Cuala's Seán Moran pictured at the launch of the AIB Club Championships.
By Cian O’Connell
After the pleasure came some pain when Cuala relinquished their Dublin, Leinster, and All Ireland crowns.
Ultimately it meant, though, that Cuala, beaten by Kilmacud Crokes at the penultimate stage last year, came back into the 2019 campaign with a drive and desire to recapture silverware.
Returning to the Dublin summit mattered deeply with the highly regarded Willie Maher now in charge following Mattie Kenny’s decorated stint.
Seán Moran, the splendid Cuala centre back, accepts there was a change, but the players and management dealt with it smartly.
“Yeah, it is like that,” Moran admits. “Willie came in, Willie is a fantastic manager, he picked up from Mattie, it seamlessly transferred over.
“He had a great first year with Cuala, winning the League and the Championship. I guess it is a slightly new style, but there is a lot of similarities between the two of them as well. It is nothing too drastic.”
Compared to when Kenny commenced the role, is it a hugely different challenge now that Cuala has established a winning culture? “I don't know, I don't think so,” Moran replies. “We knew what we were capable of even before we won.
“We had been knocking on the door a little bit. I think the main thing is once the management and the players are buying into the same thing. When you have that bit of success it makes it all the sweeter.”
Seán Moran in action during the 2019 Dublin SHC Semi-Final between Cuala and St Vincent's at Parnell Park.
Moran praises the player centred approach Maher favours. “He came in and he had a very clear vision for us,” Moran adds.
“He's a great manager, he trusts us a lot. There's that great relationship between the players and the management that ultimately we want the same thing and he trusts us that we're going to put in the work we need.
“Equally we trust him that he's going to get everything in place for us to perform at the best we can. It's really good and it's really important to have that working relationship with the management team. He's been brilliant.”
Currently Cuala are blessed with an accomplished crop of players so Moran acknowledges that it is vital to ensure further silverware is collected.
“Exactly, we know we went a long time without a county title,” Moran says. “We are well aware that these days won't last forever so we definitely want to enjoy it and make the most of it, and make as much of it as we can.
“We were disappointed last year so we wanted to rectify that. That was our first goal and to do ourselves justice, that was our main focus.
“It doesn't really come into your head when you're focusing on your next match, we didn't tend to dwell too much on losing last year. But it definitely might have helped kick-start us this year.”
Sunday’s AIB Leinster SHC Quarter-Final against Carlow standard bearers St Mullins’ at Netwatch Cullen Park is next on the agenda for Moran and Cuala.
