Muiris Gavin playing for Limerick against Westmeath in 2006.
By Cian O’Connell
Muiris Gavin has been an integral part of the Limerick Gaelic Football story, but the Monaleen manager is still striving to create a better future too.
Since retiring from playing action with club and county Gavin has helped to construct a Limerick Academy system that is earning significant plaudits.
That was his brief with the Green and White, but the blood red jersey of Monaleen hasn’t been forgotten about either with Gavin steering them to a County Championship win.
Carbery Rangers are next on the agenda in the Munster Club SFC at the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday and Gavin wants Monaleen to make an impact in the provincial arena.
“It is five years since we won a County last at this stage so it is too long,” Gavin says. “It is great to be back here again. We are really looking forward to it.
“Getting a win would be fantastic, obviously with this competition if you lose you are out so by getting a win you can get a bit of momentum going in it.
“The last time we were here we were beaten in 2011, but we actually played very well. We played UCC, who were Cork champions and they were also Sigerson champions.
“Basically they equalised against us with the last kick of the game and then they beat us in extra-time where they unloaded a bench of inter-county players against us.
“We actually performed very well and were beaten only by a couple of points. Once you perform that is the main thing. The previous year we played Dr Crokes in Killarney and we completely flopped on the day. That leaves a very sour taste when that happens.
“If you perform and you're good enough to get a win, that is fantastic, if you perform and it doesn't go your way at least you can say you gave it your best shot. What I'm focusing on with the team is that we need to perform to our best. If that is good enough it would be great.”
In the intervening years the dynamic of the Monaleen team has altered significantly with an emphasis currently being placed on marrying youth and experience.
“It is fair to say that we have had a transitional period for the last few years,” the former Limerick captain acknowledges. “We won four County Championships 2002, 2005, 2010, and 2011 - the four teams were backboned by the same nine or 10 players over a decade.
Monaleen players Paul Kinnerk and Padraig Quinn celebrate after the Limerick County Final.
“Pretty much all of those players have retired so in the last few years we have been introducing new players and young lads coming through the underage system.
“There is about six or seven lads left from 2011, but for a number of lads this would be the first time playing at this level in the Munster Championship.”
Three players – Paul Kinnerk, Jason O'Brien, and Finbar Nash – have been involved in Monaleen’s five triumphs.
Kinnerk, the accomplished and highly regarded coach who was a significant contributor to Clare minor, under 21 and senior hurling backroom teams for the past half dozen years, continues to make an impact for Monaleen.
“We have three lads left, Paul, Finbar Nash, and Jason O'Brien,” Gavin remarks. “They were all there in 2002 - Paul has been there all along.
“He was very young in 2002, he was maybe only 16 in 2002, but he was in the panel. He won his fifth medal a few weeks ago when he came on and did very well in the County Final.
“He has been a huge part of the set-up and is obviously a huge influence on lads. On the whole coaching side of it he has a big role to play, he is still a player, but he would bring a lot to the table for the club not just on the playing side.”
Kinnerk, who will coach the Limerick hurlers under John Kiely’s stewardship in 2017, has been an influential figure in the Football Academy alongside Gavin.
“For me it sort of happened by accident really,” Gavin remarked about how his coaching career commenced. “I was asked by the County Board two years ago as part of this Implementation Committee to set up an underage Academy structure.
“I looked at who I could involve myself with in that. Obviously Paul being a team mate and a good friend over the years was one of the first people I talked to. He came onboard and it went from there then.
“It was probably my last year playing and the players in the club asked me to get involved in the management side.
“It wasn't something that I had planned on doing. Once I was satisfied with the level of commitment that they planned on giving I said I would give that a go. Probably three years ago I didn't see myself in this position having done this, I probably got into it more by accident than design.
Monaleen reclaimed the Limerick SFC title.
“Like anything, when you are in it you want to do it right. It has been rewarding and very good because the response of the players has been excellent.
“If you have a group of players, okay they have been a good group of players winning a County, but for any coach if you have a group of players that are responding and training hard and wanting to learn that is rewarding in itself. The fact that they have won a County is a bonus.”
Gavin is adamant that Limerick must continue to invest time, work, and energy in developing underage talent. “That is the route to success, I firmly believe,” is Gavin’s assessment.
“We have five of our own minors on the senior panel, one of them is starting. One of them came on as a sub in the County Final, all of them would have been involved with the Limerick Academy with me last year for the Under 17 County team. It was a natural progression to bring them into a senior set-up.
“The very fact that one of them has already both a minor and senior County Final and won them is great. From the clubs point of view we won the minor as well this year so definitely I would always put a huge emphasis on youth development bringing young lads through to play them at a high level leaving the door open so they can feel that they can make a senior team if they are good enough. If you are good enough you are old enough.
“There is always room for good young players coming through, it is something we wanted to do. I'm glad a few of them have come through already, and over the next year or two there will be a lot of young lads coming through for us which is a good position to be in.”
Gavin is encouraged that so many retired former inter-county players have taken a keen interest in what is happening with the Academy.
“We have two years done of the underage Academy on a Saturday morning and it has been a very good development for Limerick football,” Gavin admits. “The coaching the lads have received has been excellent, I think a lot of the inter-county players who have just reached retirement over the last five years, lads in their mid 30s are all back involved with that underage Academy. That is a very positive development. In a county like Limerick there is always more that is needed.”
Further strides need to be taken, but improvements are being made. “The Schools structure needs to improve, we don't have any team playing Corn Ui Mhuiri at the moment,” Gavin commented.
“That is a big step and quite a few clubs are doing a lot at the moment, but there is always more that they can be doing. In general it is probably better than it has been.
“There are a lot of people doing huge work at underage in the clubs and on the inter-county scene. It is just a question of trying to keep it going to hope the players come through as a result of it.
“That is the only way ultimately if you want to get back to being competitive at the higher levels, that is the route you have to go. It takes patience and it takes time, you are not going to create something like that overnight. It takes a number of years.” Gavin is aware of the possibilities, the places Limerick can go; the journey continues.
