Leo O'Connor: 'I think it’s going to take three to four years before these guys are at their full strength'

DEVOLOPMENT REQUIRED: Offaly manager Leo O'Connor celebrates the oneills.com GAA Hurling All-Ireland U20 Championship final win. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

Offaly U20 manager Leo O’Connor has estimated it will take another three to four years before this golden group of hurlers matures to compete at senior level.

The county's third under-age All-Ireland final appearance in as many years resulted in a convincing victory in UPMC Nowlan Park on Saturday.

Limerick native O’Connor spoke of the group’s “rawness” being one of their trump cards. However, he knows there’s a body of work yet to complete before they are as prominent at the highest grade.

“To be very realistic about it, I think it’s going to take three to four years before these guys are at their full strength. They all have to develop and that’s the most important thing. I worked with Limerick for 10, 11 years and I know what it takes.

“I remember 2008, 2009 with development squads in Limerick and it took 10 years to get back up. We won a Munster championship with Limerick in 2011 with Declan Hannon and all those lads. It took until 2018 for them to really mature.

“Fair enough, Limerick won a Munster senior hurling championship in 2013 but, as I said during the week, 2013 Limerick were beaten in an All-Ireland semi-final, 2014 beaten in an All-Ireland minor final, and it took time for the thing to come through. That’s what’s going to happen in Offaly.

“There’s guys ahead of this team that were involved last year. They’re there and we’re going to work hard on them again. It’s a matter of development, development, development, and I can’t emphasise it enough. No one swallow made a summer so it’s a work in progress.” 

Offaly’s massive support in Kilkenny on Saturday wasn’t going to daunt the players, O’Connor said, and the experiences of losing their last two under-age All-Ireland finals stood to them.

“It’s the learnings we got in 2022 and 2023, they were really vital and it’s so important that we took them on board. You don’t want to look back on the All-Ireland last year, it’s water under the bridge, but we did analyse it. Like, Tony Gleeson came in with us this year as well, added a different element from a tactical point of view.

“No one is perfect. We are all learning. And it is a matter of collaborating the whole thing together. Like, Hughie Hannon is there as coach and has worked extremely with these guys over the last three years. Johnny Pilkington, the experience that Johnny has built up over the last couple of years, like has you cannot buy that. 

“I have my own experience with Limerick, I lost 30 years ago this year, I was beaten in an All-Ireland final by Offaly. So from my point of view, it’s a case of taking the learnings and experiences that you had over your lifetime and bring them all together and they bore fruition tonight.” 

There was no question about it for O’Connor: Offaly simply had to beat Tipperary.

“From our point of view, third time, we had to get over the line tonight. They’re the targets we set ourselves at the start of the year and that’s the way it's worked out for us.” 

O’Connor hopes Saturday marks the start of a successful seven-day period for Offaly hurling with six of his team now switching focus to Johnny Kelly’s seniors in Saturday’s Joe McDonagh Cup final against Laois.

“They’ve worked really hard, they’re a great bunch of players, there’s a rawness, there’s an honesty about them, that in any way, shape or form will never, these guys will never let themselves down, and that’s the most important thing. It’s progress.

“Tonight is brilliant. But there’s ice baths inside there ready for six senior hurlers tonight. They’ve to jump into them now and get the thing right. So from that point of view that’s the most important thing.”