ANNE O’Grady couldn't turn down the opportunity to work with the Cork senior ladies football team.
The Bantry woman has been named a selector in Joe Carroll’s new management set-up – and she can’t wait to test herself at the highest level.
‘You can’t pass up an opportunity like this; it’s the best job in the county,’ explains O’Grady, a well-known figure in Cork ladies football for over a decade.
It started with her home club, Bantry Blues, when she coached the girls’ U16 football team in 2011, and since then her reputation has grown. On and off the pitch, she has rolled up her sleeves to get involved in ladies’ football.
O’Grady was a West Cork selector when the divisional team famously won the county senior ladies championship in 2020. She has also been involved in All-Ireland winning Cork ladies minor football teams, working with John Cleary and new Cork senior boss Joe Carroll. Add in coaching in her home club and with Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí, too. O’Grady has also got stuck in with the West Cork LGFA committee and is the current vice-chairperson. And now she’s ready for her next challenge: a selector with the Cork senior ladies team.
‘This is a chance to work with the best players in the county at senior level,’ O’Grady explains.
‘I have worked with the best players at underage level before with Cork. It’s a new challenge, and the opportunity to work with the Cork seniors doesn’t come around too often.
‘There is huge potential, huge talent, and it’s a challenge to see if you can add to that and bring out the best in these players.
‘When you are passionate about ladies football, being involved with Cork is the best job around – and I want that challenge now and to be part of it.’
It didn’t take Joe Carroll long to convince the Bantry woman to join his management team that also includes serial Castlehaven winner James McCarthy, former county-winning West Cork ladies manager Brian McCarthy (Clann na nGael) and Tadgh Buckley as selectors.
‘It’s a huge honour, and I was delighted to be asked,’ O’Grady says.
‘One of the main draws is that Joe wanted me to be included as a selector/mentor, and it was a real incentive for me to be able to get stuck into skills and drills and pitch work with the girls. It was one of the big things that drew me into it. I was with Joe in the Cork minors for a few years so we know each other quite well.’
The chance to play a role in the Rebels’ revival is a challenge, too. This year’s shock relegation from Division 1 of the national league means Cork will line up in Division 2 in 2025, while the county’s last senior All-Ireland title was back in 2016. It’s one step at a time though after the Cork squad has undergone a major overhaul in recent seasons.
‘We have high standards and we want to get out of Division 2,’ O’Grady says.
‘There has been a huge amount of transition and a lot of work done to integrate players into the senior set-up. It’s not a simple transition to step up into the senior squad given the physicality and the demands of the game, so it takes time. This is a very young Cork team and we all feel there is huge potential here and we’re keen to get going, get working and see what we can produce together.
‘The reality is that we want to get out of Division 2 and we also intend to give players a chance to show what they can do throughout the league. We’re also confident in the players that will get their chance, that they are good enough to get us out of the division. We feel Cork belong in Division 1 and our aim is to get back there.’
The hard work starts now, and O’Grady is relishing it. Challenge accepted.
