Alan Cadogan relishing coaching role as Roco face Christians
Alan Cadogan pictured signing Isaac Finn's hurley Picture: Howard Crowdy
Anybody with an interest in Cork hurling would be well served by a trip over to the 4G arena nestled next to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh arena tonight to watch the final of the Dr O’Callaghan Cup where buckets of young talent will be on display when Christian Brothers College take on St Francis College Rochestown. Christians will be chasing a third title in six years while Rochestown will be looking for a first title since 2015.
At the helm for Roco is one of their most famous sons, Alan Cadogan. The Douglas man has stepped out of the fast lane of inter-county hurling and while he has plenty left to give to his club, he’s already making a name for himself on the sidelines with his alma mater. Last year he helped guide them to Munster and All-Ireland glory at B level, but this year they fell short at the penultimate step in Munster.
“Being honest about it, we didn’t probably do ourselves justice in the semi-final against Clonmel. We played them in the group game and won by a point, so we knew going into that game that it would be hard to beat the same team twice, but we didn’t do ourselves justice at all. Our footballers played Tralee on the Wednesday and we were put out then on the Friday, so preparation wasn’t ideal. But in saying that, we could have no complaints.
“We’re coming up against a very strong Christians team, but it’s been a long year. It would be nice to finish the school hurling year on a high, especially for the fellas in 6th Year in what will be their last senior hurling game for the school. The O’Callaghan Cup is a very prestigious competition, it’s a game we’re looking forward to and hopefully we’ll put up a good challenge to Christians on Monday night.”
Rochestown are very much a dual school and both codes co-exist in harmony. However, the same cannot be said of the ever-increasing shadow of inter-county activity, and Cadogan has a bird’s-eye view of the challenges that exist.
“Funnily enough we don’t have issues with the teachers with the football, it’s trying to get access to the players, because they’re being pulled left, right and centre. Being honest, I think that the schools hurling and football is suffering at the moment. We have fellas who are playing with the Cork minors, we have fellas playing with the Cork U20s and it’s very difficult to get your full cohort of players in either football or hurling to train collectively.
“I think it’s something that the Cork Post Primary School or the Munster GAA need to look at. The timing of the competitions, we have Cork minors who are playing challenge games, they’re training and, unfortunately, they can’t train with us as a result. Sometimes that’s very frustrating. I’m probably new into the system now in looking at it from a coaching point of view, and we’re a big dual school, and we understand that, and it’s great for them to be involved with inter-county and what not, but not having full access to them, or giving them the opportunity to train or play with the school can be a little bit frustrating.
"But Rochestown have been a big dual school since I was a student and we’ve a very good balancing act, we’ve great communication within the GAA department which does help.”
Still though, there are still certain constants when it comes to schools hurling. The putting aside of club rivalry, the camaraderie, but most importantly, the people you meet.
“We’ve a good cohort of players from city clubs. Douglas, Blackrock, we’ve two or three Nemo lads as well and we’ve players from Tracton and Crosshaven but there’s a good bunch of Douglas players there which is very positive from a Douglas point of view.
“It was the same when I was there as a past pupil, it’s no different nowadays and it’s great for fellas, they build a good camaraderie. They’re in school together every single day, they train with each other on the school team and then, obviously, they’re coming up against each other in club hurling.
"That’s the beauty of schools hurling, you make friendships for life. I’m still in touch with fellas I played with on school teams over the years and Christians are the same, obviously. Those relationships and friendships are something that you cherish as a student as well.”
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