Hanley hails ‘top class’ response since appointment
New Roscommon senior hurling manager, Brian Hanley, has been impressed with the high standards in his new county since his arrival. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie
The excitement Brian Hanley feels is immediately evident.
Indeed, the new Roscommon senior hurling manager’s enthusiasm for the role is striking ahead of the county’s opening game of the Allianz National Hurling League Division Three campaign against Wicklow this Sunday at King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park (throw-in is at 1 p.m.).
Hanley’s appointment was seen as a coup within Roscommon hurling circles. After all, this is a man who has guided Galway to two All-Ireland minor titles, took charge of the Tribesmen’s U-20 team, and was in charge of Westmeath’s senior and U-21 panels between 2011 and 2014.
The Athenry native states that he is relishing the challenge of taking Roscommon forward.
“Working at intercounty level is great. It is so organised, and Roscommon is only out the road for me. I’ve always had an interest in it (Roscommon hurling) because we played a lot of times with the club. We played a few Connacht finals, and they were normally against Roscommon teams.
The Roscommon manager will be without Seán Canning who is part of the county’s football panel and Conor Cosgrove (travelling) for the time being. But Paddy Fallon is back with the county panel following an excellent club campaign with Oran, while the Morris brothers — Conor and Tommy — alongside Keelan Ryan look set to take their strong club form into the intercounty scene.
Hanley’s résumé speaks for itself, while his own success with Athenry — where he claimed three All-Ireland titles as a player — means that he is keenly aware of the commitment needed for success. He insists that the players have been meeting and exceeding the standards expected of the management team since they returned to training.
“The three of us (Kieran Callan, Keith Daniels and himself) are going up and down the road from Galway, and are thoroughly enjoying it. There is a great attitude among the players, and great co-operation from the hurling board and the county board. It has been top class, I couldn’t fault anything.
“The standard has really picked up in the last few weeks. We are really looking forward to seeing how they perform in league and championship down the road.
“The commitment is the exact same as what we would have got in Galway. No different. Training last night, 32 lads training out of 32 available. First class. I couldn’t fault them. They are outstanding because they aren’t going to get the glorification that the Galways, the Limericks, the Clares and the Tipps will get, and we are aware of that.
“We will make the environment as good as we can for them. Our mantra is to leave it in a better place than we found it, and it was in an excellent place when we took over. We want to raise that standard. The response has been top class from every club.
“I visited every club before I started. I stood in all their grounds and dressing rooms. We met everyone who wanted to meet us in the clubs, and the response from everyone, especially the players, has been absolutely brilliant,” he stated.
Roscommon face a huge 2026 as they line out in the Christy Ring Cup for the first time in five years.
After securing promotion following a sensational win over Mayo in the Nickey Rackard Cup final last May, survival would be seen by many as a positive year for Roscommon’s flagship hurling side. However, Hanley isn’t buying into the notion that the league is merely an exercise in preparing players for the championship.
“I don’t care whether it is league or championship. Every game we play, we go to win it — simple as that. We are preparing to win the next game we play, regardless of whether it is league or championship.
“We go to win every game and give the best performance we can. If the performance level isn’t good enough, we will look at it. We don’t differentiate between any competition,” he asserted.
The Roscommon manager insists that the goal for 2026 is to build a squad and increase performance levels within the group. At this level, it is a results business but Hanley maintains that doing the aforementioned is the only way to ensure his side can achieve success.
“The goal is that the player group keeps developing. We can see the improvements every week and as long as that keeps happening, it will take us wherever it is going to take us. The lads are all buying in.
“We are really, really pleased with the commitment we have got from the group and the improvements they are making. The targets we have set, we are hitting in our training and hopefully that will transfer itself on to our games,” he concluded.
