IT STARTED WITH a phone call from Tommy Dunne in December 2013, David Moriarty recalls.
The men knew each from Setanta College, where budding strength and conditioning coaches are tutored and mentored to the highest standards.
Moriarty was, and still is, a lecturer there and at the time, Dunne was in the process of completing his degree.
“He had some kind of relation involved with Glen Rovers,” Moriarty remembers.
“They were looking for a strength and conditioning coach.
“I met Richie Kelleher and Ian Lynam, manager and hurling coach, in the Charleville Park Hotel.
“What I got from them was a good vibe – they were involved in 2010 when they got to a county final and they had somebody from Dublin doing something similar.
“I started in the last week of January 2014.”
By the end of the season, Rovers were back in another county final but it was a chastening experience.
Sarsfields dished out a 2-18 to 0-8 beating but to their credit, Rovers regrouped and are back again this afternoon for the Páirc Uí Rinn showpiece.
The gap should be much closer, Moriarty hopes, and the players have another year of his work under their belts.
He brings plenty of experience to the job, having worked with the Limerick senior footballers from November 2001 until July 2005, before linking up with the county’s hurlers for a two-year spell alongside Richie Bennis from July 2006.
As well as his current role with Glen Rovers, Moriarty is also the lead strength and conditioning coach with Young Munster, for whom he previously played rugby.
“I didn’t play hurling and Gaelic Football to a great extent,” he explains.
“I gave up at 19 years of age – rugby was my game.
“The S & C programme should always be guided by and reflect the demands of the sport and rugby and hurling are poles apart.
“Rugby is very much power and strength oriented, breaking and making tackles, while hurling is very fast – speed and agility are the keys.”
When Moriarty arrived on the northside of Cork city to take up his post with Glen Rovers, he got the ‘buy in’ that he was looking for.
“I did a fitness test on the lads, they were in decent enough nick,” he recalls.
“Obviously some were in better nick than others and the first three months was concentrated on increasing strength and power output, looking at their anaerobic capacity.
“Because the numbers were so big on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we divided them into groups – one group on the field and the other in the gym.
“It was a fairly good and decent equipped gym but I said get rid of x, y and z, the machines, and put more money into free weights and medicine balls.
“Come the brighter evenings on the field, I continued to give them resistance programmes but my main focus then was on increasing their game-related fitness.
“I did a lot of drills with them at the highest intensity possible.
“That’s also when Ian’s focus on the coaching elements of the game came into play.
“We could bounce things over and back and he was a different voice when they were getting sick of me, and vice versa.
“Obviously last year was relatively successful in that we got to the county final.
“I don’t think we did ourselves justice and while Rovers will be remembered for 2014 in that they really underperformed and were badly beaten in the county final, I don’t think the team was given enough credit for the work done up to that.
“The main motivation that is driving us this year is redemption, making up for the failure of last year’s county final.
“We didn’t do ourselves justice last year, we were a better team than we showed in last year’s county final and hopefully our performance can reflect that on Sunday.
“Whether that is good enough to win on Sunday remains to be seen. Sarsfields are probably the best team in Cork over the past ten years or so.”
What Rovers have is excellent team spirit, older players like Graham Callanan and David Cunningham and at the other end of the spectrum, some minor graduates who were blooded last year.
“These guys have really developed physically over the last 18 months,” Moriarty says.
“And that’s testament to the work the club did.
“I remember doing a forum on the long term player development pathway with the underage coaches in the club, stuff like ‘this is what you need at 6, 8, 10 years of age, physically, not technically or hurling wise.
“They bought into it and were open to the ideas I brought. That’s the purpose of it – leave the club in a better place than when I came there first.”
Whenever he leaves, he’ll leave with good wishes and plenty of memories to last a lifetime.
On the Ballincollie Road, he’s been made feel very welcome.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time working with the Glen, very dedicated players willing to learn from the ‘outsider’”, Moriarty smiles.
“People often say Cork city is a parochial area but I have never found that, the club have always supported me in what I have being trying to do here, be that is developing or buying equipment for the gym.”
A 26th county title, and first since way back in 1989, would make his time there all the sweeter.
And this my friends……..
@Ray Ridge: Gave you a thumbs up Ray, cos I get a bit of craic outta you.
Anyway, if Liverpool win tomorrow, one more win very likely do it.
@ecrowley ecrowley: if only equalling arsenal’s results till they run out of games,so be it, tomorrow and next weekend the handiest of what’s left,two wins and I might lay of the anxiety tablets.
@Deano74: Ah it’s defo done pal, but I’d like it confirmed sooner than later.
@ecrowley ecrowley: I know,it’s like waiting on a bus,you know it’s coming,but you just want it here.
@Deano74: exactamundo
@ecrowley ecrowley: hope Ray doesn’t support Liverpool!?
@Deano74: Can you give them to me
@Tom Murphy: Arsenal fan i think
@Ray Ridge: friends???
@ecrowley ecrowley: Tbh I don’t Liverpool need to win another game in order to lift the trophy.
@SEAN: You’re a great friend of mine Seanie.
If Arsenal wet themselves against Madrid Wednesday night it won’t surprise me one bit.
The league is done and everyone knows it. Liverpool probably don’t even need another point the way Arsenal are going.
Main thing, no injuries ahead of the Madrid game. Pity they couldn’t rest more but it is what it is. Hopefully they played within themselves and are primed for Wednesday.
Hopefully Mbappe can do an Origi on them next Wednesday!
@Dan The Man: Hope arsenal go through
Hardly a slip up in fairness…..
@Paul Linehan: in the context of the title race of course it is. If Liverpool fail to capitalise on it tomorrow that’s an even bigger slip up
@Michael Mullins: what title race? It’s done since end of march.
@Paul Mallon: grand for us to say that here. Doubt that’s what Arteta is telling them before matches
@Michael Mullins: I’m sure Arsenal have a more realistic target in mind to be bothered by something they blew a long time ago.
Looked as of though the exertions against Real the other night caught up with Arsenal not only physically but mentally and emotionally too. Here’s hoping that they can raise their game again next week in bernabau otherwise they be in for one long long night
@Jed Ward: arsenal score in the 90 mins and it’s well done,at 3 nil it should be,but I seem to vaguely remember a certain side overcome a 3 nil against another Spanish heavy weight,best of luck anyway,enjoy.
@Jed Ward: Arsenal will go through
@SEAN: €1,000 says Real will go through
If Arsenal want CL trophy they’ll have to rest their first 11 regularly now come PL games as pathway to that trophy is probably PSG in semi and most probably Barcelona in the final. Gunners won’t half deserve trophy if they can put out Madrid and also those teams.
Same old arsenal
How poor are this Arsenal side
@james quinn: Apparently Arsenal have spent 1.4 billion since 2017. Klopp lifted how many trophies with about 1/30th of that budget and assisted Slot with another!
@Dan The Man: Yep. With City in a title race, Liverpool were winning nearly every game after xmas and twice came up 1 point short getting the likes of 97 points. With Arsenal u just know they can’t put a string of wins together. They needn’t use Europe as an excuse. Klopp won a Champions League and still got close to 100 points. Levels to this game.
@james quinn: Still poor enough to beat the champions league winner 3 zip
@Dan The Man: klopps net spend was roughly just shy of 350 million,in 9 years, Artetas net spend is roughly 540 million in five years.