Neil McManus is heading into his third decade of representing Cushendall in the Antrim Senior Hurling Championship – but the build-up to this year’s competition has felt like something of a new experience.
After retiring from the inter-county game at the end of last season, hurling in 2024 has been all about Ruairi Og for the former Saffron star, who has to cast his mind back to when he was 15 for the last time that was the case.
“The last time I did pre-season with my own club was 2004,” he said.
“That was my first year playing senior with Cushendall. 2005-’06 I was with the county minors, then 2007 up to 2023 I was with the senior team. So, it’s been a while.”
McManus won his first county championship medal as a 17-year-old in 2005 and picked up his seventh last season. Cushendall begin the defence of their title on Sunday when they travel to Belfast to face Rossa in a Group Two clash and, while you couldn’t find a more committed county player in the country than McManus over his 16 years in Saffron, he has enjoyed being able to concentrate closer to home.
“There have been huge positives,” he said.
“You’re travelling less, you’re spending more time in your own village and your own club. You’re getting to see more of the young players who are developing and coming through and you’re able to hopefully mould and guide them a little bit.
“And you’re getting to spend time with players that you haven’t spent much time with during the past 16 or 17 years because of your commitment to the county. Your county commitment is very, very full on and it does usurp your whole week while the county team is operating.
“Some of my best friends who have been playing with Cushendall the entire period I have, I’ve gotten to enjoy spending more time with them again. That’s been brilliant and great craic.”
Apart from a couple of absences through injury, McManus played right through Cushendall’s successful Antrim Division One campaign – “The boys were keeping me going: ‘why are here? It’s a league game’” – but the silverware was secondary to manager Brian Delargy developing the panel that won the Antrim and Ulster titles last year before losing the All-Ireland semi-final to O’Loughlin Gaels by a point.
“In the entire time I’ve been playing for Cushendall the league has been about giving young lads the opportunity to try and break into the team,” said McManus.
“Brian has been very good with the young lads who maybe thought they were a bit of a distance off senior teams. He gives them that opportunity and it’s great to be there for that because that’s where you can do lot of the coaching or mentoring or whatever you want to call it with the young lads – on the pitch.
“At training it’s artificial whereas a game scenario is where you really do your learning – on the job, if you like.”
An unbalanced championship draw means every team in Group One will progress, while one of Cushendall, Rossa, Dunloy, or St John’s will exit from Group Two.
So, there’s no margin for error as Cushendall head to Rossa Park where they lost in the opening match of the league, to face a side that knocked them out of the championship in 2020 and 2021.
“It’s close to even-steven for how many times we’ve come out of there on the right side against them and it’ll be a battle again,” said McManus.
“Both teams know each other inside out – we’ve played an awful lot in the championship over the last decade and a lot of us have played together in county teams.
“They’ve got experienced guys in their 30s who are so, so strong: the likes of Michael Armstrong, Stephen Beatty, Cricky McGuinness, Stephen Shannon. Then you sprinkle in the likes of Eoin Trainor, who was the captain of the Antrim U20s last year, and you’ve Gerard Walsh who’s a phenomenal big player. They’re just a really good outfit.
“You can look at it (being in the group where one team will be eliminated) as drawing the short straw but I don’t think you’ll get three better games in Ireland. Whoever gets through will be well prepared for the quarters and semi-finals.
“And there’s a bit of jeopardy in it. I think that’s a bit more what Championship should be.”
