Keady’s message driving Mannion to stay on top
Wing-back’s desire is fuelled by memories of Galway icon
‘HE WOULD INSPIRE YOU TO TRY MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY GAME’
PADRAIC MANNION seems at ease with the world. It’s a damp Monday morning in the west of Ireland, and the current heatwave is just still a rumour, School’s out for the summer and by the time he returns to his St Cuan’s classroom in September, he may well have a second Celtic Cross in his back pocket.
A maths and science teacher, for now, he’s sitting back and enjoying the World Cup (he likes the look of Croatia) while consolidating his status as the most consistent wingback in the game. Don’t get him wrong, though. Mannion doesn’t take anything about his hurling career for granted.
Last September, amid the wave of emotion that crashed over Galway, a photo captured him with his younger brother Cathal savouring the moment as they join the county’s club of All-Ireland winning siblings; the Connollys of Castlegar and Meehans of Caltra are now joined by the Mannions of Ahascragh.
If things had been different, there might have been three Mannion brothers on the field after Waterford had been vanquished but the oldest one, Ciarán was thousands of miles away, in Shanghai where he teaches English. A talented hurler in his own right, he had been on the same county minor team as Joe Canning and David Burke.
But three cruciate ligament injuries curtailed his career before it got off the ground. ‘He was definitely a better player than I was,’ Mannion says of his older brother.
‘But he got three cruciates across both knees. He even got back after those three surgeries and played a county final with our club. He couldn’t train to the level that was needed but, any time he’s home, we will be pucking around. He hasn’t lost his touch.’
It wasn’t just the fate that befell his brother which makes Mannion appreciate what he has. After picking up the All-Ireland minor medal that is almost a ubiquitous accessory for any county underage hurler in the west, a prolapsed disc ruled him out of the game for two years. There was even doubt as to whether he would ever hurl again.
‘I know not to take anything for granted. I had a good few injuries myself. I didn’t play Under-21 for Galway. I know how fine the line is. Any day you go out, you can get injured. Paul Killeen missed the whole year last year because he did his cruciate. You never know what is around the corner. You have to appreciate every training session and every game you play.’
The 25-year-old was reminded again of how life can take the most unexpected turns last August with the passing of Tony Keady. On the Tuesday morning after they beat Tipperary in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final, Gearoid McInerney rang him with the shocking news that Keady was seriously ill in hospital.
He had been coaching the seniors at Ahascragh-Fohenagh for a couple of years, helping them win a county intermediate title in 2016, a season that ended up at Croke Park in an All-Ireland final.
‘Gearoid contacted me because he would have know that we were fairly close and let me know he had fallen ill. It was fairly shocking, there had been no warning.’
Mannion had his last conversation with Keady on the Monday before the semi-final against Tipp. The senior club team were training that evening so, he went down for a look with Cathal.
‘We had the evening off, so we went up to meet the lads and just have a puckaround. I was talking to Tony that evening, it was the last time I was talking to him, and he was just reminding me of the rivalry they used to have with Tipperary.
‘He told me to think of him when I was out there against Tipp. And you could see it in him, he was getting fired-up himself just talking about the games he’d had with Tipperary,’ Mannion recalled.
‘From a hurling perspective, you just want to take any good that you could take from it. Just play the way he played. It is as if he had no nerves when he was playing.
‘When something like that happens, you just take what you can from it and that’s what I took from it, towards the end of last year and this year. He definitely would inspire you to make the most of every game and every Championship season that you have. That is what he did when he was playing.
‘He would still be there, in the back of your mind. And it makes you think how quickly things can change so you just have to make the most out of every training session and every game.
‘And make sure you go out and enjoy it. It is not always easy to enjoy it with all the pressure that’s on you, but what happened to Tony makes you thankful for what you have.
‘And we have spoken a lot about leaving the Galway jersey in a better place. And that is one way that he would inspire you because he certainly did that,’ Mannion observed.
Even in a Galway team that is only slowly moving through the gears, the wing-back has stood out this summer.
He has rarely put a foot wrong, delivering ammunition for his forwards and occasionally getting on the score-sheet himself.
‘I sat at home and watched Limerick against Clare and their halfbacks were taking plenty of shots at goal. It is just the way it has gone,’ he shrugs when asked about his own ability to find the posts.
‘If you keep looking back at your performances, and the way you played in the last game, your level of performance won’t be where it should be for the next game.
‘You have to keep looking forward. No matter what you do, if you put three points over the bar, there is always something you can work on ahead of the next game.
‘There is always plenty to improve upon, because on the outside you have got a bit of recognition, on the inside, there is always something that you can work. You are never at a level where you can’t improve.’
And while many of his teammates have decided to close the book on 2017 and winning the All-Ireland title, Mannion admits he is using the fact that he has won the big prize as something to lean on to give him an extra jolt of confidence. It appears to be working. In each of Galway’s games this summer, he has been one of the most impressive performers, deservedly winning the man of the match award when Kilkenny came to Salthill. ‘Externally, that seemed like a bigger deal than it was,’ Mannion insisted of the hex that Kilkenny seemed to hold over Galway. ‘I know this is a cliché but as a player, all you wanted to do was go out and do your best in a Championship game. And the fact that it was the first Championship game in Pearse Stadium was more important than the fact it was Kilkenny. ‘We wanted to show that Pearse Stadium is a fortress and put in a good performance for the people of Galway. It was good to win there but it will have no bearing on what happens in Croke Park.’ No matter what happens in today’s Leinster final, Mannion will savour every moment. He knows all too well that nobody knows what is around the corner.