Tipperary coach did a “small bit, not too much” of “due diligence” when Kilcormac-Killoughey call came

THE abrupt end of Jim Gavin's presidential ambitions means that the term “due diligence” is very much in the public vernacular at the moment and Declan Laffan grinned when the words and Gavin were referenced last week, knowing exactly where the conversation was going.

When he got a phone call from Kilcormac-Killoughey GAA Club last January sounding him about about the vacancy for their senior hurling manager's job, he was aware that controversy and strife was in the air.

The Tipperary man had seen the headlines and while the story was only of very peripheral interest to him at that stage, it was very easy for him to return to and read the stories, do his research, his “due diligence”.

The decision to jettison a local man Shane Hand as manager shortly before Christmas in 2024 proved a red hot topic for a few weeks. It came after he had led Kilcormac-Killoughey to back to back senior hurling titles and then made a decisive step forward when reaching the Leinster club final, where Dublin's Na Fianna proved too strong.

It had been initially presumed that another Tipperary man, Tony Gleeson, a very highly rated coach who has won loads of plaudits in Offaly for his work with the 2024 All-Ireland U20 champions and with Hand and Kilcormac-Killoughey, was the heir apparent but with emotions running high, feelings hurt, Gleeson soon ruled himself out.

For a brief couple of weeks, a sense of crisis engulfed Kilcormac-Killoughey. It gave the media something to write about in the off season but it was a hot source of discussion in the parish and throughout the county. From the outside looking in and without access to the rationale behind such a dramatic decision, it looked very questionable at best and it was not an easy time for the people at the coalface.

The announcement of Declan Laffan as manager last January immediately took the heat out of it. Laffan's profile was not hugely high outside of Tipperary borders but for the people with their fingers on the pulse in the hurling and GAA world, he commanded complete respect. As a coach under Liam Cahill with Tipperary senior hurlers, it was clear that he knew his hurling while his CV was a very impressive one.

He first came to prominence with his own club, Loughmore-Castleiny when he led them to a remarkable Tipperary Senior Football and Hurling Championship double in 2013. He managed both teams and they retained their senior football title a year later – they subsequently went on to do the double again in 2021 and 2024 but by this stage Laffan had gone to pastures new.

He did great work with Clough Ballacolla in Laois, leading them to three Laois senior hurling titles in a row from 2020 to 2022 – they reached the Leinster club final in 2022 but Ballyhale Shamrocks were unstoppable.

In 2022, he was appointed as a selector and coach with Tipperary senior hurlers and his input has been considerable as they won a terrific, unexpected All-Ireland title this year. He wasn't an All-Ireland winning coach when he met Kilcormac-Killoughey chairman Pat Howley and others last January but his pedigree was sufficient that the furore over Hand soon ebbed away and normality returned to the parish.

Initially stating that he hadn't really paid much attention to the controversy in K-K, Laffan entered confessional mode when pushed on it. Surely you did some “due diligence” to make sure that you weren't inheriting a dressing room full of “headers” or a club executive that you couldn't work with?

Of course, the Kilcormac-Killoughey dressing room is nothing of the sort. It is full of brilliant, driven hurlers with an infectious passion for the game while the committee are overseeing a club that is going exceptionally well at all levels and it could not happen without sound leadership.

When it comes to things like this, the GAA world is small and the new manager was able to read the coverage, make the phone calls to sound it all out. He smiled: “Look, I got a call, we were in to January, I hadn't really intended to take on a club. I was involved with Tipp. Other than having read what happened on the papers, or whatever article I saw somewhere, I wouldn't have paid much heed. Probably when I got the call and agreed to meet, I probably done a small little bit of research, I'm not going to pretend I'd done a whole lot, but I suppose I was a bit intrigued by the the talent, I suppose, that was very relevant to the club here. It was well known where a lot of these young lads were in Offaly. That piqued interest and obviously I met with them and the rest is history, it panned out and we are where we are now.

“Lots of people have different slants on what goes on and what people have and don't have. But look, the talent was here, so it was hard not to be intrigued. We met and we got on well. We had a good, straightforward discussion and gave our points of views. We seemed quite happy and we took it from there.

