RUGBY LEAGUE PREPARING FOR OZ RETURN
Across a career spanning two codes and four countries, Paul Devlin is on the front line as the NRL restarts in Australia but insists he had the time of his life playing for Munster
NEXT Thursday morning the NRL — Australia’s professional rugby league competition — will swing back into action. The Bundesliga in Germany and South Korea’s K League have resumed behind closed doors in recent weeks, but the NRL will be the first professional rugby organisation in the world to return to the field in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Suncorp Stadium will provide the setting for the clash between the Brisbane Broncos and the Parramatta Eels. The shrill blast of the referee’s whistle will echo around the empty stands of the 52,000-seater arena as the 13-man code returns to TV screens across the country and beyond. The world will be watching with interest.
Sitting in the Broncos dugout will be Paul Devlin. The Widnes native is the club’s head of performance, overseeing a staff of eight and a playing roster pushing 40.
A few weeks ago, Devlin got a call from George Murray, Munster’s lead performance analyst, to pick his brain about navigating their way through the current haze.
Devlin is a former son of the parish of course, having spent two seasons at Thomond Park between 2004 and 2006. It was a brief stopover in a playing and coaching career which spanned two codes and four countries but a piece of Devlin’s heart will always remain with Munster.
CROSSING THE RIVER
THERE is plenty of Irish blood flowing through his veins. The surname is testament to that.
‘I grew up playing rugby league in northern England but my family are Irish, they’re all based in Balbriggan and Skerries,’ he explains.
‘So, we were brought up as Irish kids in England. We weren’t allowed to support England. We supported Ireland in everything, even at Italia ’90. Dad just pushed us in that direction and it was great. Dad has got lots of family in Ireland so it was always that way. My mum was a Scouser, so we grew up in Widnes.’
Growing up in the rugby league heartland of Widnes, Devlin was always going to favour that code but earning your trade in that game was ‘pretty ordinary’ so he decided to give rugby union a go.
In a flash, he went from Lancashire to England Under 18s to a three-year full-time gig with Sale Sharks.
‘I’d only played 10 games of rugby union in my life,’ he laughs.
Then a call came from Ciaran Fitzgerald with an offer to train with the Ireland U21s. Devlin ended up playing in an U21 World Cup in South Africa alongside Rory Best.
Following that, an enticing offer came through from his hometown club Widnes Vikings to cross codes again in the professional ranks of the Super League. There’s a clip on YouTube of him scoring a length-ofthe-field wonder try against Leeds Rhinos which showcased his raw talent.
He didn’t slip off the IRFU’s radar – they made him an offer to link up with one of the provinces. Devlin had two options: Ulster or Munster. He choose the latter and joined Alan Gaffney’s squad ahead of the 2004 campaign.
‘Straight away, the minute I got there, I just thought, this is perfect.
‘I just loved it. It was such a famous club. When I got there, I just thought I really want to be a part of what this club’s about. I felt at home because I loved Limerick. I felt like it was a very similar city to where I’d grown up in Widnes in north-west England. It was humble and hard-working and full of really good people.
‘I had such fond memories of spending time with my family in Ireland. All these people in Limerick reminded me of my family and I kind of craved being around them more as a kid.
‘My uncle Kevin had played for Connacht and Leinster as an openside flanker. He should have played for Ireland and he didn’t. It was a big disappointment because he captained Connacht when Eddie O’Sullivan was there.
‘I got to Munster and realised how great it was going to be. After my first year I managed to get picked in the Blues vs Whites trial for the Ireland squad. I’ll be honest, mainly because of the majority of the squad were on the Lions tour (to New Zealand in the summer of 2005).’
Devlin arrived just as Munster were on the cusp of lifting their first Heineken Cup. He was limited to only 14 appearances in the Celtic League during his time there. Injuries and the form of John Kelly, Anthony Horgan and Ian Dowling played their part.
‘People ask me what was the best time of my career and I talk about Munster.
‘It was things like the Tuesday training sessions. The full contact sessions which were famous back in the day at Munster. Coming from league, I loved it. Paul O’Connell used to wind us up. He was the enforcer. He’d give people a clip if they needed it. Paulie would have made a great rugby league player.’
Starting the Celtic Cup final victory against the Scarlets at the old Lansdowne Road in 2005 is a standout memory. There was a solitary appearance in the Heineken Cup – as an 83rd-minute replacement for Mike Mullins in the quarter-final defeat in San Sebastian that same year. Munster gained revenge over the Basque giants the following season, however, and captured the Holy Grail on that unforgettable afternoon in Cardiff.
Devlin was sitting next to Christian Cullen in the Millennium Stadium stands when all the drama unfolded.
‘We went celebrating with Axel (Anthony Foley) and the boys. Literally, we didn’t go home for three days,’ he recalls. ‘We flew home and we went around Limerick for three days straight. Then we went to Cork for a party there as well. Big Stevie Keogh led the charge. We carried the trophy around in Trinity Rooms there in the city.
