TONY ÓG REGAN knows Galway’s great expectations never go away.
The former defender played senior inter-county hurling for the Tribesmen between 2003 and 2013 and was on board for plenty of ups and downs.
He tasted defeat in the 2005 and 2012 All-Ireland finals as Galway lost out to Cork and Kilkenny respectively.
After Regan’s time had passed, they eventually won their first title in 29 long years in 2017 under Micheál Donoghue.
But the 2018 Leinster title has been their only Championship silverware since.
Galway failed to emerge from the round-robin Leinster SHC last summer, with Henry Shefflin then departing as boss after three years in charge.
Donoghue is back in the hotseat but a huge rebuilding job is underway. Only seven of his starting team from the 2017 final win over Waterford are still on board — Daithí Burke, Pádraic Mannion, David Burke, Johnny Glynn, Conor Cooney, Cathal Mannion and captain Conor Whelan.
Last Sunday’s heavy 3-25 to 2-16 NHL Division 1A first-round loss to Tipperary in Salthill was a reality check for Donoghue’s young guns with some of his most experienced generals yet to feature.
Some feel league relegation may be on the cards but Regan insists Galway should always strive to be the best — no matter where the team is on their journey.
He told SunSport: “Well, would you prefer people to not think anything of you?
“To be considered a top-four or five county in terms of All-Ireland honours every year, we should be thinking that way and we should believe that about ourselves as well because we put in the work.
“We’ve probably lost a bit of experience out of the panel who have given us some unbelievable service for ten or 12 years.
“Obviously Joe Canning retired in 2021, and then this year Joe Cooney, Adrian Tuohey and Gearóid McInerney have gone. They’ve been phenomenal, consistent players for Galway, generational players.
“But I think it’s been a great appointment to have Micheál back. I think that stability is needed now.
“A new team is going to form now and need to be developed and they’re going to need to be nurtured and supported.”
LESSONS LEARNED
Donoghue named four debutants in his starting team against Tipp to give them a look at what it takes at the top level.
Seán Murphy, Michael Garvey, Rory Burke and Oisín Lohan all made their senior bows in a new-look team.
They were taught a lesson against Liam Cahill’s men at Pearse Stadium but there were positives, though the consolation goals Declan McLoughlin and John Fleming got off the bench may have only distorted the gulf between the teams’ displays.
A trip to Kilkenny tomorrow beckons and wherever they go, Galway supporters will always expect results.
But despite his belief in how high the county should aim, Regan echoes Donoghue’s call for patience. He said: “I think the Galway public are supportive of the volume of work that’s there. We didn’t even get out of the group last year in Leinster, so we are starting at a relatively low base, but I still think our 15 or 20 at the moment should be competitive enough to definitely get out of Leinster and see from there in terms of year one.
“Hopefully we can build the younger lads over the next two or three seasons to start knocking for All-Ireland honours again. With the talent that’s in our county and the structures we have, we should be a lot more competitive every three to five years in terms of winning All-Irelands.
“I think Micheál and the boys are probably the best-placed management team to get that out of them and I’m excited to see how this season goes in terms of that development.”
DUAL COMMITMENTS
The hurling field is where he made his name but Regan is also no stranger to the demands of the Galway football dressing room.
He joined Kevin Walsh’s backroom team as a sports psychologist and performance coach ahead of the 2015 campaign.
Galway had not won a Connacht title since 2009 and had been stuck in Division 2 of the NFL since 2012.
Mayo made it five provincial titles in a row in 2015 with the men in green and red really ruling the roost in the west.
But Walsh turned the tide. His men reclaimed the Nestor Cup in 2016 and got promoted back to the top flight of league football a year later. They then reached a first All-Ireland semi-final since 2001 in 2018, though they lost out to Dublin.
When Walsh departed a year later, the foundations were laid for legend Pádraic Joyce to take over and Galway are knocking on the All-Ireland door again having been runners-up in 2022 and 2024.
Regan played a key role in that turnaround under Walsh and insists any team representing the county should dream big.
He said: “It was an amazing few years with Kevin and the crew and that time Galway football was probably at a low ebb.
“But bit by bit as a management group and players, we built it up where they won two Connacht Championships in four years and got promoted to Division 1, and got to a Division 1 final, lost to Dublin in an All-Ireland semi-final for the first time in 17 years.
“We were very proud of that work and the work we did with players and helping them on and off the field.
“We’re a great sports county, we’re a sports-mad county. We have a professional rugby team in the county, we’ve really high-level soccer teams, we’ve high-level GAA teams and we nurture a lot of sports within young people as well.
“Galway is a very vibrant place in terms of sport and we should see ourselves as top of the tree and top of the table. We just have to get a bit more consistent in terms of delivering a bit more success at the top level.
“You’d hope that bedrock is in place for that to happen in terms of the facilities and the infrastructure.
“I think we can continue to promote our own in terms of management teams to get the best out of us going forward in football, hurling and camogie as well.”
l MVP by Tony Óg Regan, published by Hachette Books Ireland, is available at all major retailers now.
