O'Neill hopes star-studded backroom can bring Cavan consistency

Raymond Galligan revealed in his first interview last week that he specifically went after former Tyrone and Antrim coach Stephen O'Neill. 

Raymond Galligan wants Cavan to be a more direct team. Pic: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

Tyrone great Stephen O'Neill has admitted he jumped at the chance to work with Cavan, a county with 'massive potential'.

The three-time All-Ireland winner and former Footballer of the Year has been drafted in by boss Raymond Galligan to work with the Cavan forwards.

Galligan revealed in his first interview last week that he specifically went after former Tyrone and Antrim coach O'Neill as he felt 'we really needed to add some value to our attacking play in the forwards and he was somebody I really loved watching as a player'.

Galligan said he wants Cavan to be a more direct, long-kicking team and O'Neill, ironically, put on a show of those exact attributes when leading Tyrone to their third consecutive All-Ireland masters title last Saturday.

O'Neill will be joined by the likes of All-Ireland-winning ladies manager Eamonn Murray and athletics great Catherina McKiernan in Galligan's star-studded backroom.

"It's a county that has massive potential and the interest in Cavan football is huge," said O'Neill. "The thing that they don't bring I suppose is that bit of consistency.

"I remember even in my own playing days with Tyrone, there were days when you went out to play Cavan and they were brilliant and there were other days and the performance let them down sometimes.

"They'll start in Division 2 and that will be the big focus first, to get steady, consistent performances. Hopefully that will be enough to get the points on the board."

Cavan's inconsistency is summed up by their league and Championship results in the last three years alone. They famously won the 2020 Ulster title and reached the 2022 Tailteann Cup final.

But they were also relegated to Division 4 of the league in 2021 and have only won one Ulster championship game since lifting the Anglo Celt Cup.

Ironically, that was a 1-20 to 0-10 win over the O'Neill coached Antrim in 2022.

"Cavan played Antrim in that game a couple of years ago and they gave us a real lesson up in Belfast," said O'Neill.

"Their forward play that day was super. When they're on it, they do have top class forwards."

Galligan will also be assisted by ex-Cavan forward Jason O'Reilly and experienced coach/manager Micheal McDermott.

"It was nice to be asked by Cavan, I said I'd give it a rattle and see how it goes," said O'Neill. "Listen, it's a good setup. But, again, it's a very tough Division 2 and that's the first challenge. We've a lot of tough teams to face so we're under no illusions, it's going to be a massive challenge but something I'm looking forward to."

O'Neill, 42, rolled back the years last Saturday with a brilliant display of playmaking in Tyrone's 0-12 to 0-6 masters final win over Kerry.

Kicking off both feet, he threaded a series of passes that led to scores for full-forward Michael Anderson and he added an insurance point late on himself.

"People laugh at the over-40s and that but we trained hard," he said. "All the teams we've played had put in good training and worked hard. At any level it's never easy to win an All-Ireland."

Tyrone previously beat Dublin in the 2021 and 2022 masters finals and are the first group in the county to claim an All-Ireland three-in-a-row.

"We're very happy to have done that," said O'Neill. "At my age you're just happy to keep going for as long as you can. Any time you win, and win a trophy, it's just a nice feeling. You'd be content and happy. It's no different at any age."