Shane Keegan speaking at the GAA Games Development Conference in 2020. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
By Cian O’Connell
Shane Keegan relishes the madness and chaos of it all. Every weekend matches are on the agenda. Football or hurling, it doesn’t matter. JK Brackens’ players in Templemore are used to the dual mandate.
Keegan has forged a connection with the locals. The day job is Laois GAA Head of Coaching & Games, but in his spare time Keegan is managing JK Brackens. Two Tipperary Senior Championship Quarter-Finals are imminent.
On Saturday, Brackens face 21 times champions Toomevara at FBD Semple Stadium in the last eight of the hurling. The following weekend Loughmore-Castleiney, capable of dealing with the hectic schedule, provide the opposition in football.
“The players, we don't have a single player on either panel that isn't on the panel for both codes,” Keegan explains.
“Every single one of them plays both codes, either with the senior team in both or with the senior team in one and the junior team in the other. They are playing both codes.”
When Keegan arrives in Templemore, one thing is almost guaranteed. Children will be on the field, practising. That willingness to improve matters deeply according to Keegan. “I'll be honest with you, as a Laois hurling man, and for somebody, whose day job is to progress the standard of what we are doing at underage in Laois, particularly the hurling, it frustrates me a little bit around the hurling, when I go to Templemore, effectively 25 minutes out the road from me - not that it is a far away land or anything, you arrive into the park in Templemore, and you've to run the young lads off the field so we can train,” he marvels.
“This isn't organised training sessions, obviously you've plenty of organised sessions too, but outside of the organised training sessions, when you land in, you just have young lads out on the pitch ranging from eight years of age to 14 years of age, all having the one game of hurling or football, whatever they are playing.
“You nearly have to clear them off to get on it yourself. I don't see enough of that in Laois, I don't see enough of people playing either code themselves in a non organised fashion. It just seems to be a bit more of the norm in Templemore.”
A community exists with a real passion for JK Brackens, who’ve made significant strides as a club in recent decades. “It is a very, very good club,” Keegan responds.
“Everybody seems to know everybody. The rest of my management team are all involved in underage teams, they are involved in their own sons and daughters teams. Our kitman Aidan Doyle, there isn't a young fella or girl in the place that he doesn't know.
Shane Keegan speaking at a workshop the Leinster GAA Games Development Expansion Launch in 2022. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
“He knows everybody's name, not only does he know their name, he is able to follow up, by saying you had a dinger in the game on Tuesday night, fair play, you're flying it, you scored, he knows everything about everybody.
“Yet, he still makes the time to be fantastic in the kitman role alongside Murty Kennedy for us. There is a lot that is very, very positive.”
Keegan has forged friendships with his selectors. That is a help, especially because Keegan remains eager to learn himself, too. “We've the same management team, myself, Kevin Mulryan, and the two Ivors brothers, John and Aidan Ivors,” Keegan says.
“The four of us basically oversee both teams. I'd have no problem in holding my hand up, saying I'd have come into the role more comfortable in hurling. I was really, really relishing the opportunity to get deep into football.
“Thankfully, Kevin Mulryan played football for Tipperary for many years, there is nothing about Tipperary football or football in general that Kevin Mulryan doesn't know.”
Nuggets of information are passed on, but Keegan still thoroughly enjoys the coaching aspect. “I've been able to lean fairly heavily on him, while learning the ins and outs of it all,” Keegan adds.
“He has been perfect in terms of balancing it. That said, I've taken every minute of every training session from start to finish. The football, no different to the hurling. Just in terms of leaning on the knowledge of football in the county, the knowledge of players' strengths and weaknesses, opposition strengths and weaknesses, I've had to rely on Kevin far more on the football side than on the hurling side.”
Since the championship has commenced the approach has been week on, week off regarding hurling and football. The Brackens boys don’t know any other way. “The bit of variety can be great, nearly more so, arguably after a poor result than a positive result,” Keegan replies.
“If you're after been beaten in the hurling, going into a week of football brings something a bit different. It definitely adds a bit of freshness to everyone for the week.
“Of course, it comes with challenges. The simple fact is if you go from one hurling match to another hurling match, your opponent is highly likely to have spent two weeks focusing on hurling, and hurling only.
Kevin Mulryan in action for Tipperary in the 2002 Munster SFC Final against Cork. Photo by Pat Murphy/Sportsfile
“We'd have only half the time to focus on hurling. That obviously raises challenges, but the thing is here, they've never known any different. It'd be more of problem for hurling clubs if they were to start from scratch, the thought of taking the focus off one code.
“We've four or five lads in our starting team, who are also in the U19s team, who've football one Wednesday, followed by hurling the following Wednesday. They've known no different, go all the way down to your first competitive age group at U13.
“That is what they do. Hurling one week, football the next week, they've never known any different, it is their upbringing really.”
Fixtures arrived thick and fast, but Brackens managed to reach the knockout stages in the two codes. Last weekend was one without a competitive game scheduled. “The way the break week fell, it was ideal for us, we used the break week to do hurling training, now we've an actual week heading into the match, then we will flip back to the football again,” Keegan says.
“It was a rare enough situation to have two weeks of hurling, although the first week was drastically reduced in terms of the workload, you wanted to give the boys a bit of a breather after the six consecutive weeks.”
Toome and Loughmore await in the upcoming encounters; Keegan knows that demanding tests are imminent. “We are heading into the Toomevara game on Saturday, we will go in as underdogs, they'll be favourites, they topped their group, the tradition they have will make them favourites, but we aren't massive underdogs,” Keegan says.
“We have a decent chance, we'd like to think. You want to give yourself the headache of going further along, but win, lose or draw, the emphasis will have to shift very quickly to the football.
“Then, at the end of that week we get to play a team, who're able to do this well, they've had the success they've had on both fronts over the last decade, it is remarkable. Most importantly, it shows it can be done.
“There is no escape from anybody in Templemore, to whinge and moan that this can't be done, when a club, not a million miles from us, have proven that it absolutely can be done.”
These are exciting times in Templemore.