‘I hadn’t played. Neither had Cully though so that made me feel better. Having a legend of rugby sit next to me didn’t make me feel too bad about it. Those experiences were just incredible.’
And Devlin wanted the good times to continue. He bought a house in Annacotty and had O’Connell and Mike Prendergast for neighbours. Rob Henderson was always good company. Something special was brewing and he wanted to stick around for it.
But in the summer of 2006, Devlin headed for France to take up on offer from SC Albi in the Midi-Pyrenees. Declan Kidney had since returned to take up the top job at Munster again and Devlin felt like the writing was on the wall.
‘I was gutted,’ he admits.
‘When Declan was there, I just couldn’t work him out. I felt like things weren’t going to work well for me there. He was a bit of a different character. For whatever reason, he made it pretty clear to me that I wasn’t going to play or play regularly anyway.
‘As a young guy, excitable, I got a few offers to play in France. I was just desperate to prove myself again but I had quite a few injuries and so I wondered how things were going.
‘I called Declan at the time saying I’d got an offer to play in France.
‘In true Declan fashion, he said,
“I’m sure you’ll make the right decision”.’
Suitably vague from Kidney, indeed.
Devlin continues: ‘I thought he meant “I don’t want you” because surely he’d tell me if he wanted me to stay? I was so angry I put the phone down and then signed the contract.
‘I spoke to Quinny (Alan Quinlan) and he said, “Mate, stay. I think you could have more success here. You can break into the team if you keep working hard”. But I was so annoyed that Declan didn’t seem to rate me so I signed the contract and then I called Jim Williams (the assistant coach).
‘I said, I’ve signed in France and then he said, “Declan’s just told us he thinks you’ll stay!”
‘That sums up Declan Kidney for me. You just never know where you stand and I misread it completely.
‘You know what, it is what it is. I’m just happy that I got the opportunity to go and live in Limerick and represent Munster because it was genuinely the best time that myself and my wife have had in my whole career. Even over in the NRL. I’ve had an amazing time over here and I love it. I’m at the biggest club in
Australia and still to me, playing for Munster and living in Limerick was the best time of my life.’
HOME FROM HOME
A potential return to Munster was on the cards when the province advertised for a new strength and conditioning coach in 2013. After hanging up his boots following playing stints in France and with the Cornish Pirates in England, Devlin got into the fitness game and soon became the head of S&C at Hull in the Super League. When he heard about the Munster gig, it felt like the stars were aligning again.
He still had roots in Limerick. Tony ‘Dumper’ McGahan lived in his house for five years. Conor Murray spent four years in chez Devlin as well.
‘So I was down to the final two. I was told I had a really good chance. I had been over and met the late Garrett Fitzgerald. I had a meeting with Rob Penney who was coaching at the time.
‘It looked like it was going to be all systems go but because it was an IRFU-appointed position, it was taking a bit long and Melbourne Storm came and offered me a contract in the interim so I went back to Munster.
I was desperate to go back.
‘I still had a house in Annacotty which I’ve sold over the last two years. They decided they were going to wait three months before appointing someone. So, a good mate of mine, Aled Walters, ended up taking over in the interim.’
Devlin flew to Melbourne the next day.
PROJECT APOLLO
This is Devlin’s seventh year in Australia. After spells with Melbourne, Parramatta Eels and South Sydney Rabbitohs, he is on board with the Broncos, a club rich in tradition and history. He is now just one small cog in Project Apollo – the NRL’s ambitious plan to return to the field.
Devlin describes the strict social distancing and hygiene measures which have got the league to the point where they can resume competitive action. The requirements to be allowed access to the training centre or the ‘clean zone’ are eyewatering.
‘There’s only 32 players and 18 coaches allowed in. Absolutely nobody else. Every time you lift a weight you have to wipe it down with an antibac wipe.’
The acceleration of things has been helped by the relatively low impact of Covid-19 Down Under. ‘To put it into context, we’ve only had, I think, six cases in Australia in the whole country per day over the last week. In Queensland, we’ve had none for the last four or five days and there’s only 16 active cases in the whole of Queensland at the moment, out of six million people, which are pretty low numbers.’
Ironically, even though the NRL will kick off in front of empty stands, there will never be so many people tuning in to watch.
‘Rugby League is a really exciting game to watch and people are frustrated and even though there are no crowds, hopefully we can get back on the field and show an exciting, field-based sport that people who have never seen it before and don’t understand it, might enjoy watching it,’ Devlin concludes.
‘It’s gladiatorial, it’s aggressive, it’s fatiguing and it’s exciting to watch so it’s a good product and there’s a chance that it might become a real advantage.
‘All the people at the top have been great in one, providing a safe environment, and two, we’re very lucky that we’re in Australia and then thirdly, having the gumption to go and get it done because there’s lots of people trying to knock us as well.’
There will be plenty of Devlin’s old comrades watching on as well. Munster will always have his back.