Fitzgerald looking to get Nenagh to go that extra mile

You get the sense that John Fitzgerald returning to the Nenagh set-up this year had an element of unfinished business.

As the general manager of Frank Hogan Motors in Limerick, he is more aware of what is needed to keep customers happy and it is the same in hurling.

The Limerick man was coach of the side between 2013 and 2016, under manager Liam Heffernan, including coming up just short in the county finals of 13 & 15 to Loughmore/Castleiney and Thurles Sarsfields respectively.

When Heffernan stepped away for the 2016 campaign, Fitzgerald moved on too, but didn’t drift too far, a few kilometres down the road in fact to Silvermines. However, when Nenagh came seeking a new manager following a disappointing 2017 campaign where management was changed mid-stream and never fully hit their stride.

Fitzgerald was the obvious choice considering his knowledge of the playing so it wasn’t the case of finding his feet when he returned.

In many ways, they are like his own native club, Na Piarsaigh in Limerick city, who have come to the fore in recent years, winning four county titles in six years and he hopes that success will move from the sky blues of Caherdavin in Limerick to Eire Og

“They are a club with huge aspirations,” he said of Nenagh.

“What you find in Nenagh is a committed club with a great underage structure. Some of the older players who have left us over the last couple of years, the likes of Kevin Tucker and the likes are driving the underage side of it.”

Like all clubs in 2018, it was all new for both Fitzgerald and Nenagh Eire Og of how to cope with being primed for game in April and then refocusing for the second part of the campaign in August.

“It's a very difficult championship for club players,” Fitzgerald admitted.

 

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