BY JOHNNY CAROLAN
AS well as the Allianz Hurling League and Munster SHC this year, the current Cork hurling management have a considerable CV of success behind them.
When Pat Ryan was appointed as county U20 manager in the autumn of 2019, he appointed Dónal O’Mahony, Wayne Sherlock, Fergal Condon and Brendan Coleman as his management.
While their first season together was impacted by Covid-19, they won the Munster title by beating Tipperary just before Christmas and then ended a long wait for All-Ireland glory as Dublin were overcome in July of 2021.
Just under two months later, the 2021 title was added. A number of the graduates of those victories now ply their trade in the senior set-up, while the management remains exactly the same.
For selector Coleman, working under Ryan is a pleasure.
‘He's just a great people person, first and foremost,' he says.
‘Then his knowledge of the game, his acumen for hurdling is so vast. It's fantastic and you know, he loves it.
‘He can talk about hurling, he can talk American sports, he can talk politics. I suppose he has such a great relationship with the lads and he's so selfless to allow them to grow and develop and he takes great pride in that, which is it's a lovely trait to have.’
The strength of Cork’s coaching could be seen in how well the team played in the All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin, making light of the four-week break since the Munster final with a superb performance.
‘We were expecting it,’ Coleman says, ‘the four weeks was excellent.
‘Again, we referenced May 18th and how bad it was. There was learnings in the three-week gap, in terms of what we do better. So, we had that too as a reference point, really, and took that on.
‘Week one after the Munster final was low-key and you could see that there was a significant effect on their energy levels so we kind of came down for a week and the three weeks from there were excellent.
‘First week, we were back in for a gym session and some guys were released play with the club, if I can remember correctly.
‘There were club games that week so we had reduced numbers and there was very little contact – just skills work, short and snappy – just with the aim of getting the bodies right for the following week with a full panel.
‘Then we went hammer and tongs for three weeks.’
As good as the management is, though, the players will be the ones to take the field and, to that end, Coleman credits the current group with how much ownership they have taken.
‘They run their own players' meetings with just Tomás Manning in the stats group,’ he says.
‘We're not privy to everything that goes on in there, but they are really driving, they're doing well out of it.
‘They'll have their own analysis sessions some nights and have their own players’ meeting and we give them that space, which is fantastic.’
