FORMER hurling ace Gary O’Kane says he couldn’t turn down the offer to become part of Antrim’s new interim management team - but wouldn’t be drawn on taking the reins next season.
It didn’t take the Dunloy man long to agree to Dominic McKinley’s invitation to help out his native county following the shock departure of PJ O’Mullan earlier this month. Terence McNaughton and Neal Peden also agreed to be part of the temporary management team. McNaughton, who managed the Antrim senior hurlers alongside McKinley in the latter part of the noughties, has ruled out taking the job on next year.
Antrim face Roscommon on Saturday in their second Christy Ring outing after overcoming Kildare last weekend. On the possibility of O’Kane taking permanent charge next season, he said: “We’ll worry about this year first. We’ll take a game at a time. We’ll focus on the Roscommon match. I’m not ruling myself in - put it that way!
“Dominic McKinley phoned me and asked me would I be interested in coming on board and I said I would. I know Terence and ‘Woody’ a long time and I didn’t like to see the way things were going, so I decided to give them a hand and try and steady the ship a wee bit, help set things out for the Christy Ring and the Ulster Championship. I had a lot of good years with the county and, sometimes, you have to give a wee bit back.”
O’Kane represented Antrim with distinction between 1988 and 2000, before retiring from Cuchullain's four years later. He enjoyed a managerial stint with the Dunloy seniors and spent four seasons with the club's minors before taking time out last year.
“If Antrim get a panel of 30 players and want to play for the county, no matter who comes in next year, as long as people want to be there to make themselves better, that’s what matters," he added.
“If we go well in the Christy Ring, that’s good.”
O’Kane believes the talent in the county remains as strong as ever, but can’t understand the apathy that has gripped the inter-county scene in recent years: “Skill-wise, Antrim hurling is unbelievable; it’s only a matter of getting people tuned in and getting everyone on the same page,” he said.
“We’ve this thing in Antrim where not everybody wants to play for the county. When we played, you got the call-up to the county, you were away. Maybe the way things are going over the last few years, there is more interest playing for your club and getting a county title with your club and going for All-Ireland Club titles.
“When I came onto the county team, I was playing with legends of Antrim hurling - the McNaughtons, the Ciaran Barrs, the ‘Hippy’ Donnellys - and you trained the way they did. I suppose it comes down to the players themselves and their own attitude.”
O’Kane added: “Antrim got relegated by Kerry last year. This year, maybe half our problem was everybody was talking about promotion and winning Christy Ring. It seemed only a matter of turning up. That was from the outside looking in. But other counties are training as hard as Antrim are. For some teams, when the ball starts to go downhill, it’s hard to stop it.”
O’Kane enjoyed last week’s 12-point win over Kildare and lauded Ciaran Clarke’s 2-10 tally: “I’ve watched Clarkey at U16 and minors and the potential has always been there. He could do that every day he goes out. It’s not just what he scored, he’s the whole package.”
Donal Nugent, Kevin McKernan (USA), Saul McCaughan, Jackson McGreevy (work commitments) and Stephen McAfee (injured) are the only absentees since the managerial change.
