Limerick man joins Waterford senior hurling backroom team

LIMERICK man Adrian O'Sullivan has joined the Waterford senior hurling backroom team ahead of the 2026 season. O'Sullivan was part of the Cork senior camogie team that were narrowly defeated by Galway in the All-Ireland final. 

Former Kilmallock manager Peter Queally enters his second year in charge of the Waterford senior hurling backroom team. Queally has added former Cork coach Donal O'Rourke and O'Sullivan to his backroom this year. 

Waterford have failed to reach the knockout stages of the Munster Senior Hurling Championship since the introduction of the round-robin series. 

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A native of west Limerick, he coached the Westmeath senior hurling team to a Joe McDonagh Cup final in 2019 and was also part of the Limerick camogie backroom team that guided the Shannonsiders to the All-Ireland intermediate camogie title in 2013.

He previously managed the Dublin senior camogie team, but O'Sullivan believes he is now a better coach than a manager.

"Personally, I think I'm a better coach than a manager. In the modern game at inter-county level. When you're managing maybe only 20 per cent  of it is actually related to the game. It''s like managing a small business, you've the county board, the players and the management team so look it's a huge task. Sometimes, I found when I was manager of Dublin, you're time is spent on stuff that isn't to do with the game.

"That's why I enjoy the coaching so much, you can shut out the outside noise, it's just you and the players trying to improve every night on the field. I think for the forsseable future, my future will be with boots on grass and the whistle in the hand," he said.

O'Sullivan who grew up in Foynes played his underage hurling with St Kieran's. 

"My dad (Mickey O'Sullivan) would have always been involved with coaching over the years that where we picked it up from, he would have won a couple of county championships in hurling and football with St Kieran's. We would have grown up on the sidelines, after that I would have studied sports science in UL. Cian O'Neill was one of lecturers, you would look up to him, the coaching models we did with him were top class and they really gave me for a grá for coaching."

St Patrick's was one of the first teams O'Sullivan became involved with in coaching. Kilmallock defeated St Patrick's in the 2017 junior hurling final. 

"After that I started taking teams here and there, St Patrick's in Limerick was the first team I ever took in Limerick. We had a lovely junior team, we got to a junior county final a number of years ago now and it all kicked from there. There hasn't been too many years now since where I haven't had a team of one description or another."