WEXFORD HURLING:IN THE end the only surprise about Liam Dunne getting the last high-profile hurling job of the year was that he actually appeared to rule himself out, not so long ago – claiming his only commitment could be to the Wexford club champions Oulart-The-Ballagh, and not the Wexford hurling team.
Now, however, he’s prepared to commit to both – staying on as manager of Oulart-The-Ballagh for as long as they stay in the club championship, while also taking up the position of Wexford senior hurling manager, on an initial two-year term.
But if this decision caught some people off guard, Dunne himself claims he’d never completely given up on the Wexford job, and it wasn’t as if the selection committee had to come back and repeatedly twist his arm.
“Well, not particularly,” said the 43-year-old, who was centre back on Wexford’s last All-Ireland winning team, in 1996. “The job was actually there for me for a number of weeks, but there was the county senior hurling final coming up, against Rathnure. And after we got over that, achieving the three-in-a-row, we had the Kilkenny champions to take care of.
“So the focus was on all that, and still is, really. We have the Laois champions coming to Wexford Park this Sunday, so there’s a big job to do with Oulart-The-Ballagh still and Wexford is on the long finger still.”
Dunne has yet to confirm any of his backroom team, and that decision is a few weeks off yet: “No, I’ll sit down with the new incoming county chairman in a few weeks’ time. It really starts with that.”
The Wexford board took their time in finding a successor to Colm Bonner, who stepped down this summer, and gave the responsibilities to a committee that included their 1996 All-Ireland-winning manager Liam Griffin, plus Darragh Ryan, Ger Doyle and county board secretary Margaret Doyle.
There was no indication Dunne’s appointment was imminent, and yet once he agreed to let his name go forward, a special county board meeting was called for Wednesday night, when delegates met at the Ferrycarrig Hotel, following a club forum.
At one stage Dunne was rumoured to be lined up for either the Wexford or the then-vacant Waterford position, although he described that link as “rubbish”.
His commitment to Oulart-The-Ballagh could see him hold down a dual role well into the New Year, possibly up to St Patrick’s Day – although, eventually, the Wexford job will become his sole focus.
“The hurlers have been down a little for the last number of years,” he admits. “It’s a huge challenge, I’m looking forward to it, but I don’t want anyone to get carried away. We’ve been down for a while, and the only way we can go is up, but my job will start in a couple of weeks, and hopefully the people at the Wexford convention will put the right man in, because this county will have to be lead by the new chairman and hopefully I can make a contribution as well.”
Meanwhile, the GAA will take a last step towards approving the 2012 master fixture list at tomorrow’s Central Council meeting in Croke Park, although whatever dates and venues are proposed must still go back to the provinces for final approval.
Also on Central Council’s agenda will be the drafting of two motions for next year’s Congress, the first of which intends to introduce a phased closed season, rather than the strict November-December training ban, which would allow counties that exit the championship earlier in the summer to start back training before the end of the year.
A second motion will look to overturn the decision to reintroduce replays at all stages of the championship next year, a situation which GAA president Christy Cooney said would mean “the club scene will be decimated” if it goes ahead.
