22 November 2012
Frank Dawson was ratified as the new manager of the Antrim football team last month. Since then the Belfast man has initiated a series of trial games as he prepares a squad for the challenges the Saffrons will face in 2013. We caught up with Frank today to get an early progress report.
Question: It’s early days Frank but can you tell us how you are getting on?
Frank Dawson: Well first off let me say again how delighted I am to have the job. Managing a county team is the pinnacle in the GAA and when it is your own county it is something very special. The response that me and my management team have had from players, clubs, the county board has been very, very positive. I am delighted with how things have worked so far, but of course it is, as you say, very early in the project.
Q: Have you seen many games so far?
FD: Yes indeed, I had seen a fair few Antrim Championship games even before I was appointed, I always try to see as many games as I can. I saw the U21 semi finals and final and I was very impressed. There is a very wide pool of young talent coming through in the county and I know that a number of the young fellas playing U21 championship will feature for the county in the future, certainly at U21 level and some may have played senior football for Antrim by the time the next year has passed.
Q: You organised a series of trial games among players not previously involved, how was that?
FD: we had a series of 3 games, and that was very productive. I didn’t just want to see players once, I wanted to see them over a period of a couple of games. At the moment we have identified perhaps 14 or 15 new potential players who may come into the squad before the start of the McKenna Cup. We will settle on our panel before the end of December.
Q: What about the McKenna Cup, what are your thoughts on that competition?
FD: Well the first thing is we are in a hard group with Derry, Tyrone and Jordanstown. That will provide us with 3 very useful games which is welcome. We will want to do well in the competition as well as trying out players who may not have featured for the county before. The games will certainly mean a lot to the players who should look on the McKenna Cup as their chance to stake a claim. The competition is also the first we face into and for that reason alone I am very keen to get cracking on it. The sooner we are in meaningful competition the better.
Q: What are your aims for 2013?
FD: Well, I am not going to lay down my aims for the year at this stage, that is not my approach. I won’t force my targets on the players. When we have a settled panel we will discuss our collective aims and agree what they are. I am not going to just tell players what my ambition will be for the team, we will discuss and agree a collective aim which everyone buys into: the players, the management team and the county board.
Q: How is the new management team working together?
FD: Really good, very good indeed. The full team is now in place, we have our programmes worked out, we have a professional approach to fitness and conditioning. Everyone is pulling together and there is a very positive vibe about things already. We can start training with the full panel from next weekend and we can’t wait to get started on that.
Final question: What can the team achieve?
FD: Nothing will come easy to Antrim. We are in a tough group in the McKenna Cup, but we will be looking to do well in the competition. We are in a tough NFL Division 3 but we will definitely be aiming to do well there. There are teams we are familiar with from recent seasons like Sligo, Roscommon, Fermanagh, but there are new challenges in there as well and we hope to do well. The Championship draw puts us up against Monaghan and we know they beat us this year. So nothing will come easy, but nothing worthwhile ever does. I just can’t wait to get started.
