pop up in Galway: “Well, I was at the time, but then I didn’t know he was in the hunt.
“Of course, after the news about Mickey Harte the other night who knows anything about these appointments any more, nothing would surprise you!
“What’s interesting is that John Fitzgerald, who’d be a good buddy of his from the club, is in with him as a coach in Galway.
“I think it’s a help (to Galway) that he knows the Limerick players, for sure. He’d know players individually, he’d know Paul Kinnerk (Limerick coach), he’d have followed Limerick and would be good to read how they structure their game.
“And he’s good on structure himself - they got it spot on against Galway, they were unlucky against Kilkenny, good against Tipperary . . . form-wise they’re entitled to be where they are.
“Is there a nervousness in Limerick about Shane? There would be, I think. It adds a bit more intrigue to the game. Limerick have their style down to a fine art and they make it very difficult for the opposition. Waterford had probably the best stab at curbing Limerick, so will Galway try something different?
“Shane probably has the artillery with Galway for specific jobs and match-ups but he also used a sweeper against Tipp early on, so all of those are factors to consider.”
Quigley isn’t so sure how big a help O’Neill’s knowledge of Limerick is: “There’s so much analysis out there now that I don’t think where a coach or manager comes from is as big a deal as it used to be. The notion of ‘inside knowledge’ is probably a more historic thing because every game is on TV or online now. You can pore over every detail, so there’s not much you can’t find out.”
True. And Sunday we’ll find out more
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