“If you want to know something, you'll find out as you continue on. Lots of people are mixing in different circles as regards clubs and counties, so lots of people know. If you look at the managerial merry-go-round in itself, it's a sign of that. “

From Loughmore, he spoke with pride about the Loughmore-Castleiny achievements. Traditionally a football stronghold, the mid Tipp club have won 16 senior football titles, five senior hurling. Their first hurling was won in 1988 while they captured the Munster title in 2007. Their double achievements have been one of the great stories of the modern Tipperary GAA era and as the man who was there when the barriers were broken down, Laffan clearly has something special going for him.

Very few clubs have been able to win doubles but Loughmore-Castleiny have done so three times in the ultra competitive world of Tipperary hurling.

A lot of people are curious about this, how did you manage to do it?

“I think the one I had, 12 started in the both finals. I think all bar one was the same panel for both. If you were talking roughly a panel of 30, the football goalie didn't play hurling. From a Loughmore Castleiney perspective, the key to it is they all want to play hurling and football. And it doesn't matter if it's a hurling match next week, they want to play football this week. They don't care. They just want to play and they have been fortunate to have wonderful talent, a bunch of players over the years. I think that team that won the double in 2013 that I had, I think there was six, if not seven, under-21s. I'd say those six or seven are still on the team having won two more doubles in the last three years or four years and still in the county championship in both below in Tipp, two semi-finals again. So look, the key to it is they want to play both and it doesn't matter what's coming week on week.
“The big thing would have been for us back that time was, and I was probably lucky enough to be the one that got the job that that particular time, we decided it had to be the one management. And we pretty much did it that way ever since. Okay, last year it's been slightly different, but there's great understanding and everyone knows because of what has been achieved over the years that you just have to give everybody their time.

While his managerial future may appear to be in hurling and he could well manage intercounty sides, Laffan has a passionate interest in football. He played both codes though he downplays his ability in the two games, saying, self deprecatingly: “Back in the day people would have said I was a footballer more than a hurler. I played senior in both.”

Loughmore-Castleiny have always fielded in both codes in recent years, even when a big hurling fixture was imminent.

So what did you think of Durrow giving a walkover to Rhode in the Senior Football Championhsip after some of their hurlers with Ballinamere opted out? Reluctant to comment on another club without knowing the whole story, he did say: “I don't know, circumstances are different obviously. Am I correct in saying it was a bit of a dead rubber? I can understand why they did it. It's not ideal, but look. . .. ”

While he has a clear affection for football, he is not sorry that he doesn't have any dual complications with Kilcormac-Killoughey. Asked was that a help, he declared:

“At this stage of the season it is but a lot of it is what people are used to. Going back to Loughmore, they are used to doing that and make no issue of it, and if you want to do that, that has to be the mindset – we are doing this lads and we all have to buy in. If we are unfortunate to get an injury, it happens and we just have to drive on and get everybody get on board. And likewise, if you decide you are just going to play one code, go after it but everybody has to make their own choices.”

In the first half of the year, his first priority had to be Tipperary but he made the journey to Kilcormac or Mountbolus once a a week, trying to fit in as many games as he could – when he misses the post-work traffic and leaves at 6.30pm, the journey takes just 45 minutes from his home just outside Templemore. The commitment was intense in the first half of the year.

“Yeah it was but we were probably fortunate I think. We had a decent league, decent considering we were short quite a number of guys that would have played championship hurling from last year and I suppose that first game was probably the difficult one while it was before Tipp were finished and you know when you have to pick your 18 and a few lads have their nose put of joint, that's the hard part at the start of the year. We just got on with it. But once the Tipp gig had finished I think I was up here the following Thursday night and it's full steam ahead ever since.”

How did you manage things when Tipp were still going?

“I'm not going to say I was here all the time, but I was definitely up here every week. Look, I have Cian Tracey, who I brought with me as a coach, he was here any time I wasn't here, and he's still doing most of the coaching. I'm not going to say it was easy, but we managed it as best we could, and I think things panned out well. As I said to you earlier, we had a good run in the league. I think people keep forgetting about the players that were missing earlier. We played the first round of the Championship without six of what would have played in the Offaly Championship last year. Leigh (Kavanagh) and Ter (Guinan) are still only really coming back into the fold at present. Leigh got on the last day, Ter is only back training a couple of weeks. Probably hasn't enough done yet. There's no point. We just have to be careful with him because he's got two nasty injuries. It's a hamstring with Ter.

