Rory Maguire is aiming high next season with Cork and Castlehaven
Cork's Rory Maguire shoots from high-flying Louth defender Daire Nally during the All-Ireland SFC qualifier at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
CORK and Castlehaven senior Rory Maguire is gearing up for another frenetic year of inter-county and club action.
Hard to believe that Rory Maguire never featured for Cork at underage level until first called into the county’s U20 setup by Keith Ricken back in 2019.
Unfortunately, the talented defender suffered a sprained knee ligament injury, whilst togging out for his club’s junior team, which ended any hope of making an early impression.
Since then, Maguire redoubled his efforts, recovered from that painful injury setback and utilised consistent college and club form to force his way into the Cork senior starting fifteen.
Not bad for a player with zero inter-county underage experience. That’s not to say it has been a long and sometimes difficult road.
“Earlier on in the year, I wasn’t sure how many fellas were ahead of me in the senior pecking order so I was just delighted to get the chance to show what I could do,” Maguire admitted.
“I was concentrating on playing consistently. That’s all. When Castlehaven lost to the Barrs on penalties last year, I was back out on the pitch within a week with MTU.
“I had to travel up to Galway and play a Sigerson League game. From then on, I was basically playing games, week on week, right up until January. I was playing well enough at wing-back and holding my own.
“January rolled around, I was training hard and then we beat UCC in the Sigerson. I played all of MTU’s Sigerson games and next thing, I was selected to play wing-back against Clare in the McGrath Cup.
A steady stream of college, inter-county and club matches means Rory Maguire has had little time to think about how far he has come in a short period of time.
Maybe that’s not a bad thing. The wing-back seemed to play without fear and kept doing the simple things right whenever he pulled on the red jersey.
“Everything just seemed to click for me after that McGrath Cup game against Kerry,” the Castlehaven defender added.
“Things started going my way on the pitch with Cork even though results weren’t what we wanted. I felt I was settling into the team, bit by bit.
“I’ll admit, it took a while to get my fitness levels up to where they needed to be for inter-county.
“I would have known a good few of the lads from playing with MTU back in the day. That helped. There were six or seven more I had come across while I was with the Cork U20s and sure Brian Hurley was there as well.
“It was all about holding my own and just showing what I could do. In terms of nerves, I don’t get nervous playing for Cork. If anything, I get nervous lining out for Castlehaven, to be honest, for whatever reasons. That’s just the way I feel going into the club games.”
So, with a first full year’s inter-county experience under his belt, Rory Maguire has every reason to look forward to 2023.
Another bonus is that Maguire’s fellow Castlehaven GAA club man, John Cleary, is now in sole charge of the Cork senior football setup.
Cleary knows Maguire inside out and how to get the best out of his emerging wing-back.
“In terms of goals for the year ahead, it is simple, and that’s just to keep improving,” Maguire commented.
“I have personal goals and a small couple of things I need to do to help improve my game. The fitness will come as we go through our strength and conditioning programme.
“In terms of Cork, as a team, I believe we need to get back to Croke Park once again. We also need to be competing in Munster finals. Those are my own two personal opinions.
“As for Castlehaven, with the quality of our current senior panel, anything short of bringing the Andy Scannell Cup home would be looked upon as disappointing. That’s where we want to be.”
Rory Maguire is exactly where he wants to be. Representing his club and county to the best of his ability and looking forward to building on his breakout season in 2023.
App?
