SOME WINS JUST hit differently.
Bathed in the Kilkenny sunshine of last Saturday night, GAA President Jarlath Burns rode the waves of an Offaly party, 20,000 strong.
Recalling the 2022 All-Ireland minor final defeat to Tipperary – avenged here at U20 level against the same opposition, the Armagh man said, “You people are not called the Faithful county for nothing!”
It captured the mood and the journey that this group have been on. Without this All-Ireland, the revival of Offaly from the floor up might have been confined to the U20 football triumph of 2021. Winning their first hurling All-Ireland at U20 was confirmation and deliverance.
“At under 17 you learn lessons, so at under 20 you give lessons. And you gave some performance here tonight,” Burns added.
As nice as it was, the feeling that existed in Kilkenny will not be there this Saturday in Croke Park, when Offaly’s senior hurlers take on Laois in the Joe McDonagh Cup.
Manager Johnny Kelly would be delighted to see it, but the senior job is a more painstaking process.
Whatever happens on Saturday, it will not be the end of it. Both teams are out the following week in the Liam MacCarthy Cup. The winners play Cork, the losers play Wexford.
Yeah. We know that you’re thinking.
Back to the U20s and the refreshing thing has been how this team and their manager, Leo O’Connor, have opened themselves to the outside world.
Videographer Mark Forde has been following this side all year and compiling evocative, clip-friendly content around the team. It’s all beautifully-shot, married with contemporary music.
𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙚𝙣𝙨
— Official Offaly GAA (@Offaly_GAA) June 3, 2024
Our resident videographer @mark_forde95 has compiled this video from the U-20's first game in Parnell Park through to the winning dressing room in Nowlan Park. He told me back in March that he had a little project on the side and was fully… pic.twitter.com/Pey1Udfb8a
It’s not all glossy. One moment captured just sang with authenticity in the sanctuary of the dressing room after the All-Ireland was won.
Picture Leo O’Connor up upon a table in the dressing room, acting as hype man and getting everyone revved up for a surprisingly tuneful rendition of ‘The Offaly Rover.’
In the lead up to the final, the county threw the doors open for a ‘meet the players’ and media event. Every last player was up for interview. Each interview filmed showed players who were happy and relaxed, comfortable with the spotlight.
This policy has three different major effects. Most importantly, it feeds the imagination of the young kids who went along, so that they could see and shake hands with and get jerseys signed by the players.
It also was an exercise in trusting players, that they could be entrusted with the responsibility of representing themselves and the county.
Finally, it has made them that rare phenomenon; the underage county team that will be remembered forever.
There has been nothing like them. The only edition that even belongs in the same conversation is the Tyrone minor team of 1997, with the tragic passing of Paul McGirr that captured the sympathy of the nation.
So the question is, how Offaly carry all of this bonhomie, joy, exuberance and pride along with them into Saturday’s Joe McDonagh Cup final.
“I’ve said this before but it is a huge part of our plan since we have come in; we have only a small base so if we don’t include everyone and bring everyone along with you, how are you going to have teams and people?” asks county board chairman, Michael Duignan.
“The Monday evening game with Dublin, they agreed to play at O’Moore Park and that was the first night of the huge crowds, maybe 14 or 15,000 at it.
“The week of that, we got on to our clubs to get them to organise buses. We got tickets for all the coaches, and for all our sponsors. And there were four or five coaches on each bus with the kids, who were going for free, and it went from there, building and building.”
The numbers game is something they have unashamedly gone after as well. In that respect, they are bucking trends.
Take for example their underage squads in the Faithful Academy. They start with 170 kids. It gives so many a chance to be involved. It costs money. It establishes a connection with the county.
And how that has been rewarded. Look at how the children are swamping the players at the end of games. Look at how the players are happy and relaxed with the attention. It almost feels revolutionary in this era of managers chasing players off the pitch and shutting down media access.
“That was my philosophy as a player during my time. If I am not fit to talk to a reporter the week before a match, how am I going to play in front of 80,000 at an All-Ireland final?” says Duignan.
“It’s a simple thing to do. But it’s promotion of our games and our players, our people. How are we going to keep the game alive? It all feeds into the bigger picture.
“Who is going to be the volunteers down the road? Who is going to train the teams, open the gates, cut the grass, the million things that have to be done, if you don’t generate a love of the game, love of the county, pride of place.”
Given the final was on a Saturday night, the homecoming proper wasn’t until Sunday. The message came from the Canadian Open golf tournament from a homesick Shane Lowry; get along to his place, the Old Warehouse in Tullamore. He treated the wider circle including players’ parents to a day out.
“Shane would be very good to us from the financial side of it, but it is about more than that too,” says Duignan.
“He actually came out and spoke to the lads when they were in the minor final. He was home and came down to spoke and had said he was so nervous trying to speak to them. He was absolutely brilliant though, at one point he grabbed his chest at his heart and said, ‘I don’t know what it is, but there is something different about us in Offaly.’
“He’s so genuine and sound and wants to support us. There’s a bond there.”
Given his role in changing the image and attitude of Offaly, Duignan is pragmatic and realistic. He knows that the bandwagon has found a resting place for now. He’s not expecting a flood of people to Croke Park to face Willie Maher’s Laois side.
“I think it’s part of a process. We have been operating at Joe McDonagh and Division 3 and 4 in football and the Tailteann Cup. Some people are critical,” he says.
“Look, the crowds could be better. But you understand that people are only getting into it, families are getting into it for the first time.
“The feeling is that last weekend has done an awful lot for us, there was a serious crowd in Tullamore for the homecoming.
“When we were down in the Christy Ring Cup, it wasn’t a sexy thing to play hurling for Offaly. There’s a whole load of lads around 23, 24 now who have come in and given total commitment.
“We know we have a long way to go. But we planned to win the All Ireland Under 20 and the Joe McDonagh and we have worked tirelessly on this and it’s the last piece of the jigsaw.”
