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02nd May 2017

Oisin McConville’s new hurling job sums up his brilliance and maybe the way forward

Off to the midlands

Conan Doherty

Oisin McConville is an inspiring man.

As a footballer, few will ever come close to his scoring record.

He rattled the net in Croke Park in an All-Ireland final to win by a single point – his county’s only success at that level to date. He was man of the match that day in Croke Park too.

As a coach, he took the reigns at Crossmaglen, one of the most prestigious clubs in Ireland.

As a man, he has overcome a horrific gambling addiction and is now a trained counsellor. He’s a top cook. And he also happens to have real steel, the sort that sums up the mentality that made Cross’ who they are.

Now, he’s headed to Laois to work with their hurlers in a psychological capacity.

Manager Eamonn Kelly has been impressed by the Armagh man, so much so that he’s called him in to work with the squad.

“Is there anything Oisin McConville can’t do?” Colm Parkinson raved about McConville on the latest GAA Hour.

“Not only is he an awful cook turned brilliant cook – because he’s relaxed, an ex free-taker, the pressure doesn’t get to him when it’s getting to everyone else at their work station – now he’s coming down to help Laois hurlers out.”

The appreciation continued.

“He’s coming in to do a little bit of psychology work with them,” Wooly said.

“We’ve seen this with James Horan, we’ve seen Kieran McGeeney go down and do a bit of work with the Tipperary hurlers, and I spoke with Conal Keaney on the hurling show who says a hurling panel dressing and a football dressing are the very same.

“They’re the same characters, same dynamics, no difference whatsoever. So these lads might not know the tactics of hurling but they know how the teams operate and they know how to get the best out of teams.

“These high-profile football lads that are coming in to inject a bit of confidence and maybe a little bit of togetherness in hurling teams is clearly working.”

Listen to the full McConville chat from 12:18 below.

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