And the top five I played under…
1 Pat Joe Whelahan (Offaly)
A man who had a massive influence on my career, right from winning that minor All-Ireland in 1986. Offaly had never won a Leinster minor hurling title before then, never mind an All-Ireland. Twelve of the first 15 came from two clubs – Birr and my own St Rynagh’s – but he managed to bring us all together, despite the huge rivalry.
Training was very hard but great fun, it was all hurling. The belief he gave us was so important. He spoke one-on-one and instilled a huge confidence in myself. I had a role at fullforward but he told me I’d finish at midfield – ‘You’re the fittest man in Ireland,’ he’d tell me. And I believed him.
In 1989, he had a hand in the Offaly minor, Under 21 and senior jobs all at the same time. A key figure with Birr and their remarkable success, Offaly should have kept him involved at minor and U21 level rather than let him go.
2 Éamonn Cregan (Offaly) When he came in to Offaly in 1993, he brought Derry O’Donovan with him as physical trainer who had a rugby background in Shannon and also proved to be a massive influence. It was very much a good cop, bad cop routine. Éamonn was very stern, a disciplinarian; Derry was popular with the players.
If it took time to warm to Éamonn - I had my ups and downs in terms of selection but his attention to detail stood out. By ’94, the whole thing came together under him. To a man, there was such respect there.
He was such a proud Limerick man as well – the whole thing of beating Limerick in the final took a lot out of him. He has his own way of going on, which I love. Rather than trying to be someone else, he always stayed true to himself.
3 Michael Bond (Offaly) When Babs Keating came in in 1998, there was fierce excitement. He had Johnny Murray, an exarmy man with him, who had an incredible bond with the players. We trained like we never trained before that winter. When Babs went after the ‘sheep in a heap’ saga after the Leinster final, Johnny went too, which nobody wanted.
A bit like Pat Joe, Babs gave me great confidence in oneto-ones. He was very good to the players – then he put his foot in it and said what he said.
We needed a particular type of person and Babs’ replacement Michael Bond was that. He was positive and confident. ‘I’m the principal of best school in all Ireland. We have the best students. And Offaly have the best hurlers in Ireland.’ That’s the sort of thing he used to say.
We must have had 50 sessions in 70 days that crazy summer en route to playing Clare in three games and winning the All-Ireland – but there was such enjoyment, and fun to it all. Paudge Mulhare and Pat Moloughney were selectors with Cregan in ’94 and selectors in ’98 as well and had such a huge influence on Offaly in those years.
4 Pádraig Horan (Offaly) A big rebuilding job was needed when five or six players who had been there since 1980 retired.
It was a big achievement in guiding Offaly to the county’s only National League success in 1991 with a very young squad.
There was just no patience because we’d won three minor All-Ireland titles, there was a feeling that we should be more successful. His love and passion of Offaly shone through. I admired him for coming in at a difficult time.
5 Pat Fleury (Offaly) I often felt, if he had come in at a different time, he would have been more successful than any manager. Another great Offaly hurling man, he was very passionate. He helped us to beat Cork in one of the great games in the 2000 All-Ireland semi-final – the only time that Offaly have beaten Cork in the Championship.