Finian Hanley respects the scale of task ahead of Salthill Knocknacarra

Sean Armstrong, John Boylan and Gary Cox who are part of Hanley’s management team, were also part of that team 14 years ago.

Hanley hopes his management team can pass on some of their experiences to their players this weekend as they aim to end a 14-year wait for the Frank Fox Cup.

The Salthill supremo feels it was a valuable experience gaining experience alongside O’Mahony before he took on the role as manager.

“It was super valuable, for myself and Sean (Armstrong), we finished playing in 2021, John (O’Mahony) came in and said would we stay on as selectors which wasn’t on the radar at all, certainly not for me.

"John O’Mahony never allowed anyone to say no, it was super valuable to get in and learn off him. He had a great way with people and he was able to navigate any unsureness or any choppy waters as well. It was brilliant to be there, we stayed on for 2024, but didn’t plan to be there for this year but here we are.”

Salthill Knocknacarra are a club who have competed in nine finals and they managed to win three county titles in 1990, 2005 and 2025. Hanley believes the first focus for the club has been to consistently reaching the latter stages of the Galway SFC.

“We haven’t been in a lot of county finals to be honest, and we certainly haven’t won many. It’s huge, the club is looking for consistency at adult level, that’s the first thing and generally if you come and smash and grab, you’re not seen for a long time. We know that there's been big gaps between our wins over the years. It’s trying to build that consistency and level of grit that gets you knocking on the door and you hope every couple of years you’ll break it down.”

Galway senior footballers Daniel O'Flaherty, John Maher, Matthew Thompson and Robert Finnerty have all returned to their club in impressive form throughout the Galway SFC.

“We don’t under-estimate their quality, that’s for the public to look at their quality. They’re brilliant clubmen, they love playing for Salthill Knocknacarra, they really enjoy it. They don’t flinch from any challenge, they want to drive the team on, that’s what we see them driving in training. They’ve been in exceptional form and hopefully there’s another couple of weeks in them,” added Hanley.

Charlie Power limped off with injuries in Salthill Knocknacarra’s quarter final and semi final wins, while Daniel O’Flaherty and Cathal Sweeney were also forced off through injury in their semi final win over Corofin.

“Charlie will be under a lot of pressure, he’s got a fairly significant injury. Cathal and Daniel have soft tissue injuries as well, you wouldn’t write them off but this time of year you don’t want to be getting those. They’re two big players as well, but you would like to get them on the pitch for something that won’t be known until very close to throw-in.”

Hanley is aware of the challenge his side are facing against Maigh Cuilinn this Sunday in the Galway SFC final.

“They’ll want to put in a big performance again, they did that last year and didn’t get over the line. Nobody is under any illusions that Maigh Cuilinn will be favourites for the game and rightly so given the calibre of their players and everything. There are some good players in the Salthill Knocknacarra dressing room, I’ve no doubt they’ll give it everything," concluded the Salthill Knocknacarra manager.