Louise Glass speaks to respected GAA coach about his move into professional sport with the English rugby club

 

 IRELAND’S Grand Slam win is one of the greatest sporting moments of the year so far, if not the decade.

 

The GAA was part of that history-making six weeks. Yes, there were the two games in Croke Park thanks to the Lansdowne Road redevelopment, but the GAA, celebrating its 125^th anniversary this year, played another type of role.

Declan Kidney’s players possessed a skill that the majority, if not all of the players from the other five nations lacked – their handling under the high ball, aerial catching and kicking.

You could spot those who played Gaelic football when they were younger because they had a confidence in their handling and fielding of the oval ball.

Even before the Six Nations kicked off, Declan Kidney spoke of how he encourages his players to let the skills they acquired playing other sports come out.

He said a GAA background gave his players a vision other countries’ players didn’t have, and that was an advantage they should use. The players took him at his word.

It’s not something new. In Ireland there has always been a strong link between rugby and GAA. Coaches have regularly crossed the divide, offering new insights into the basic skills of the game.

Now one English Premiership club has made a statement of intent by appointing a full-time coach from a predominantly GAA background.

London Wasps, who have a relationship with the GAA fraternity, has taken on board former Armagh, Derry, Crossmaglen Rangers and Ulster coach John McCloskey.

McCloskey has an impressive record and it’s little wonder Wasps Head Coach, Shaun Edwards, remembered his name when the club was looking to recruit a Gaelic Games-minded coach to help them progress on the domestic and European scene.

McCloskey’s credentials as a coach speak for themselves. The Belfast man first came to prominence when he worked alongside Joe Kernan and Paul Grimley in guiding Armagh to Sam Maguire in 2002 and bringing them back to the All-Ireland Final in 2003, although they lost that to Tyrone. He stayed with Armagh until 2007, seeing the Orchard county win four provincial titles and a National League.

In 2008 McCloskey moved to Derry, working with Paddy Crozier and helped the Oak Leafs win the National Football League title beating Kerry in the decider.

Rugby coaches, like their GAA counterparts, are always looking outside their own codes to successful teams, searching for every little edge they can find.

It was that ‘looking outside the box’ that led Wasps to McCloskey.

Edwards and McCloskey have a relationship going back to the time when Armagh enlisted the help of Edwards to give a motivational speech at a training camp.

“We’ve had contact back and forth since then,” said McCloskey who was speaking as Wasps’ pre-season training draws to a close.

Perhaps the door opened just slightly last year when, after a heavy Heineken Cup defeat at the hands of Leinster in Dublin, Wasps asked McCloskey to help out for a few days working on aerial catching and fielding.

In the corresponding home fixture for the London side, there was a marked improvement in that department and it’s impossible to rule out the impact of McCloskey’s work with the players.

At the end of last season, back in April time, just like every professional team, Wasps had a look back at their year and one area of possible improvement was their aerial play and developing those skills.

“Wasps asked me if I would be interested and it happened from there. I did take a lot of time to think over the move. I needed to check with the school’s Board of Governors at St Bride’s Primary School in Belfast, where I teach, and they offered me a career break,” said John.

“When I thought things through and talked it over, it was too good an offer to turn down. Here were Wasps, a professional rugby club, thinking left field to do something different, and they were approaching the GAA to help them.”

That was back in June time when Wasps put a two year deal on the table for McCloskey, offering him a full-time role as Skills Coach.

His schedule since July has taken him to Poland for a training camp, to France for a pre-season friendly as well as a few games around about home.

He sees this opportunity with Wasps as a stepping stone to building his coaching portfolio as he one day aspires to go down, or at least try, the management route.

“Just because I’m working with rugby now, doesn’t mean I won’t go back to the Gaelic. This is my chance to develop my skills as a coach,” he said.

“You need to always be developing. I’m transferring what I did with GAA players to rugby players, like the breaking ball type situations, where you are coming onto the ball at speed. It’s being able to execute those skills that may very well be decisive factors in a game, just like it is in Gaelic.

“But, at the same time it is also very different. I’m not as hands on now. You’re there to do a specific job, working with players who play in specific positions, and you might only get 20 minutes a day to work with them. But the coach and his staff’s preparations are very professional and it’s great to be part of that. Hopefully it will make me a better coach.”

Despite swapping codes, John is never too far away from Gaelic football and when he was back home recently he took Armagh ladies for a training session as they prepared for a senior relegation play-off against Donegal.

“It’s in my blood, and I’ll never get rid of the football,” he said.

“I’d love to be involved again with a team that can lift the All-Ireland.”

Had he been home at the minute he may well have been interested in the vacant Armagh managerial post.

“I don’t know. I might have thought about it had I been at home, but it’s maybe still too close to when I was last there. I’d like to try managing, but maybe I’m not cut out to be one,” he said.

“Some great managers are not the best coaches, and it takes a very special person to be a great manager, like Mickey Harte and Joe Kernan, and even Shaun Edwards here at Wasps.

“I’ve been very lucky to work with some great managers, like Joe and Dessie Ryan at Queens, and to work with great players who have made good teams, like Armagh a few years ago.

“Tyrone have showed they are one of the great teams; they came back and won the All-Ireland again, and again. Armagh had a good team, but we just couldn’t get another one, and that shows you how difficult it is to repeat that sort of success.”

The Championship this year mightn’t have received the usual plaudits it has in the past and McCloskey recognises that, but it has produced a brand of football that has made him sit up and take notice.

“People are talking about the Championship not producing high quality games and at times it hasn’t. But what we are seeing more of and it’s helping the game, is backs going forward and taking scores, so we are seeing a lot more scorers and that skill of being able to take scores,” he said.

“Tyrone are great at it and I hope they get the right recognition for playing that type of football, because pundits were quick to give out about the blanket defence football, even though it won them an All-Ireland against Kerry.

“Antrim have played a similar style as well, but Tyrone have a higher quality of it and that’s the difference between sides like that.

“I wouldn’t look past Kerry either. They showed against Dublin what they can do.  Dublin might have won Leinster yet again, but they need the big one, and it’s the great teams that get the big ones.”

When John was announced to the world as the new Skills Coach for London Wasps, the club’s Director of Rugby, Tony Hanks said: “The addition of John to our set up sees the introduction of a new role dedicated to the strengthening and development of our players’ core skills. To have someone solely focused in this area we show a commitment to long term development and in John we have a man with a proven coaching ability and great record in Gaelic sport.

“His strengths around handling, aerial skills and kicking are key aspects of the modern game and I think that the appointment will be of great benefit to our squad across the board. Having worked with John last season I was very impressed with what he had to offer and I believe that his appointment will add great value to the Wasps squad in the short and long term future.”

No doubt we’ll all be looking on with interest at how London Wasps get on this year in their domestic and European rugby, and we’ll be watching intently at those handling, aerial and kicking skills.