THE CASE FOR Mattie Kenny to be appointed as Dublin manager was strengthened by the remarkable exploits he supervised by Cuala at club level over the last few years.
After his All-Ireland winning success there Kenny has made the jump to direct inter-county operations in the capital in 2019 but one of the stars of his club team will not making a similar move.
Con O’Callaghan has fitted seamlessly into Dublin’s all-conquering football side of late and for all the prowess he has displayed with Cuala hurling sides and all the admiration he has for Kenny, the talented forward does not envisage himself being managed by the Galway native any time soon.
“We actually had a holiday a few weeks ago with Cuala over in Portugal, with the hurlers, and Mattie (Kenny) and Greg (Kennedy) came over with us,” outlined O’Callaghan, speaking in Philadelphia on the 2018 PWC All-Stars tour.
“So, we just had a really good time. We’ve been talking about going away for so long, for nearly three or four years, so it was nice to actually go away. I had no conversation, I think Mattie is letting me off, I don’t think he’s going to approach me for the year.
“I haven’t considered it. I’m really enjoying football. It’s not that I’d no desire to play with the hurlers but I’d had some success in hurling. In the next couple of years I can’t say that I won’t but I see myself playing football – hurling with the club but football for Dublin.”
O’Callaghan has plenty praise for Kenny’s style of management.
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Mattie Kenny guided Cuala to two All-Ireland club victories.
“Mattie did such a good job with us. He nearly changed the culture in there. We’ve been really successful under him, and he’s moved on to the Dublin job and we’re all delighted for him. He’s such a good manager and he deserves a high-calibre job at inter-county level.
“I think he’ll do really well. Pat Gilroy did a really good job, and he had the players’ and the county’s backing. Mattie has been an inter-county manager for our club for the last couple of years, just the professionalism that he brought to it. The passion and the enthusiasm.
“He doesn’t take no for an answer and that’s a good thing. Whatever he feels has to get done he’ll get it done. He’ll do these things himself and won’t put the players under pressure. He’ll sort it out in the background and the players just focus on the hurling.”
The vacancy at the helm of Cuala created by Kenny’s departure was filled last week with Tipperary’s William Maher moving into the hotseat.
“To get someone like Willie Maher in is really exciting for the club. I suppose the club is at, not at a transition period, but it’s kind of at a stage where the older lads have only a couple of years possibly left. There’s a lot of lads around 28-29, we have a couple of good lads coming up, so it’s great to get a manager of the calibre of Willie. He has a proven track record.”
“There were rumours going around for a couple of weeks and a lot of people were saying different things, but it was officially announced on the Wednesday (last week). We were down in the Royal Marine in Dun Laoghaire, that’s where we have all our meetings.
“So, he just came in and spoke to the players, it was kind of informal. He had a chat with us and a little presentation and a chat with any of the club members who wanted to come down. Just set out the plan for the year; I think we’re taking a little break, the lads are taking a break with Cuala.”
O’Callaghan currently is in a rare period of downtime after a few hectic seasons juggling his commitments to different teams.
“The last couple of years have been long, but they’ve been incredibly enjoyable. They’re special times in your lives.
“We’re obviously out this year with Cuala and we’d prefer to be in it, but personally it’s nice to have a little break over the Christmas; it’s the first one in a while, since just after minor. You can take everything in and you can do a bit more things socially and go away.
“Both Jim (Gavin) and Mattie (Kenny) would have been very good. Even if they just thought that I was a bit fatigued, Bryan Cullen tracks our load anyway, or even mentally a bit drained, you might get the odd session off just to reboot the system. But I really enjoyed it. It’s not like I was forced into it.”
Con O'Callaghan celebrating with fans after Dublin's All-Ireland title win this year. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
The 2019 campaign will swing sharply into view soon. For O’Callaghan and his Dublin team-mates, the narrative of the season will be dominated by their bid for a historic five-in-a-row of Sam Maguire triumphs.
“Everyone outside of the camp is going to make it out to be massive – five in a row – but we haven’t even met up yet and I’m sure when we do, we’ll chat over everything but it won’t be something we’ll focus on. If you start thinking about these glory titles – five-in-a-row – you’re probably not in the right headspace to be playing matches.
“We try to keep it within ourselves and stay off social media. We try to stay together as a group, particularly when the games are getting big and there’s lots of people talking from outside.”
“It’s a personal thing. I’m not on any of the platforms. Some lads enjoy it and others don’t. If it’s part of your life and that’s what you do I don’t think it has a massive effect but if you think it does affect you, better to stay away.”