“He is a small bit nervous of it, there's no point saying he's not. There's no point forcing, trying to push a guy. The worst thing that could happen to him now would be to break down again. He's had two, I think it's roughly around the end of October last year, he'd done it the first time, then he'd done it at the end of March, so he's probably missed 10 of the last 12 months. So you can understand he'll be nervous, so we'll just have to be careful.”

He knew all about Kilcormac-Killoughey's pedigree, the hurlers they had and their potential. He had seen their young stars in action as his own Tipperary got a fortunate dramatic late win in the 2022 All-Ireland minor hurling final and two years later when Offaly's momentum and desire proved too much in the All-Ireland U20 final.

He has not been disappointed with what he has seen. “As you know yourself, there's no probably, they were very unfortunate to lose that Minor All-Ireland. and were excellent last year when they won the 20 and probably would have said the previous year against Cork though probably Cork went about bullying them out of that game. But you know you could see the talent that was there but yeah I was aware of it so there's no point saying I wasn't but at the end of the day you can have all the talent you like and if you're not willing to work hard it's not going to take you anywhere so ultimately you have to knuckle down and do the hard work, do your gym, do your hard training, put in the hard yards and see where it'll take you.”

Familiar with Offaly intercounty hurling for some time, he has now got a chance to see what the true story is at club level.

“It's excellent. The top end of club hurling here is as good as anywhere. I thought our game in particular on Saturday as a spectacle was tremendous viewing. Sunday's game, I know when you don't have someone to shout for, you watch it a bit differently, but I thought it was hugely entertaining. It was really in the melting pot until the last few minutes and I know Shinrone got the two goals near the end and probably put an unfair reflection on it for Belmont but there's two teams now in the final and there's serious quality on both of them.”

In Offaly, there is a burning desire to become a real force again, All-Ireland senior contenders. Now back in the top tier, it is also clear that the gap between Offaly and Tipperary, the current champions, is a huge one.

As a hurling man, Laffan would love to see Offaly back but he did not shy away from the question about how far Offaly are away. Instead of providing any sort of indictment of Offaly, he spoke about the importance of developing consistent underage teams on a consistent basis.

“I don't know because I don't know what underage structures and that are like but ultimately you need to be turning out reasonably successful teams every couple of years. At minor you need to be competitive and getting to Leinster finals and semi-finals. You just need that for numbers and to get the quality then. I know there is a small pick in Offaly and probably even less playing hurling, but it's a numbers game and if you don't have the numbers you're not going to get the quality after.

“I know Michael Duignan when he was chairman and a few other guys went after it and they got the under 20 success and were fairly unfortunate not to win the minor they lost to Tipperary. The best way I can put it is you won an under 20 in 2024, you need to back it up by winning another Leinster or getting to an All-Ireland in the next two to three years and try to build from the two teams and hopefully two or three years later another team will come. I know that's really difficult but that's the only way you are going to get that.”

Declan Laffan on:

Kilcormac-Killoughey blowing hot and cold

“I think our form has been very much up and down. We started quite poorly the first day. I thought we hurled decent the second day against Rynagh's, were okay against Kinnitty, were quite poor against Shinrone, excellent against Ballinamere, a bit iffy again the last day. I think the challenge of putting back-to-back is difficult, but trying to put another one with it. I know everyone is on about the talent, but the mindset can often let you down sometimes when you think you might be better than everyone else. That doesn't matter. You still have to do the hard work.”

K-K flying in challenge games against clubs from other counties and then struggling against Offaly opponents

“Sure isn't that always the way with every club. You turn up for the so-called big names and that's no disrespect to anybody else but it's something that's been going on for donkey's years and that's kind of what's been happening a lot. Look to be fair we probably got somewhere near our best, I wouldn't say 100%, but we got high quality into the Ballinamere game with the exception of the last 10 minutes where we kind of lapsed when the game was just pretty much put to bed but we were excellent for 50 minutes.

