Late bloomer O'Toole-Greene shows what hard work and desire can achieve

THE form of Shane O'Toole-Greene in the Offaly senior football defence and his emergence into a genuine intercounty player, worthy of that description, has been one of the big bonuses for joint managers Declan Kelly and Mickey Harte this year.

The Shamrocks man impressed as a player with potential from a young age and he played well for Offaly U20 footballers in 2018 and 2019 – Declan Kelly was the manager in those years.

However, he didn't really feature at senior county level in the next few years and despite consistently impressing as one of Shamrocks' best footballers, it looked like the inter-county ship had sailed by for him.

He was given his initial chance by the late Liam Kerins in 2023, playing in one league and one championship game but didn't feature at all in 2024. Declan Kelly and Mickey Harte went back for him in 2025 and he is a perfect example of what can be achieved by hard work and wanting it.

He only played a couple of games as Offaly got promotion from Division 2 of the National Football League last year and his experience in their first defeat in Fermanagh could have broken him – and has sapped the morale of some footballers and hurlers who had bad experiences.

Playing on the half back line, O'Toole-Greene was at sea and would not have been surprised at being called ashore in the 52nd minute. It all meant that he didn't feature at all in the championship but O'Toole-Greene kept his head down, kept working and he has received a quite spectacular reward this year.

Now firmly established at corner back, he has grown into himself with every game during a difficult league campaign and has raised his performance levels by a few degrees in the Tailteann Cup. At 27 years of age, he is very much a late bloomer in inter-county terms but some things are worth waiting for – as Offaly lost eight competitive games at the start of the season, O'Toole-Greene was one of the few positives to emerge and he has pushed on in the Tailteann Cup.

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Very good in the wins over Clare and Down, he had his best performance in an Offaly jersey in Saturday's very satisfying 1-21 to 1-17 quarter-final win over Wexford – he defended superbly and was a great attacking asset in a great man of the match performance, scoring three points, two of them which could have been goals, and having a few assists.

The improvement in his physicality, fitness and athleticism has been obvious to all observers this season and he was a bundle of relentless energy as Offaly hunted down a six point half time deficit to win by five.

While Offaly conceded five two pointers and a very soft goal, O'Toole-Greene was happy that they were in a “very good place” at half time, referring to the strength of the wind they played against.

“I thought it was a good wind and at half time, I thought we had more possession. They had a few two pointers and maybe we didn't press out enough on them. They had a six point lead but at half time, we knew in the dressing room we were in a good place.

“We knew with the likes of Hylo (Dylan Hyland), Jack Bryant, Keith (O'Neill), we were going to get the scores in the second half. A very pleasing win.”

He agreed that Offaly could have been in real control at half time. “At one stage I looked up and we were three or four down, I hadn't realised they were swinging those twos over. They got a lucky goal, probably should have been prevented as well but it was definitely a six-seven point wind and we took advantage of it in the second half.”

He was asked how Offaly turned things around in the Tailteann Cup after their championship flop against Laois.

“There is no doubt about it, we were as low as we ever could be after that Laois game. We spoke to each other and said there is no way we can die like this, not to the Offaly people. The last couple of years, we have been fluting about in the Tailteann Cup and we had a meeting one day and said, look lads, we are going for it.

“Paul Kilgallon stood in at training and demanded more from us. Lads have just thrived since. It is just about hard work at this stage. We know we have the footballers to win games and if we put in the hard work, the ball will go over the bar.”

O'Toole-Greene knew from the first minutes of the first game in Clare that something had changed in Offaly. “Inter-county football takes a lot from our lives. Lads have kids, relationships, college and work. You don't dedicate yourself to it to fall out of a second tier competition. You are in it to win it and that was our motto. We weren't just in it to partake. We wanted to win it and we wanted to be in Croke Park. We want to end the year with silverware. There is no other option for us.”

He spoke about his late emergence in inter-county football and how it happened. “I would have had two years under 20 with Dec and if I am honest, I would have been disappointed not to get called in the following year and that developed into another year. When I was 23, turning 24, I got my first call in under Liam Kerins and I always backed myself that I was good enough. I worked hard to be honest. I went away for a year and came back and put my head down.

“My goal is just to play for Offaly and that is all I ever wanted to do. I have a jersey now and I am going to try and keep onto it.”

He grinned when he was reminded of the difficulties he got in that league encounter in Fermanagh in February 2025 and didn't try and dress things up. “You start asking questions and you start doubting yourself. I would have done that last year and maybe I have some regrets in not putting the shoulder to the wheel for the rest of the lads. This year, I think Paul Kilgannon, our team performance coach, has been a revelation for us. I have really worked with him and on myself mentally. I have strengthened that side of things and that is just taking care of yourself. I knew I had the football ability, it was just the confidence and being able to back myself.”

He confirmed that he has worked very hard both at and outside of organised training. “We have put in serious slogging since October, serious hard training. You are going down in October, November, December just to run and it takes a lot. We have put in the hard work and we are reaping rewards now.”

O'Toole-Greene's life has also changed dramatically in recent weeks as he became the father to an 11 week old girl, Aoibhi. A plumber, “life is busy”, he said, stating that it is “not simple” but his desire to play county football means that he will continue to juggle all balls into the coming years.