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O'Toole putting holiday plans on hold as Kildare go in search of rare All-Ireland glory
Reporter:
Patrick Ward
04 Aug 2018 8:00 AM
Things could have been very different for Declan O’Toole had he not taken a slight leap of faith and expressed an interest in getting involved with the Kildare U20s this year.The Caragh man didn’t get involved with the management team until March, when there was already a good structure in place, but Davy Burke was obviously looking to add a little more to his setup. O’Toole, who led Raheens to the Intermediate Championship title in 2017, stepped away from his role as manager on the back of that famous win, and he hadn’t been involved in any serious capacity with a team up until March. He basically put out the feelers, expressing an interest in sort of a tongue and cheek way, and a phone call eventually came.“I sort of expressed an interest to someone and said I wouldn’t mind getting involved with them, and then it was passed on to Davy,” O’Toole told the Kildare Post. “All of a sudden Davy rang me and we met up and that was it. We were on the same wavelength and were happy enough.“To be honest, my decision was made early last year,” O’Toole said on his decision to leave his role with Raheens. “Half way into last year I said this is where I’m at, I’ll see how this year goes with Raheens anyway. In my case I got lucky that the lads won it. I had no intentions of going any further, but then when this came up I’ll give it a go. It was a lot shorter than the club season as well, and it was a good time when I came in because I missed the trials. I didn’t have any thoughts of being involved – I did say that I might like to get involved, but that was nearly tongue in cheek and it just spiralled really from there.”Stepping onto the intercounty scene for the first time, O’Toole has enjoyed everything that has come with it. Himself, Burke and Evan McDermott make up a young and forward-thinking management team which has a clear ethos on the way the game should be played. There is plenty of dialogue between the three of them, and, before taking on the job as selector, O’Toole made it clear that he wanted to have his own input into how things were being done.“It’s a little bit different alright but I’m really enjoying it,” he said of the jump from club to county.“Davy is a serious man and Evan is another good man beside him as well. I came late on the scene – it was only in March that I joined in – but since then it has been very enjoyable. To be honest, it’s a lot different to the club scene, and it’s even more different because you’re number two or three rather than the number one. “When I met Davy to come in we just chatted, and I said ‘look, what will my job be?’ He said it would to take some of the sessions and be a selector, and I said happy days. I really wanted to do it then once I knew that I had a say in the team and I wasn’t just going in to make up the numbers.”The trio have gotten their tactics spot on in each game so far this year, and they will look to do so once again on Sunday. It certainly won’t be from a lack of knowledge on the opposition if Kildare falter in their gameplan, and the level of detail that his colleagues have been going into has really impressed the former Raheens manager.“They’re very, very good at that. We got a lot of information on the teams we played, and when you see the players are really enthusiastic listening to see where we can get the edge on someone, it’s from doing the homework on them. Obviously not to give too much away on what we know about them, but we have our homework done.“I thought I was organised, but this man is seriously organised! Again, there is the three of us, with Ev as well, he’s a lot of the brains behind the scene as well and you need that sort of stuff. We bounce ideas off each other coming in each night, but at the end of the day Davy’s the boss and what he want to do he’ll do.”O’Toole admits that his first experience with the team was a rather hairy one, as many early stages of a season with underage teams can tend to be. This Kildare team was oozing with potential talent, but putting the correct structures in place to showcase that class was key.“I think the first night I came in the lads played either Offaly or Cavan in a game and it was fairly disjointed,” admitted O’Toole. “You were trying to get a look at lads and you didn’t have the seniors… it was very different to where we are now, but slowly but surely you could see lads really buying into what we’re doing with them. At the end of the day they are very well driven lads and they know the pressure that’s on them – if certain people aren’t playing well there is somebody that will come in off the bench. That’s what we’ve been doing all year and we’re going to use our six subs all the time. Lads know that if they are working hard in training they’ll get their chance if they keep trying. That’s what keeps them on their toes.”The selector was due to be flying off on a family holiday this week but has had to put those plans on hold to realise his All-Ireland ambitions. His own flight has been changed to a Monday, and he will hopefully meet his wife and kids as an All-Ireland winner that day.“We had a family holiday booked and the family are flying out on Friday and I’m going out on Monday,” revealed O’Toole. “That’s the joys of the GAA. I never looked at the dates in advance of when certain matches were on, it was just taking it one at a time. And then it came up before the semi-final and I realised there could be a clash here, but I said ‘look, if I have that problem that would be a lovely problem to have.’”Hopefully he can have an extra cause for celebration on his holidays next week.
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