New Manager To Be Appointed As Donal O’Rourke Steps Aside

Like many others I was disappointed last night to learn that Donal O’Rourke had stood down as the Waterford Senior Camogie Manager after filling the position for two years. But I have to say that the news was not entirely a shock to me.

A few weeks back the Cappoquin man known to so many as ‘Duck’ sent me a text after Waterford had lost out to Galway in the All-Ireland Quarter Final. I text Donal back saying that I hoped that he would be staying on as Manager and that he would retain the management team he had assembled and managed to keep onto all of this year’s panel and maybe to add to it from last year’s minor panel and this year’s under 16 teams, both of whom had some good players. When I did not hear back from him, I privately sensed that maybe that he was going to step aside, as anyone be it at club or inter county level that keeps a close eye on what is happening in Camogie or underage hurling would have seen there was something about Donal O’Rourke, and he would not be short of calls from some of the stronger clubs and not necessarily in Waterford offering him a coaching position after seen what he achieved with the Waterford Camogie team in recent years.

In his two years in charge of the Waterford Senior Camogie team Donal achieved so much, but I am sure he will be the first person to say that it was not all down to him. Progress was made being made since Waterford came up from the Intermediate Grade and winning the Division Two National League Final in 2015. He is likely to tell you that he just carried on what was done before him and bring it onto the next level.

I have no doubt that the Cappoquin man will tell you that there has been some great work done at underage level in the county and that he was lucky to work with some fantastic young players, and he is likely to tell you that some great work is put in at club level and as a result he was able to work with some quality players.

But we can never under estimate what Donal has done for the game and hopefully we might see him back involved in one way or another in the years ahead. A good manager, a modest manager will tell you that he can only be as good as the players he or she is working with, but that’s not always entirely true.

Let’s use another sport as an example. In the last twenty years cross channel in the Premier League who is or has been the best manager? I am sure different people will give different names. Different factors will come into the equation. For longevity you have Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. What about Claudio Ranieri who helped Leicester City win the League a few seasons back? Or what about Antonio Conte or Pep Guardiola who have two of the best wins ratios per games played while they worked in the league. Maybe you will go for someone like Jose Mourinho or Carlo Ancelotti both of whom had great successes with Chelsea in their time at Stamford Bridge or maybe you would argue for someone like Jurgen Klopp, Rafa Benitez, Mairicio Pochettino, Eddie Howe or even Sean Dyche who all had success in different ways in the league.

Of the above named managers plus many of the ones that are omitted, it is possibly safe as hard as it might be for some to admit that Alex Ferguson is or was the best of the lot. But as we have seen he retired in May 2013, David Moyles, Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and to a lesser extent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who have specially in the first three have worked with many of the players which Ferguson worked with, yet they have not got the best out them in the same way with Ferguson did and as a result titles which came thick and fast under Ferguson are few and far between with his successors.

And the same could be said of another manager, Kenny Dalglish. Since he has left Liverpool after a first spell as Manager in February 1991, the club has had nine different permanent or care taker managers including the Scots man having a second term in charge and none of them have won the Premier League or the Old First Division title since Dalglish helped Liverpool win it in 1989/90 season.

Regardless of how good the players are working with if the right man or woman is not over them and able to get the best out of them, then the success that a team be it club, county or international side craves will not come their way.

And while no silverware came Waterford’s way at Senior Level under Donal O’Rourke that does not mean that his tenure was not a success, far from it in fact.

In his first season in charge Donal O’Rourke’s side missed out on a place in the semi finals of the league on score difference over Limerick after the two sides finished level on points at the end of the group stages and the two sides had a share of the spoils when they play in the group stages.

Later that summer his side really tested Cork in the Munster Championship at Modeligo. Cork were the reigning All-Ireland Champions at the time and with a little luck on the day Waterford could have beaten the Rebellettes. And in the All-Ireland Championship Waterford finished third in the group despite losing their first two games, a final place in the group that was good enough to give them a spot in the All-Ireland Quarter Finals where they lost out to a strong Tipperary side in Cork.

This past year Waterford played much of the league without the Gailltir players in the panel as they were preparing for an All-Ireland Club Final, but still Waterford did well finishing in fourth place in a group of five. And while Waterford were well beaten in the Munster Championship by Tipperary the side were some weeks off reaching their peak at the time, but when the All-Ireland Championship time came around the side were firing on all cylinders and were somewhat unlucky to only finish third even if that was good enough to give them a quarter final place for the second year in a row.

In that game Donal O’Rourke’s side really tested a side that would go on to contest and win an All-Ireland Final. With five minutes to go in Thurles Waterford were very much in contention.

Waterford under the guidance of Donal O’Rourke made some remarkable progress and from what we have seen in the last two years some good days could be around the corner for Waterford, as Donal O’Rourke had assembled an outstanding group of players and there is some very good young players coming through from the under 16, minor as well as the junior teams in the last two years and then there is the work that is happening on the colleges scene and in particular at St. Angela’s Secondary School in the last few years.

I for one can’t talk for every Camogie supporter in the Déise County, in fact I can only talk for myself, but I am sure that many if not all Waterford Camogie Clubs will join with me in saying ‘Thanks for all that you have managed to achieve in the past two year’s Donal, your work is very much appreciated and it was such a joy watching the team you had in your care in the last two years’.

And so the search now starts for the man or woman set to replace him. I have no doubt that the County Board will be acting quickly to appoint a new manager, maybe they have the wheels in motion already.

Right now it is impossible for anyone outside of the County Board to have any idea of who they will go for or what process will they use. We don’t know if they will consult the players, will they ask the clubs to put forward names or will they as a body sit down and draw up a list and try and appoint the person that see as best suited.

I have no doubt that there will be a number of names thrown around in the run up to the appointment of a new manager. Let me throw out a few names who might be deemed as suitable for the position. I must add before doing so say that I have not spoken to any of the names that I am going to suggest to find out if they are interested or not. They are just a few people that have impressed me in the last few years.

First up is Kevin Barry the manager of last year’s Munster Minor winning team and the Clonea man was in charge of the County Junior Team this year and again did well at that level bringing together some experienced and young players to mould a good group of players.

Róisín Hartley was in charge of the Waterford Under 16 that won this year’s ‘B’ All-Ireland Final recently. That team also contains some excellent young players who could have a big future playing at a higher level in the years to come. Róisín is a member of the Gailltir Club and in recent years on the underage front they are the strongest side in the county winning so many titles and she will know so many of these players well and will know which can step up to playing at a much higher level.

Shane Dunphy and Nicholas Mackey have formed part of Donal O’Rourke’s side in recent years and will know the panel of players used in the last two years well and could be seen someone that would keep things going as they were without having the players to get to know a new manager and their way of doing things.

Maybe someone like Mark Cooney who achieved success with Waterford could be enticed back into the set up, or maybe former Waterford Senior Hurler and former selector with the county hurlers Shane ‘Shiner’ Ahearne could be offered the job. Shane is a big supporter of Camogie and is often seen at games at different levels. He will know many of the players from his time as an underage manager a few years back and with his eye and knowledge of the game from seeing the team in recent years he would know how to get the best from the players.

And finally there is Conor O’Toole and Emilie Darmody who in the last two or three years have helped bring so much success to the Saint Angela’s Ursuline School in the city. They have players from all clubs from the middle of the county and into the city attending the school and both will know many of these players inside out and upside down and will know how to get the best out of them.

Who will succeed Donal O’Rourke right now, I for one don’t know. Maybe we will get to here in the coming weeks as whoever is appointed I am sure will want to get working with the players at the earliest opportunity possible preparing for the National League which will be starting a few weeks into the New Year.