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Club boss taking over Dublin, juggling two sports and the 2019 five-in-a-row bid
THE CASE FOR Mattie Kenny to be appointed as Dublin manager was strengthened by the remarkable exploits he supervised by Cuala at club level over the last few years.
After his All-Ireland winning success there Kenny has made the jump to direct inter-county operations in the capital in 2019 but one of the stars of his club team will not making a similar move.
Con O’Callaghan has fitted seamlessly into Dublin’s all-conquering football side of late and for all the prowess he has displayed with Cuala hurling sides and all the admiration he has for Kenny, the talented forward does not envisage himself being managed by the Galway native any time soon.
“We actually had a holiday a few weeks ago with Cuala over in Portugal, with the hurlers, and Mattie (Kenny) and Greg (Kennedy) came over with us,” outlined O’Callaghan, speaking in Philadelphia on the 2018 PWC All-Stars tour.
“So, we just had a really good time. We’ve been talking about going away for so long, for nearly three or four years, so it was nice to actually go away. I had no conversation, I think Mattie is letting me off, I don’t think he’s going to approach me for the year.
“I haven’t considered it. I’m really enjoying football. It’s not that I’d no desire to play with the hurlers but I’d had some success in hurling. In the next couple of years I can’t say that I won’t but I see myself playing football – hurling with the club but football for Dublin.”
O’Callaghan has plenty praise for Kenny’s style of management.
“Mattie did such a good job with us. He nearly changed the culture in there. We’ve been really successful under him, and he’s moved on to the Dublin job and we’re all delighted for him. He’s such a good manager and he deserves a high-calibre job at inter-county level.
“I think he’ll do really well. Pat Gilroy did a really good job, and he had the players’ and the county’s backing. Mattie has been an inter-county manager for our club for the last couple of years, just the professionalism that he brought to it. The passion and the enthusiasm.
“He doesn’t take no for an answer and that’s a good thing. Whatever he feels has to get done he’ll get it done. He’ll do these things himself and won’t put the players under pressure. He’ll sort it out in the background and the players just focus on the hurling.”
The vacancy at the helm of Cuala created by Kenny’s departure was filled last week with Tipperary’s William Maher moving into the hotseat.
“To get someone like Willie Maher in is really exciting for the club. I suppose the club is at, not at a transition period, but it’s kind of at a stage where the older lads have only a couple of years possibly left. There’s a lot of lads around 28-29, we have a couple of good lads coming up, so it’s great to get a manager of the calibre of Willie. He has a proven track record.”
“There were rumours going around for a couple of weeks and a lot of people were saying different things, but it was officially announced on the Wednesday (last week). We were down in the Royal Marine in Dun Laoghaire, that’s where we have all our meetings.
“So, he just came in and spoke to the players, it was kind of informal. He had a chat with us and a little presentation and a chat with any of the club members who wanted to come down. Just set out the plan for the year; I think we’re taking a little break, the lads are taking a break with Cuala.”
O’Callaghan currently is in a rare period of downtime after a few hectic seasons juggling his commitments to different teams.
“The last couple of years have been long, but they’ve been incredibly enjoyable. They’re special times in your lives.
“We’re obviously out this year with Cuala and we’d prefer to be in it, but personally it’s nice to have a little break over the Christmas; it’s the first one in a while, since just after minor. You can take everything in and you can do a bit more things socially and go away.
“Both Jim (Gavin) and Mattie (Kenny) would have been very good. Even if they just thought that I was a bit fatigued, Bryan Cullen tracks our load anyway, or even mentally a bit drained, you might get the odd session off just to reboot the system. But I really enjoyed it. It’s not like I was forced into it.”
The 2019 campaign will swing sharply into view soon. For O’Callaghan and his Dublin team-mates, the narrative of the season will be dominated by their bid for a historic five-in-a-row of Sam Maguire triumphs.
“Everyone outside of the camp is going to make it out to be massive – five in a row – but we haven’t even met up yet and I’m sure when we do, we’ll chat over everything but it won’t be something we’ll focus on. If you start thinking about these glory titles – five-in-a-row – you’re probably not in the right headspace to be playing matches.
“We try to keep it within ourselves and stay off social media. We try to stay together as a group, particularly when the games are getting big and there’s lots of people talking from outside.”
“It’s a personal thing. I’m not on any of the platforms. Some lads enjoy it and others don’t. If it’s part of your life and that’s what you do I don’t think it has a massive effect but if you think it does affect you, better to stay away.”
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Con O’Callaghan Cuala dual in the crown GAA Mattie Kenny Dublin