Irish Coach Reveals Cork Manager's Influence In Him Getting Lions Role
After four years with the Cork hurlers, Gary Keegan has stepped away from his role ahead of the 2026 campaign.
Performance coach Keegan has built up quite the CV over the years, working with Billy Walsh and the Irish boxing team, Jim Gavin's Dublin footballers, Liam Sheedy's All-Ireland-winning Tipp hurlers, and Andy Farrell's Irish team in well over a decade of work in sports.
The CEO of the high-performance and leadership company Uppercut had previously worked with the Cork hurlers in 2017, but returned to the fray in 2022 during the tenure of Kieran Kingston.
Keegan stayed on during the three-year reign of Pat Ryan in Cork, a tenure that ended in heartbreak in last year's extraordinary All-Ireland final.
At the time of that All-Ireland final, however, Keegan was on the other side of the world as performance coach with Andy Farrell's British & Lions team - recruited due to his close, continuing relationship in the same role for Farrell's Irish side.
It was a difficult decision for Keegan to head to Australia with the Lions - but he revealed in an exclusive interview with Balls.ie this week that it was one that Pat Ryan wholeheartedly backed.
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20 January 2026; Gary Keegan speaking at Habit - stacking with Benecol featuring, Spencer Mathews, James Kavanagh and more at the historic Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin 8 where the inspiring well known faces discussed how small but consistent daily habits can lead to extraordinary long-term results. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
"In the Cork scenario, obviously the British and Irish Lions wasn't even on my radar," Gary Keegan told Balls.ie in an exclusive interview this week, after speaking at Benecol Ireland's Habit-Stacking Event in Dublin.
Keegan will once again be part of Andy Farrell's backroom team for the upcoming Six Nations, and revealed he had Cork manager Pat Ryan to thank for being part of Farrell's team down under on last year's Lions tour.
Initially committed to Cork's All-Ireland campaign, Keegan revealed it was Ryan who convinced him to take the "opportunity of a lifetime."
The plan was that we'd see out the Cork piece, the Cork campaign for the season and we'd have a nice summer's rest.
Then the call came late, and I spoke to Pat Ryan about it. He said, 'You have to take this. It's an opportunity of a lifetime.'
He said, 'I'm very comfortable where we're at with the team, where the players are at, and we can give them a bit of support by distance as we get into the last two weeks.'
We were all on the same page with regard to...I had to do the Lions, because you're never gonna get a chance [again].
It's such an iconic series and competition and it's a thing that doesn't come around for too many people twice.
Keegan would watch Cork's dramatic All-Ireland final defeat to Tipperary in the middle of the Australian night, hours after the Lions had beaten the Wallabies in the opening test of the three-game series.
The shocking manner of Cork's second-half collapse has been heavily dissected in recent years, and the departures of Ryan and the legendary Patrick Horgan means there will be an element of transition to their 2026 season.
Gary Keegan, too, has left the setup, to be replaced by Limerick man Gerry Hussey.
Despite the hurt of last year's final and all the change in the camp, Keegan has no doubt that there are big things ahead for Cork in the years to come.
"I don't have any doubts," Keegan said when asked if Cork can bounce back from last year's All-Ireland final.
It's very hard to get into an All-Ireland final, very, very hard to get into it.
I have high hopes for this team in the future.
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