“The last day, I suppose the perception is that, you know, Birr horsed into us but the stats kind of said that we broke even. So look, maybe it's because of the perception of what people think we should be doing. So maybe give Birr that extra credit for what they brought and maybe they reached a level that people hadn't seen coming either.”

K-K really wanting to beat Ballinamere but maybe not having the same desire to hurt Birr

“I don't know who they like or don't like. That doesn't bother me. Once we turn up every day, that's all. We're constantly chasing performances. That's what we have to go after for the next day because we have a huge challenge ahead of us.”

Going the quarter-final instead of semi-final route

“Sometimes the extra competitive game can stand to you. I know if you're nursing injuries and stuff it can be a help, but at the end of the day you're going to have to go play matches somewhere to keep the eye in. But I don't think it doing us any harm in the long run.”

Managing the perception that K-K are unbeatable in Offaly

“I suppose the best way I think is if we can bring our A game, it's going to take a good team to beat us but the challenge is to get to that level on any given day and to constantly produce it every game one to the next and so on, which is extremely difficult. But that is the challenge that we have in front of us and obviously we'll have to try and come up a level or two from the last day because we probably weren't happy with our performance ourselves. But having said that. I don't want to be disrespectful to Birr. I actually thought they were brilliant. They brought stuff maybe that I hadn't seen coming. So I think they really upset us and got about us and got in our faces. But look, I suppose that little bit of quality probably got us over the line in the end.”

The emotions for a manager in the dying moments of a game like Birr when everything is out of your control

“I know one or two at the weekend said, oh you didn't empty the bench and you didn't do this and you didn't do that. But sometimes in them sort of games, it's very hard to get to the pitch of a game sometimes in a battle like that. Throwing in a guy with 10 minutes to go and that kind of a frantic game, he can be caught in the headlights so we just had to be careful and we did what we thought was right at the time. Look we got away with it and we got out the other side and and we're in the final and we'll just focus on that for now.”

The recent history between K-K and Shinrone

“It'll be the third time we'll have met this year as well. We played in the league final. I thought we were excellent that day in the first half and we probably died off a bit and we're probably lucky enough to hold on in the end, I think we won by three. The last day in Birr in the last round of the group stage, I thought Shinrone caused us all kinds of bother, the particular sweeper system that they operated that day left us a little bit out of sorts and we struggled, really, really struggled to come to terms with it. Now we were fortunate to get a draw that day again. We just have to go away and prepare and be ready for them.”

K-K being stretched earlier in the year despite the depth of their talent

“Without a doubt and I suppose the hard bit about it was we had to take lads that probably would have been stalwarts on the B team and unfortunately it probably affected the B team as it came towards the latter stages of the championship. We just had probably used a couple too many on them and unfortunately for them, that's the circumstances. But at the end of the day, your first team comes first and that's the way it'll be in every club. You can't (have qualms with moving up). You're asked to step up to the top team. I think anybody that has ambitions to want to play at senior level just have to be ready to go and not make an issue of something like that. “

Keeping a happy dressing rooms with players on the sideline who would make every other senior team in the county

“It is difficult, there's no point in saying it. If we're not together we're in bother and we're only as strong as the attitude of the last person in the dressing room or who might be perceived to be number 30, it just needs everybody on board. On Kilcormac/Killoughey's crest it says there's strength in unity and that's what we have to go after.”

K-K's potential to win Leinster and All-Ireland titles

“You would be hoping obviously that with the young lads that have All-Ireland under 20 that they've got the taste for winning at high level but ultimately you're going to be becoming up against, if we are fortunate enough to get out of this county, talking about Kilkenny in the first round, and Dublin, they are the benchmarks and I don't mean that disrespectfully to any of the other counties but they are the benchmarks and the route they have to go. You are definitely going to have to beat one of them and maybe two of them, so it is extremely difficult but that's the challenge. But we have to worry about Sunday first before we can think about that.”

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“You always need those guys in the dressing room, just for their influence and the effect they can have on the others. You just have to try and make the best use of everyone we have and get the last bit out of all those players and I don't think any of them are going to go away anywhere soon anyway.”