'We're on the right track' - Mannion

Kevin Óg Carney

It was late autumn last year when Tomás Mannion threw in his lot with the Cavan senior hurlers.
For the small but passionate followers of hurling in the county, Mannion’s recruitment was warmly welcomed.
The juxtaposition of Mannion alongside Antrim man Ollie Bellew (team manager) gave Cavan a strength in depth along the sideline that had the 35-strong squad of players sitting up and taking notice.
Bellew and Mannion are the chairpersons of each other’s fan club. There is clearly a mutual respect and understanding between the duo.
“Tomás has been with us this year as a skills coach, a selector and a sports psychologist and he’s one of the best assets Cavan hurling could have got; there’s nobody better at doing what he does. He is a top class man and was the best player I ever worked with,” Bellew, a former Antrim under 21 hurling boss and erstwhile manager of the UUJ Fitzgibbon Cup hurling squad, said recently of his assistant from way out west.
The two brothers-in-arms first got together in the hurling sphere when centre-back Mannion played under Bellew for Ulster University of Jordanstown (Belfast). In 2016 it took an inspired display by Tipp star John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer to help red hot favourites Cork Institute of Technology beat (1-18 to 1-14) Mannion and co. in the race for a Fitzgibbon Cup quarter-final berth.
“We first met up in Jordanstown but we’ve kept in touch ever since and would have been running ideas past each other over the years so when Ollie took over Cavan and approached me, I told him I’d like to get involved,” 34-year old Mannion explained.
“I’m coming to the end of my playing days and coaching is something that would stir a passion in me and I was looking for somewhere to learn the ropes other than at my own club.
“In going to Cavan, I knew Ollie would do his homework, look after the logistical side of things and would have a lot of boxes ticked. He lives for hurling and I know the way he operates and I felt we’d be suited in terms of working together.
“I was excited by the prospect of working with the Cavan players. I knew my work would revolve around planning the training sessions, delivering them and analysing games afterwards on video and that was just up my street.
“I try to focus on what we are trying to improve on and what we can get better at; devising games- based drills to find the improvement we are looking for.
“Unfortunately, I haven't been in Cavan as much as I would have liked this year. I’m still playing club hurling and doing a small bit of coaching with my own club which makes it (the work with Cavan) a bit more difficult but I still think the arrangement is working well. We were making good progress before the virus interrupted us.”
The fully qualified primary school teacher - with a Masters in sports and exercise psychology degree in his back pocket for good measure – is currently employed by the Department of Education working in Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST).
The Castlegar (1980 Galway, Connacht and All-Ireland Club SHC winners) clubman has his feet well under the table in Kingspan Breffni at this juncture. So how has his time in Cavan been to date?
“I have enjoyed it so far but, obviously, in recent weeks, a lot of my work with Cavan has revolved around coaching from afar.
“We’re doing the best we can in the circumstances that prevail at the moment. The lads are continuing to work individually on their basic technical skills.
“From the start of the year, the hope was that the players would be doing their own work anyway outside of the collective sessions which would allow us to then allocate our in-house work to concentrate on the tactical side of things and game awareness and positioning which all takes a fair bit of time.”
And what of the buy-in being asked of the players?
“We have always asked the players to take responsibility and especially so with the current ban on collective training right now. We need them to continue working on their their speed of striking and their fitness so that when things return to normal, we can spend our time as efficiently as possible during the squad sessions.
“We feel the players have taken to heart what we’re trying to put in place, as in the environment and the structures that are in place.
“To enable the lads to improve we are demanding higher and higher standards all the time. We know we can do better and we are entitled to expect better off each other.
“The results (NHL) this year show we need to get better but I feel we’re on the right track. It will take a lot of hard work collectively and individually but we feel that the buy-in is there.
“At the end of the league, whenever that may be, we will be assessing and revising the campaign and preparing, hopefully, for the Lory Meagher Cup which would have been the major target for us at the start of the year anyway.
“There’s a lot of physical and technical work to be done in the meantime though and new ideas that we are trying to get across but we know it’s vital the players understand what we are trying to do.
“It’s a case of so far, so good. We have seen small reference points in terms of what we are trying to do and how it has paid off in games and more of the same should bear even more fruit further down the line.”
And the notion of a glass ceiling being in place for the Cavan hurlers?
“We spoke about changing the mindset of Cavan’s hurlers when we came in last November; the sort of mentality that says ‘we’re not good enough and not worthy to compete with other counties'.
“As a management team, we say to the players that with hard work and application and the right level of buy-in, the sky is the limit. Things won’t happen overnight for us but there’s a young cohort of players there right now that can go to places where previously hurlers in Cavan felt it wasn’t possible.”