Shefflin: Ballyhale experience has helped me transition into inter-county management

CLUB LEADS TO COUNTY: Galway manager Henry Shefflin. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile

Henry Shefflin said that guiding his native Ballyhale Shamrocks to successive All-Ireland club titles provided great experience when he stepped up to his first inter-county job as Galway manager late last year.

Shefflin, who retired from inter-county hurling in 2015, said that the Ballyhale campaigns gave him a good insight to doing video analysis on opponents and also preparing him for some of the huge demands placed on managers.

Shefflin stepped down after managing Ballyhale to successive All-Ireland club titles in 2019 and 2020 and after a season with Kilkenny intermediate side Thomastown, he was the shock appointment by Galway last October to replace Shane O’Neill.

Shefflin, who is hoping to stop Limerick’s bid for three All-Ireland titles in a row on Sunday when they clash in the semi-final, said he has enjoyed the transition from club to inter-county manager.

“I’ve really enjoyed it. I was fortunate with Ballyhale, in that we went long into both seasons. It brought the experience of getting to Croke Park and managing the logistics of all of that.

“Once the team came out of Kilkenny, we’d be doing video analysis and things you wouldn’t need to do in a county championship because everyone probably knows the players within the county. So that experience really helped.” Richie O’Neill, Shefflin’s coach during those successes with Ballyhale, joined him in Galway from the outset. The travel from south Kilkenny has been difficult and Shefflin and O’Neill are grateful to their employers for their flexibility.

The pair often work out of the Lough Rea Hotel in Galway, which is owned by Tribesmen sponsor Pat McDonagh of Supermac’s, and this has allowed them combine a busy work life with all the demands of inter-county management.

“In fairness, my employers, Bank of Ireland, and Richie’s employers, Zurich, have been very good to both of us. Obviously, Covid has brought the virtual world of working from home, which has been good to us as well.

“So, whether I work from a Bank of Ireland branch or in the office we have in the Lough Rea Hotel, we travel early in the morning, we get in and do a day’s work. So, that’s good because the day is long; you’ve travel and training and possibly going home again.

“So, if we can be here and do a day’s work from here, it’s much easier to be fresh for training and really enjoy it.” Shefflin paid tribute to Tex Callaghan and Adrian Syler, who look after Galway’s logistics, and he said their work and the support of the wider group have made the job much easier.

“I said at the beginning, we were made so welcome when we came up here. That’s been the case from the start, and I think it shows the love people have for Galway hurling, that they want to see the team doing well. It has made the transition so much easier for myself and Richie, and it’s been so enjoyable for us.

“We have a good balance to our approach and as I said, our employers have been very good to us too,” added Shefflin.

His primary injury concern for Sunday’s showdown against the champions in Croke Park remains centre-back Gearoid McInerney who limped off with a knee injury in the 2-19 to 1-21 quarter-final win over Cork the weekend before last.