Wexford manager gets a thumbs up from Mayo legend
ANY WEXFORD angle is always particularly interesting when a book by an Irish sportsperson is under review. And with that in mind, I was intrigued to find out how Frank Browne was perceived by Mayo ladies’ football legend Cora Staunton in her autobiography, ‘Game Changer’.
Frank is a native of Kennedy Park in Wexford town, and was a few years ahead of me in secondary school in Wexford C.B.S.
He played at under-age level with Faythe Harriers and Sarsfields, while his older brothers, Paud and Justin, also gave sterling service to both clubs.
His nephew, Niall Sheil, was a talented G.A.A. player and current high-performing athlete, while his niece, Aoife Sheil, has represented the county in ladies’ football and camogie.
Frank moved to Ballyhaunis in 1993 to work as an air traffic controller in Knock, and he has carved out quite the reputation for himself as a coach and manager since.
Initially involved with the Mayo hurlers, he had a lot to prove when he was appointed to look after Cora and her colleagues in 2007.
And she recounts his actions at their first meeting, when he folded over the cover of a flipchart to reveal a blank page and announced that ‘the plan on how to win the All-Ireland will be written on this. So, let’s start filling it in’.
Frank quickly won over the players to his methods, and he made it to
Croke Park with them at the first attempt, only to fall at the final hurdle to three-in-a-row seeking Cork.
Behind the scenes politics form a recurring theme in this book, and the
Wexfordman was on the receiving end when he wasn’t appointed for another year despite - or perhaps because of - being the players’ preferred choice.
However, he did return and guided Mayo to another All-Ireland final appearance in 2017, only for Dublin - the county that Frank was recently appointed to manage in camogie - to ruin their dreams.
Cora was a fan of his methods, and that’s high praise indeed because the book deals chronologically with a long list of mentors deemed inadequate for the squad’s needs.
She was probably spoiled at the outset of her Senior career in her teenage years, as Finbar Egan was a valued friend as well as a manager during a trying time when she lost her mother to cancer.
All four of her All-Ireland Senior medals were won during his six years in charge, but Cora’s last outright success arrived as long ago as 2003. Cork and Dublin have won 14 of the 15 titles since, but her incredible scoring exploits have ensured that she is still regarded as one of the most talented forwards to ever play the game.
There’s another Wexford link in the book too, as it emerges that Peter Rice was one of three outsiders brought in to Mayo to mediate in 2010 when the Senior team was withdrawn from the championship by its own County Board after the resignation of manager Pat Costello.
One of their recommendations called on all sides to buy into the philosophy that players play, and managers manage. From reading this book, it would appear that Cora may have struggled to accept this concept at certain stages in her career, although it’s equally clear that she has no apologies to make for her actions.
She moved out of her comfort zone earlier this year by playing Australian Rules football on a semi-professional basis, and her experiences down under produce an interesting conclusion here. ALAN AHERNE
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