The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
IT boss to use Kerry test as a springboard
DECEMBER 29 on the 'lonely' Banna Strand might not be many people's idea of a training session, but Wayne Quillinan brought his IT Tralee players there for a workout last Saturday morning.
It was the latest in a series of more intense preparations not only for this weekend's meeting with Kerry, but also the bigger picture, which is the Sigerson Cup as far as the recently departed Austin Stacks manager is concerned.
“We were very happy with how we did in the League with maintaining our status as a Sigerson side but the efforts have really picked up in the last number of weeks.
“We played the Kerry U21s in a challenge game last Friday night on the campus that was more like end of the world stuff with the conditions, but when you have a group of committed players, twenty plus in numbers, it makes a lot of the work you do over the Christmas period far more beneficial and rewarding which I personally believe it has been,” the IT Tralee manager told The Kerryman.
As well as the Kerry contingent already outlined on this page, IT Tralee also have a number of players of inter-county standard to call on namely Ian Corbett (Limerick), Rory Deane (Munster U-21 winner with Cork), Barry O'Haire (Louth) and Dave Larkin (Wexford) and the Tralee native admitted that he is approaching this encounter with the Kingdom differently than their last encounter back in 2011.
“Back then we treated the competition as a separate entity to everything else. This time the McGrath Cup is part of our overall development towards the Sigerson and we're not so much thinking about it in terms of the novelty for the locals playing against their home county like before,” Quillinan said.
The IT Tralee boss is unsure as to what shape Eamonn Fitzmaurice's first selection as senior manager will take but is expecting to see a few familiar faces.
“The involvement of most of the younger players with either the U-21s or the colleges will mean that a few of the more established players will have to tog out I guess, but whatever team does take the pitch I'm sure they'll be anxious to get Eamonn off to a winning start,” he said.
Quillinan enjoyed a good understanding with the new Kerry boss last year when he was U-21 manager.
“He was always very accommodating when it came to making players available to the college when we needed them. It has been very much the same with Darragh Ó Sé this year and I really feel that U-21 and colleges teams suit each other because they both know when to make their players available to the other when they are needed,” the Tralee native said.
While Quillinan would like and extended run for his side in the competition, he isn't worried that what might seem like a lifeless atmosphere, as is the norm with these competitions, will get to the players.
“A lot of that is to do with getting the players' attitudes to competitions like this right early on. We've spoken about it again recently and they are well aware that the big picture is around the corner soon and that there is competition for places so they have to step up when they get opportunities like this. We intend to go out there and work hard with our own system of play and see where that takes us at the final whistle,” he said.
Kerry were triumphant over IT Tralee in the 2010 and 2011 encounters, the latter by the slenderest of margins, but while no Third Level team has won this competition since they were first admitted, Tralee will be hoping to claim a big scalp in Fitzgerald Stadium this weekend.