In conversation with...Brian Dowling

As he completes the third year of his initial three-year term as Kildare senior hurling manager and contemplates further involvement with the county The Kildare Nationalist sat down with Brian Dowling to review the highs and lows of the 2026 season.

Pat Costello: So, Brian, what was the ambition for you and the Kildare team at the start of the year?

Brian Dowling: The ambition, Pat, was to win three games and stay in the Division in the League. There was an outside chance of getting the top two but the main aim was to stay in Division 1B and that was achieved. Staying in the Leinster Championship was the next aim, which we didn't do, unfortunately. We targeted two wins to stay up or one win and a head-to-head but that ambition didn’t go the way we wanted, unfortunately.

PC: Did the exertions of staying up in the League take a bit of a toll for the Leinster Championship, maybe?

BD: No, I don’t think so. We had no other choice but to attack the League. People might say we went too hard but if we didn’t go full strength for the League, we would be relegated so we had to attack the League. We had a four-week break from the League to the championship. Obviously, we were using the same players but we had three or four injuries every single game so it was very hard to rotate our squad. We tried as best we could but we had to go full strength. I think staying up in the League probably gave us confidence going into Leinster, but obviously it's a massive step up to the Championship.

PC: You mentioned the injuries and you had players coming back from a heavy season with Nass. James Burke was out Conan Boran was out so that was always going to be a challenge for you?

BD: I felt that if we were to stay up in Leinster, we needed to have everybody available and pushing each other. If you go back to the Galway game I think we were down four starters from the Joe McDonagh Cup Final. Cathal Dowling couldn’t play, Darragh Melville only came on, Richy Hogan started alright. David Qualter was actually missing that day so we we're down a lot of key players, players who had played a huge part in winning the Joe McDonagh. Kildare needed everybody there. Every team needs their best players and their best five subs coming in. Unfortunately, we didn't ever have a full deck this year. We were hoping to have James Burke back towards the end of Championship but he only played five minutes. Cathal Dowling got a very nasty injury against Down and he missed most of the Championship. David Qualter, obviously, got a serious injury in the second game against Dublin. It was very disappointing that these lads didn’t see many minutes in the Leinster Championship.

PC: When we look back at that quarter final against Dublin last year there was a noticeable gap in physicality and strength but that wasn't noticeable in 2026. Obviously, a huge amount of work went in over the winter months?

BD: Everyone could see that we were struggling physically that day against Dublin but the lads took a few weeks off and came back to work individually. Mick Gillick sent them different plans and programmes and the lads did the gym work and came back in a good place, ready to push on. Obviously, it's another level again to go from Joe McDonagh up to Leinster Championship and I think what we found really difficult was to play for 70 minutes. That's something we couldn't do; we probably struggled after 40/45 minutes. Teams got the better of us. That's probably the biggest gap that's there. Sustaining it for 70 minutes is the next thing that Kildare has to go and find.

PC: What would have been the standout games for you?

BD: I think the Antrim game was brilliant because it was our first win at home after we had lost the first game to Dublin. It was great to get the victory but I think we played brilliant hurling that day as well. The performance against Clare, even though we didn't win, I thought it was top class. The atmosphere that night was brilliant and we only lost by four points to a Clare team that won the All-Ireland in 2024; that was a brilliant achievement. Then we went up to Down and had a great win. We hadn’t won up there in my time so it was great getting that win. Obviously, the day against Carlow we maintained our status with the victory, which was brilliant, with a game to go. In the Championship, I think that 35 minutes against Galway will live long in the memory. The way the lads played was absolutely fantastic. We were 13/14 points up at one stage and played brilliant hurling. We’ve seen what Galway has gone and done since.

PC: Nobody outside of the county expected you to stay in the Leinster Championship but was it disappointing for all of you that you didn't manage to achieve that?

BD: Ah yeah, we were definitely disappointed. You don’t want to go up and straight back down again but we we're realistic as well. We knew it was going to be tough. We knew it was going to be hard. One game I look back on with regret would be the Wexford game. I think that was the game that was there for the taking. We probably had enough chances in the first half to go in at half line four or five points up. We had handy chances and missed a couple of frees. Wexford got a late goal as well. I think of all the games we look back on, maybe we could have got a victory there. If we had to win that game, we would have had Wexford head-to-head and we would be safe.

PC: There was commentary around that game and in other games that Kildare were being refereed a little bit different to the so-called stronger counties. Did you feel that?

BD: I don’t think the other matches were too bad but I was very disappointed with the Referee that day, to be honest. I thought there were a couple of frees that I couldn't see what they were for. Out of the five games we played, that was probably the most frustrating. In some cases, they seemed to get frees for nothing and we found it very hard to get frees. When a game is that tight and you’re trying to win by a point or two, every decision matters. Look, it's not an easy job to be a referee, I totally understand that, but I suppose that was probably the game I was definitely frustrated with some of the decisions alright.

PC: A new Committee has now been established under your own county man, Nickey Brennan to look at the Leinster Championship. What would you be looking for from that Committee for 2027 and beyond.

BD: First of all, fair play to the GAA for getting on to this straight away. There was a lot of noise about it this year but the easiest thing to do was to do nothing. At least something is going to happen. I think to have eight teams in Leinster is probably the way to go. Maybe two groups of four and guarantee four or five games. They just have to come up with the right structures and then get the balance between the Leinster Championship and the Joe McDonagh. Do two teams go back into the Joe McDonagh or is it a completely separate competition?

