Latest news with #Sligo-born
RTÉ News
5 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Ronan Maher: Cathal Sheridan helped me visualise All-Ireland win
Tipperary hurling captain Ronan Maher has hailed the work of mindset coach Cathal Sheridan in introducing him to visualisation techniques and helping the premier county to their 29th All-Ireland title. Speaking at the launch of Aviva's new partnership with ClubberTV, the Thurles Sarsfields defender was effusive in praise for the former Munster rugby scrum-half. "He's been really beneficial to me. He's helped me around the captaincy side, and he's helped me around build up to games and stuff like that," said Maher. "He's been brilliant for us, and I know every player has been linking in with him. "I suppose if you ever have doubts leading into a game, or anything like that, it's really good to look back on good clips of performances, or things that you've done well. It just gives you that bit of confidence, or if you have any doubts, you know that you have the work put in as well." The Sligo-born Sheridan has been working with Munster Rugby in mental skills or psychology roles since his retirement from playing back in 2017, and Maher says he has played a big role in the team's midweek preparations. "Cathal is really good to link in with players individually and collectively and he's just been really good for all of us. I'm sure he's the very same with Kerry, but if there's anything that you were uncomfortable with or if you had nerves building up to the game, he's the right person to go after, and he'll put you in the right direction," he said. "He just brings your attention and your focus to the game rather than the occasion I suppose. He just puts that bit of belief into you as well as a group and he just reminds you of the work that you've done and how far we've come and he's really good at that. Like I said he's been a huge benefit to me this year and last year and I suppose I'm sure a lot of the other players are the very same as well. "I think the work is done Monday to Friday rather than before the game. Like once the game comes around, there's not much that Cathal can do for you really, but it's all different, small things like that," Maher added. Sheridan played alongside the likes of Paul O'Connell and Peter O'Mahony at Munster, but Maher insists that this was not the main talking point when they spoke, and that the mental skills coach helped to keep his mind on the task at hand, rather than the weight of the captaincy mantle. "It wasn't necessarily just captaincy or anything like that, he'd always bring me back down to, and kind of visualising it, and I suppose he'd always bring me back to where it started. He'd always explain how privileged I am to get that role, and to represent my club," said the Thurles clubman. "He asks me the questions rather than me asking him the questions, and he's really good at that. He's just been hugely beneficial in all aspects I suppose, it's hard to get it all out now, but just the support he gives you around different things, and he's just been class for us, and we're so lucky to have him. "Coming from a high-performance environment like Munster, you just have huge belief in him, and there's been times where he's challenged me, and I've challenged different things as well, but especially this year he's brought us on so much. "He'd always speak to you about your family; he'd speak to you about your life outside of hurling as well. He's a caring fella, and the same as the group, we're all so tight, and we're really tight with Cathal as well, and if we needed that he's the one to go to."
Irish Daily Mirror
29-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
1994 World Cup star jokes about how Sligo upbringing prepared him for India move
One of the key members of Ireland's 1994 World Cup side has joked that his Sligo upbringing helped prepare him for his move to India. Terry Phelan, a regular in Jack Charlton's starting-11 when Ireland famously conquered Italy at the Giants Stadium during the 1994 World Cup, is a coach and television personality in his adopted homeland. He first arrived in India in 2010 and spent two years there, before he returned in 2014 to work as a pundit for Sony Sports during the World Cup. On the back of his TV work, he was offered a job at Kerala Blasters, and after spending a couple of years there he was offered another role, this time from Bangalore side South United. He has worked as technical director at South United since 2019 - and Phelan has fallen in love with life in India. When he was first asked to move there, he didn't know too much about his destination. 'I always loved travelling, even when I was a young boy. I think it was the Irish coming out in me,' said Phelan, whose Sligo-born mum helped him qualify to represent Ireland. Speaking with bookmaker Betfree, he added: 'I joined Leeds as a young boy, left home at 12 or 13 years of age and went into digs, and I think that's when I caught it. 'Then obviously moving to Wimbledon, the Crazy Gang, enjoying five mad years there, winning an FA Cup final, which was great, and then getting a big money move, £2.5million, to Manchester City, the most expensive defender at the time. 'From Man City I went to Chelsea, Chelsea to Everton and Everton to Fulham. Then I started going, alright then, what's next? 'I got an offer to go over to the United States. I went over in '92 and '96 (for the US Cup), I went over in '94 (for the World Cup), so I thought, why not? Ireland's Ray Houghton celebrates his goal against Italy with Terry Phelan (Image: INPHO/Billy Stickland) 'I went over and played for Charleston Battery in South Carolina and thought, yeah, I enjoy this travelling. 'I stayed over there for three or four years in America, won trophies over there, which was wonderful, it was a beautiful part of the world, the people were fantastic. 'Then I got an offer to go to New Zealand and I thought, let's do it. The football club was mad as hatters, I didn't know what was going on, but I thought, yeah, I'll throw myself in the deep end, it'll be a challenge. 'I spent six years there, and then somebody said to me, 'Terry, we hear you like traveling, we hear you like going into different communities, would you like to come to India?'. ''India? Where abouts?'. 'He said, 'A place called Goa'. 'So I did my research, and Goa is the smallest state in India, it's on the west coast, and I thought, brilliant. The job was in a residential academy. 'I didn't know what was going on. All I knew about India at the time was the spices and the curries. 'But don't worry, growing up in Tubbercurry in Sligo, my mum loved curries, so I thought, it can't get any better, can it? We'll go and have an adventure.' Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email .
