Eddie Brennan steps out of comfort zone for Laois challenge
Former Kilkenny ace relishing tapping into Laois’ potential
HE NEVER thought he’d be living out the dreams of a ‘Junior B All Star’, the cult hit made famous by The 2 Johnnies. But that’s what the summer just past involved for a player who won nearly every honour the game has to offer. His eight All-Irelands put him on the same medal footing as Christy Ring and John Doyle, and his reputation was forged on the back of being one of the most lethal goalscorers in the modern game.
He’s not sure if the nickname ‘Fast Eddie’ applies anymore, especially after slipping back a grade for Graigue Ballycallan’s Junior B sojourn in 2018 and the clean sweep of league and championship. There Eddie Brennan was, in the county final a fortnight ago, asked to forego his attacking duties and drop back as sweeper to help his team close out the game. ‘I felt like the anti-Christ doing that role,’ he laughs, still getting a high from competing at 39, when work and family allows.
‘When the window of opportunity has got so small, you enjoy it. No strategies, no systems, just go out and hurl – I enjoyed it. Not doing mad routines. To still be competitive without having to make massive personal sacrifices.’
After playing, management is the closest thing to being out there. A two-year stint as Kilkenny Under 21 manager opened his eyes to the demands of the job and made him wonder how Brian Cody is still in the same position 20 seasons later.
If a shock exit at Westmeath could only be filed under ‘character building’, guiding Kilkenny to the Under 21 AllIreland final in 2017 and being competitive against a Limerick team, with five of the stars who featured in this year’s senior breakthrough, is wearing well with the passing of time.
This past fortnight, he was appointed Laois senior hurling manager.
Now working as an instructor at the Garda College in Templemore, he was living and working in Portlaoise for years before moving home, so he has a good feel for hurling in his adopted county. ‘I have plenty of good friends up there. It appealed to me. There’s talent there. There is massive potential,’ said Brennan.
‘For whatever reason they have probably underachieved the last few seasons. Far be it for me to pick holes in why, but for me, it’s a real good opportunity to test myself. Find out am if I’m cut out for this.’
Like Kevin McStay, he is happy to get a taste of life outside the comfort zone of an RTÉ studio. ‘If it was easy, everyone would do it. It’s testing yourself in one regard. As a player, you never operated in a comfort zone. That’s what any challenge in life is about, to put yourself in pressurised situations and see if you have the skills to deal with it. That’s ultimately what players do.
‘I certainly learned a nice bit with the Kilkenny 21s the two seasons I was there. It opened my eyes to the amount of work involved. This a step up.’
Laois are one of five teams in hurling’s second-tier competition in 2019, along with Offaly, Westmeath, Antrim, and Kerry. The inaugural Joe McDonagh Cup was hailed as a success this summer by those involved and Brennan sees the attraction of the tiered system, though a part of him would love to see Laois competing every year in Leinster. As it stands, only the winner progresses to the top grade of a five-team Leinster Championship in 2020.
‘The Joe McDonagh has turned out to be a really good competition. You look at it as your ticket to a Leinster Championship. Carlow going up, by God they are going up against it next year.
‘Down the line, you’d like to see a Leinster Championship that is all-inclusive. You’re putting teams in competitions though that [they] have a realistic chance [of winning].’
On Tuesday, the ESRI report provided the headline finding that inter-county senior players invest up to 31 hours per week in commitment. It was no surprise to Brennan who sees that figure only increasing. ‘Unfortunately, it’s going to continue to go up and up and up. I look back to year one when I went in to Kilkenny as a player to what it was at when I finished 13 years later and that’s what happened. The GAA is definitely at a serious crossroads. It’s thrown up the semi-professional question mark.
‘Let’s be honest, there is no doubt there is players in some counties and they have resources available in counties that others don’t. Take say the bottom half of the football Championship or some of the forgotten divisions in hurling, they are training away as hard as anyone and getting up to work on a Monday morning.
‘But you want to see a fair playing field. If these resources are available to one team, and it’s contributing to their success, God we have to look at that.
‘We’re always saying it’s a big GAA family and it’s all-inclusive.
‘Look at the Limerick model this year. And I’m looking at it with admiration rather than a critical point of view. Fair play to John Kiely and the Limerick board for the resources they have. But not everybody has the access to funds
Eddie Brennan holds four All-Star awards to go with his eight All-Ireland medals with Kilkenny
that some counties have. We’re definitely on that platform now where money is a serious, serious resource to have.
‘You hear about counties being able to afford to send two or three strength and conditioning coaches out to supervise gym sessions. We did a lot of supervised gym sessions towards the end but you were doing one or two on your own. That in itself is a great thing to have.
‘I take my hat off to JP McManus who has supported Limerick GAA for the last 13 or 14 years, I think. And you say well done.
‘However, not every other county – a lot of counties do not have JP McManus in the background. That’s something the GAA have to look at.
‘We had a spectacular hurling Championship this year but you turn around and say, right, can we enhance it. Can we get more teams competitive?’
Brennan’s task is to try and accelerate that process and get Laois back competing with the game’s dominant forces.