Brunell look to youth in bid to build on Cup win

Brunell head coach Liam Culloty described his side as 'exciting, fast and young'.

HOOP DREAMS: Brunell’s new recruits Jordan Vasquez, from San Diego, and, below, Trinity Hudson, from New York. Picture: ©INPHO/James Crombie

A first national senior cup title sounds like the ideal jumping-off point for a new season. It’s not always so simple.

Gurranbraher Credit Union Brunell registered a hundred points in finally shaking off a gritty Fr Mathews challenge at the National Arena in Tallaght last January. First in the Super League table at the time, they would finish third and exit the playoffs at the semi-final stage.

Losing Edel Thornton, the Irish international, to a torn ACL on the approach to February didn’t help those double hopes but, painful as that was, it was temporary. Head coach Liam Culloty had other gaps to fill over the off-season.

Their pros from last year have moved on, most crucially Jayla Johnson who top-scored in claiming that silverware against their Cork rivals. Others again have followed the well-worn path to America on scholarships.

All told, it will be a callow enough squad Brunell send out on opening weekend. The recruitment of the new pros – always such a key act in any campaign, and one that comes loaded with uncertainty – takes on an even greater importance.

“We have Jordan Vasquez from San Diego, California,” said Culloty. “She had a really good college career, went All-American in Division II and had a really successful year, so I think she will really add to our group.

“Our second girl is Trinity Hudson. She is from New York so we have gone coast to coast on getting them in. They are both really tall and athletic and all our Irish players are quite small and fast so hopefully they will fit in quite well with our system and bring a lot to the team.” 

Brunell, he said, will be playing a lot of players in their late teens. Few clubs can dig so deep into their pockets and come up with such riches: Brunell’s U18s and U20s reached national cup finals last season too.

“We will have to learn a lot of lessons along the way. After a few games I think we will find our rhythm and be exciting to watch. We have been really lucky as well in that we have had a lot of players on the U18 international teams the last few years.

“So they are all going to be stepping up. Our youngest player is Abbie Lyons. She was on the Irish U16s squad this summer and she played at the European Championships. It’s exciting, its fast and young.” 

Change comes in all forms at this time of year.

Four of the ten sides in the Women’s Super League will be playing under a new coach, although Jillian Hayes makes the small but still significant step from assistant coach to gaffer with Wildcats. The others are completely fresh faces.

Kyle Walsh takes over at University of Galway Mystics now that Paul O’Brien has moved to Men’s Division One side Maigh Cuillin, Keith Daly replaces the departed Pat Price at Fr Mathews, and Keith Conroy is building an impressive roster with Portlaoise Panthers.

Culloty’s Brunell start their season in Portlaoise’s St Mary’s Hall on Sunday and took the chance to watch them against the Mystics in a challenge a few weeks ago. The new challenges and new styles are more than welcome.

“It will be a bit blind at the start of the season before everyone has a chance to see all the games. So you are relying on yourself and your own team to implant your own style and then go along and scout the others as you go.” 

The other change is less positive with DCU Mercy having relinquished their league status during the off-season because of the financial pressures. Culloty doesn’t need any education on these uncomfortable realities.

It was these same pressures that brought his spell coaching Castleisland to an end, the club’s decision to step back from the national circuit prompting him into a letter of application for the then vacant slot at Brunell a few years ago.

Brunell didn’t have a pro for long spells of his first term in Cork due to money constraints and there are no shortage of challenges for those coaches old and new who will pit their wares against the best the domestic game has to offer in the coming months.

Culloty’s trip from Tralee and back is a six-hour shift, including time on the court, three times a week for training. Add to that whatever journey the weekend’s game brings. The overarching role is a seven-day operation, but one he runs gladly.

“We rely a lot on our players for feedback and they really help with their energy to prepare for the next game. Once they are bringing energy you can feed off that and the drive doesn’t feel so long after that.”