Olympic flavour to new county backroom team

New Westmeath senior football manager, Brendan Hackett revealed an Olympic flavour to his backroom team, as he met with a panel of 65 players at the Hilamar Hotel, Kinnegad last week.The former Athletics Ireland chief announced that Olympic boxing gold medallist Michael Carruth will join the senior panel's medical team as a sports masseur, while Irish Olympic canoeist Eoin Rheinisch - who starred at the 2008 Beijing Olympics - will, along with Carruth, sit in for the team's strength training sessions.Both men were present at last week's meeting to give presentations to the players.Hackett will be joined on the management end by Longford's Mattie Fox, who was involved with the O'Farrell County in 2005 when they shattered the odds to win National Football League promotion. Fox, a well known music manager, is famed for guiding folk singer Christy Moore to international success.Westmeath and Mullingar Shamrocks football legend Michael "Spike" Fagan has joined the backroom team as a selector, along with Gerry McDermott, who has worked with four All-Ireland winning teams, Donegal (1992), Down (1994), Armagh (2002) and Tyrone (2005).Under the Brendan Hackett régime, the medical team will be headed up by Dr. Jerry O'Flynn, with Joe Daly managing logistics and Damien McLoughlin returning as kit man.Speaking to the players in Kinnegad, Hackett outlined how the panel had been assembled by a selection committee, consisting of ten representatives nominated by clubs, and chaired by former county secretary, Paddy Collins.Clubs were given the option to add to the list, and the extensive panel of players will undergo fitness tests and trials over the coming weeks.Hackett stated that one of his initial aims is to set up a "high performance culture" in Westmeath, where teams are prepared to the highest standards.Notably absent from the meeting with the new Westmeath boss was Garrycastle star Dessie Dolan, and the All-Star forward's return to the county setup has yet to be confirmed.On Friday night last, Hackett also unveiled his plans for the new season to 45 players from the Under 21 shortlist.