Some people say ten teams in Leinster but I personally don't agree with that. I think that's too many, because I don't think there's ten teams strong enough at any point in time. When you have a good team, I think to be up in Leinster and competing that would definitely bring on the teams.

PC: You had a good year with Kildare but you also had a good year with Kieran’s College along with Richie Ruth. How did you keep it all going?

BD: Yeah, it was a great year with Kieran’s winning Leinster and then going on to win the All-Ireland. It wasn't easy, they gave us heart attacks. For three matches in a row, we left it very, very late. It wasn't the plan but it was a sweet one to win, to be honest, Pat. Look, it’s very tough, Richie and I are in it together. It's very tough there from January, February, March. You're playing the League with Kildare and then you’re with Kieran’s. There’s a lot of pressure on both teams and expectations are very high and you want to try and do your best for both teams. The good thing for us was both teams were doing well and winning most of the matches. If they weren't winning or playing well then that would be very, very stressful.

PC: You have surrounded yourself with a very strong Management/Backroom team in Kildare?

BD: A brilliant team, yeah. Richie has been with me from the start. Conor O’Shea came in and he's an excellent coach, excellent at picking out different things in the opposition as well. Richie Hogan is a great Kildare man. He's very shrewd and when he speaks the lads listen. We got Cian Hogan in this year as goalkeeping coach and he added great energy around place. Then Mick Gillick is in the background with the S&C. The lads really thrive off him and buy into it. I think everyone in Kildare can see the benefits of what Mick has done in the last two years and the progress the lads have made.

PC: Does it give you encouragement that the minors and U20’s performed well in Leinster and you had a good spread of clubs on those teams?

BD: It's very important that the underage is going well. We spoke to Mick Mullen about this a few times. It's important to keep driving the underage. Obviously, the senior team is going well but it's important that everybody's putting shoulders to the wheel. Kildare have to be bringing through hurlers every year. Just see what Offaly has done. They had a generational team and look what they've done now in the All-Ireland series. They've brought through 10/11/12 lads at the one time. That's probably not possible in Kildare but there needs to be two or three lads pushing for a senior place every single year. Adrian Kinsella has done brilliant work there with the U20’s. We have a very good relationship with him. We had a crossover of five players this year. It could be difficult to manage but it was really easy to work with Adrian. He just wants the lads to get through to senior hurling; that’s his main priority.

PC: When we spoke to you after that Dublin game last year you were envious of the number in the Dublin backroom team and you had concerns that you might not have that level of support or the resources. Were you happy with the support and resources you did get?

BD: Yes, definitely. What I said that day was that I knew that Kildare had to go to another place if we wanted to play in Division 1B and compete in Leinster. Even though we went down in Leinster I do think we competed very well in every game for periods, obviously not for as long as we wanted. I sat down with the County Board and we thrashed out everything. A lot of fundraising went on. We had a brilliant Hurling Committee and we brought in a lot of money on that side of things. The County Board backed anything we looked for. We used the holiday fund from the Joe McDonagh for a training camp in Portugal and we got a lot of work done over there. We were delighted with the package that we got but that’s what we needed. It’s very costly to run intercounty teams, there’s so much goes into it. It's not easy for anybody, we just have to try and find the right balance.

PC: You’re back in the Joe McDonagh next year and some have concerns that maybe the players might not be up for it but for this observer, anyway, whenever Kildare players put on that white jersey, they're going to go for it.

BD: I said after the Offaly game nobody in Kildare can turn up their noses at a Joe McDonagh. It’s only twelve months ago that we won our first game in it. You have no God given right to go down there and win that competition. Antrim went down last year and they didn't come straight back up. Carlow are there; Westmeath are building again. You have Down and they had three great wins and Derry are coming up. There's no easy game down there and it's going to be very difficult. If you don't have the right attitude and the right mentality, then you'll stay down there. It’s not easy to win it but I’m sure the lads when they get back to the county season, they’ll be ready to go and they’ll give everything to get Kildare back up to the Leinster senior championship.

PC: Concerns were raised at the June County Board meeting about the lack of support for Kildare teams and you raised that a few times during the year. Did the level of support disappoint you?

BD: You always want bigger support. We got a big support for the Joe McDonagh Final last year. I just think it's important that people keep bringing their kids to the games and get their kids into the game. Then they'll want some future Kildare hurlers. I definitely think the following has grown in the last couple years, since we were in the Christy Ring. We just have to try and keep performing well and doing well and playing good hurling. New supporters will keep coming. I think it’s brilliant the hurlers are playing in Conleth’s because when I came here first, we were in Hawkfield and you could count the people fairly quick in two minutes. I just think it's great that people are going to Kildare games but we’d prefer if there were more Kildare people. Hopefully that will come in the next few years.

PC: Finally, Brian, you have rightfully won a lot of praise this year making you an attractive manager proposition for other counties. There are a couple of big vacancies, including in your own county, at the moment. Are you anticipating any calls to fill any of those vacancies?

BD: I’ll meet the County Board, Pat, and we’ll go through a review process, which we do every year since the start. I like to sit down at the end of the year and just review everything from our own side of things, from the county board side of things and then we plan and talk about next year and see where we stand. I came in on a three-year term and that term is up. Look, I loved the last three years. I loved working with the group of players and the Backroom team. It was a great honour for me to be manager of Kildare and I hope that will be the case next year as well. I just have to sit down and go through everything now with the County Board.