Smith looking to hurl Derry forward
UNCERTAINTY lingers in Derry hurling circles with Tom McLean’s successor as Derry hurling boss still unknown. The Oak Leafers are 14 weeks away from their opening NHL game, away to Mayo.
Dunloy man McLean stood down from his post in early September after enduring a tough year in the role. In his outgoing statement McLean stressed the need for Derry to improve their fortunes. “They must work out among themselves how to get the best hurlers out to play for the county.”
Following failed appeals for someone to come forward, Derry chiefs are taking a different approach, as Chairman Brian Smith explains.
“The plea fell on deaf ears within the clubs,” Smith indicted. “We are working among ourselves and going headhunting internally. We believe this is the best way to put a bit of pride back into Derry hurling.”
Smith also spoke of the Slaughtneil’s recent Ulster success ‘creating a buzz’. An historic first Ulster senior club title for the county is the culmination of four years of chipping away before eventually coming out on the right side of the result.
What would this success mean for the county? The County Derry Post posed the question to the Slaughtneil management team.
“It should be a real shot in the arm after a tough year for the county team through injuries and retirements,” expressed Slaughtneil selector Dermot Doherty. “With a high level of commitment and effort to the cause anything is possible.”
It hasn’t been the only success in recent weeks. Once again St Patrick’s Maghera toppled Antrim opposition in the form of St Killian’s in the McNamee Final. Time and time again Ulster school titles have returned to Derry.
Kevin Lynch’s defeated Swatragh in an entertaining minor final. With only four of the team overage next year the ‘Swa will be contenders again and will be a fresh face in the mix.
The Lynch’s now step into the Ulster scene and are well placed to keep the Ulster title in Derry after Slaughtneil’s successes of 2014 and 2015. The current U16 batch in Dungiven were All-Ireland Féile champions so there are materials to work with. Kevin Lynch’s Ryan O’Neill took the ‘glass half full’ approach.
“The future is bright for all the clubs,” commented O’Neill. “There is some unreal talent if the county board could put the right men in good positions then Derry could rise again in the hurling.”
Brian Smith was upbeat about the willingness of people to help but as yet a senior manager hasn’t been secured.
“Everybody I have talked to are committed to try and bring Derry hurling forward. Some of the good guys out there that would help are going back and forward to England with work and they don’t want to commit to something.
“Hopefully we can get a group together, a ‘management consortium’ if you want to call it, that would bring Derry hurling forward.”
The club structures are also on Smith’s radar: “We are also working in the meantime with Kevin Kelly, Kevin Hinphey and Stephen Barker on the fixtures issue.
“We hope to have a different league structure for the incoming season and we believe it will better Derry hurling again where clubs will feel a bit more fulfilment from their hurling. We hope that has a knock-on to the county.”
Last season clubs were up in arms about the lack of reserve hurling and Smith admits it is an issue.
“There is a worry out there that there are not enough players for a reserve league. We have to look at where we go with Coleraine and Na Magha. At this moment in time we don’t know but we certainly can’t have Coleraine going through the same torture they went through this year.”
The Desertmartin man pleads with the people in the county to put themselves forward.
“I think the problem we have at the minute is getting people to believe in hurling – even the hurling people themselves,” stated Smith.
There are other concerns that Smith wants to address. “Underage hurling in Derry is struggling as well. We are looking at that and where that takes us it’s hard to know.
“To fix the club structure from youth to adult could take two years but all you can do is make a start. To keep going the way we were going was taking us nowhere.”
Smith’s mantra on the GAA centres on ‘the Shamrock’ and three main components – sponsors, volunteers and players.
“We have been talking to players and got feedback from ‘mature hurling personnel’ around the county. I think our prize assets are our players and we have to listen to what they are saying.”