Logue optimistic of good season 

Last season was a tough season for Tullow on the rugby pitch. Only a final day miracle against the league champions in waiting, Bective Rangers saved the back to back Towns Cup winners from the ultimate humiliation of being relegated to Division 1B, whilst a semi-final defeat to Athy in the Towns Cup ended their hopes of a threepeat in the competition, a feat only achieved by three teams before. 

Manager Maurice Logue admits that it was a disappointing season but that they are optimistic of a good season.

“Certainly the season was difficult because we lost so many players from the cup winning team the year before," Logue said. "We therefore had a lot of younger players so between injuries and bedding them in, we struggled. 

"We got over the line in the end which is important and we got to the semi-final of the cup and got beaten by Athy who were a better side than us on the day, that was gut wrenching but we couldn’t have too many complaints either. We were on track for three in a row. 

"We’d had such a good two years before that and I think guys maybe thought that would keep happening but it didn’t. Everybody including myself took our eye off the ball, and standards maybe dropped back, guys were injured, guys were on holidays earlier in the year and missed games. Were we happy with the season? No.” 

“We had hoped to be mid-table, it was just unfortunate that we weren’t good enough in games and at the end of the day the league table doesn’t lie. 

"It was huge to the club to stay up, you look at the amount of work that had been put in on the pitch and in the background developing infrastructure, we have plans to build a new clubhouse next year so it’s really important to stay up with some of the youth players that have come up from Sean’s team last year.” 

Having freshened up the squad over the summer, Logue is optimistic that they can have a strong season.

“We’ve got Corey Hughes coming back, we’ve got four or five players back in which is huge as well as five or six players coming in from the 18’s," he said. 

"We’ve picked up Sam Curran from Cill Dara, Jack McDonald’s first cousin, Sam Cullen from Carlow and they look very good players. We are struggling with football at the moment but once we get through the opening rounds of the season, we’ll have the likes of Jack McDonald and Fiach Byrne back as well as a couple of others and then we’ll be in a good place” 

They’re hoping for a solid season this season, with Logue saying: “The objective of the season will be to have a good league run and finish mid-table or even push for top four and get into the All-Ireland Junior Cup again, and the cup is so important to the club, so having a really good cup run is really important. 

"After Christmas we improved a lot, and there was a realisation that we were in trouble in the league and what we were doing wasn’t good enough, so we needed to change things. When we got cornered, we came out swinging. We have more commitment from the players this season, and there seems to be a better drive from them.” 

Tullow faced Kilkenny in a pre-season tournament, the South-East League and Logue says it was important to just get minutes into bodies.

 “It was a really good run out, it was good to have a game under our belts. We play Wexford on Thursday and it’ll be just about getting running into the legs, that’s the most important part, the result is secondary. “ 

Logue is a great club man, and has been at the helm in Tullow for several years, and is almost synonymous with the club, helping out wherever he can and the love he has for the club is evident. So when asked about how difficult a decision it was to go back, he said there was very little debate.

“It was pretty easy, I was really disappointed with what we’d done last year," he said. "If I was ever going to leave, it wouldn’t be on that note anyway. I owe the club a huge amount. I owe the players as well, we’ve been together a long time. 

"I wasn’t ready to leave anyway, even though sometimes I say I dunno, I dunno. It’s an incredible place with incredible people and I’m really settled there. We’ve done things we never thought we’d achieve. 

"Sean O’Brien coming back was a big factor in me staying too, he’s there and you can learn off him, he has tremendous input into the whole club and you’re looking at a person who if you want some inspiration you look to him.”