Laois manager Justin McNulty during a Tailteann Cup media day at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
The announcement last October that Justin McNulty was returning as Laois manager more than a decade after he departed the role came out of leftfield.
McNulty had been an SDLP MLA for Newry and Armagh since 2016 so an understandable presumption was that inter-county management was confined to a previous chapter of his life.
But McNulty’s first term as Laois manager had been a positive one, so, when their county board went looking for a new man after Billy Sheehan’s departure, the Armagh native’s name was floated.
McNulty didn’t expect the call to come, but, when it did, he found he couldn’t say no.
“Ah here, it was a bolt out of the blue, a total bolt out of the blue,” he says. “But I'm delighted that it happened. I guess I've missed that dressing-room environment.
“I love being in a dressing-room with footballers, I love being on the pitch coaching. Gaelic football is something I'm passionate about. Beyond friends and family, nothing defines me more than Gaelic football.
“So, I'm hugely privileged to be in the environment that I'm in, hugely privileged to be working with the Laois players and hugely privileged to be in the Tailteann Cup final.”
Gaelic football at the highest level is always evolving so coming back into the arena after a 10-year break looked like a big test for McNulty, but it wasn’t like he’d taken a total break from the game.
“I was managing a club in Armagh, Killeavy, and I've been involved with Armagh as well,” he says.
“This last couple of seasons I haven't been involved with anybody so I've been in and out rather than religiously involved but I'm still an active fan always.
“Whether that leaves me that bit blunt in terms of my managerial ability and capability, I don't know. I think every day is a school day, you're always learning and you try to have good people around you to try to help you through.”
Laois manager Justin McNulty, right, and Laois selector Ross Munnelly during the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship quarter-final match between Offaly and Laois at Laois Hire O’Moore Park in Portlaoise, Laois. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
In his first stint with Laois, McNulty helped them to promotion to Division 1 in 2011 and to an All-Ireland Quarter-Final in 2012.
His last season in 2013 could be regarded as a more than decent effort too, as they beat teams like Galway and Armagh when finishing third in Division Two, and reached the last 12 of the All-Ireland SFC.
So how did it feel to then take over a Laois team this year that found itself becalmed in Division 4 of the Allianz Football League?
“It felt wrong,” says McNulty. “In my first year in Laois the last time we went to Division 1, so it felt a bit sad that Laois were in Division 4. But you don't get into Division 4 by mistake. So thankfully the fellas all put their shoulder to the wheel and we got out of Division 4 in season one.
“We still have huge areas for improvement as well. I think you always have to be clawing for little millimetres of improvement.
“I’m excited about the potential of the group in the short, medium and long term. There’s lots of potential there. But that potential has to be delivered upon.”
Already Division 4 Allianz Football League champions this year, winning Saturday’s Tailteann Cup Final in Croke Park and securing qualification for the All-Ireland series of the 2024 championship would be one way on delivering on that potential.
McNulty is adamant though that this prize isn’t what motivates them most as they prepare for what looks like being a tough test against favourites Down.
“No, it doesn’t,” he says. “We haven’t discussed that. It’s not in our psyche. It’s not there. We’re focused entirely on our performance. Nothing else matters. There’s nothing else we can control.
“We’re not interested in a barometer. We’re focused on our performance. A barometer of where we are this year or last year, we don’t care about that.
“We care about how we perform at Croke Park in the white heat of battle. When the game is in the melting pot, where we stand, who we are.”
Liam Kerr of Down celebrates after scoring his side's fifth goal during the 2023 Tailteann Cup Semi Final match between Down and Laois at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile.
McNulty might not be interested in barometers, but this match offers an obvious one.
When Laois and Down met in last year’s Tailteann Cup semi-final it was the Mourne County who triumphed on a scoreline of 8-16 to 2-12.
That was a painful day for Laois and Saturday’s Final offers an opportunity to make amends and show how far they’ve come since then.
“Down obviously won comfortably last year,” says McNulty. “We hope we have improved since that; Down will have improved as well.
“How much we have improved we’ll see on Saturday. We haven’t discussed last year because we can’t do anything about that. Saturday coming, that’s all our laser-focus is on.”
