'He's got a great affinity to these players': Keegan double-jobbing with Lions rugby and Cork hurlers
Keegan is part of Andy Farrell's coaching staff for the tour with the LIons set to face Australia next Saturday in Brisbane.
On Sunday, Cork face Tipperary in the All-Ireland senior hurling final and despite Keegan being on the other side of the world, he remains a vital part of their setup as they ramp up their preparations.
The highly-rated performance coach has previously been involved in GAA with the Dublin footballers and Tipperary hurlers, while he also built up a strong reputation for this work with the Irish Olympic boxing setup.
And Cork boss Pat Ryan has heaped praise on Keegan for his contribution.
'Look Gary's been really involved, he does a lot of one to ones with our players. He's been unbelievable for us over the last couple of years.
'It was Kieran (Kingston) first got him involved, and then he kind of was away for a year and he came back again with Kieran. I met Gary in 2023, I'd worked with him in 2017 and he's got a great affinity for these group of players.
'He was adamant he wanted to stay involved. Obviously his work schedule had got busier, but he was adamant that he could do it. He's probably down to us maybe five or six times a year, he does an awful lot of one to ones with the lads, does one to ones with myself. We do an awful lot of Zoom calls actually, more of a collective zoom together.
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'He's done one or two of them since he's been away in Australia with the lads, and he'll do one or two more before the All-Ireland, and in fairness to him, he, he makes the effort.
Gary Keegan and Ryan Bailey at the Lions game against the Waratahs. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
'Like he was up at half three the last day after one of the matches, he's got really keen, he's got a great affinity to these players, and as good as a fella that you could meet.'
Ryan explained what Keegan has done in shaping his role as Cork manager.
'Sometimes it's realising that you are the top man and that you are the front man. Sometimes you realise that you need to be more front and centre and you need to be more engaged. I was probably managing instead of leading.
'Gary would speak an awful lot of that with me, that you need to lead maybe a bit more, instead of maybe managing the situations a bit more. It's not taking over or anything like that. It's just that you're giving the direction clearer to people, what we want to do and the standards and the expectations of everybody is clearer and then fellas just go and do their jobs, whatever their role is within our group.
Cork manager Pat Ryan. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
'I think the fact that we did perform really really well in 2024, the players believed in us as a management team more. And when the players are believing in you as a management team and understand that you're doing the right things and that you can get them to where they want to get to, what their dreams and what their expectations are, that gave us a bigger footing again in 2025 to go on and expand our game plan and expand the way we wanted to do things.
'Then we set up a leadership group and that has worked really well this year. The lads that have come into it have been brilliant. From 2023 to 2024 it was better, to 2025 it's even better. We're much more player-led in what we're doing, how we play, how we analyse matches, how we come back at it.
'We've a fantastic analysis and video group led by Tomás Manning. We've dialled it down a bit as well. The 20-minute video sessions are gone. It's five, six, seven minutes regularly, just to get fellas tuned in. It's working at the moment, it's going well, but the proof is in the pudding on Sunday week.'
Separately Ryan has expressed his frustration with the inability of managers to communicate messages to players on the pitch during games.
The Cork hurlers at the All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
'It's impossible. To be honest it's the biggest bugbear I have. You're putting in the best time you can, you want to make changes, and you just can't. I was shouting at Mark Coleman from 10 yards away from me (in the Dublin game). It was only a simple thing just to push up on a puckout and he just couldn't hear me.
'It's crazy that we're the only sport that you don't do it in. Maybe it was too far before, the cult of the maor foirne running onto the field all over the place, but I think there should be a situation where you have something in place, some sort of mechanism where you can give instructions maybe two or three times a half, maybe in a game where you have a runner or something.
'There's better fellas outside there than me come up with those ideas, but it's absolutely crazy that coaches can't adjust on that situation on that day. I'd say we're definitely the only sport that that have it, so I think it's amazing.'
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