Rebel ladies’ leap of faith for coach Ryan
Monaghan were strong favourites to derail the Red juggernaut and unlike the build-up to their semi-final win over Kerry, the Watergrasshill native had yet to be convinced his Cork outfit were in the correct frame of mind.
Through his 10-year spell at the helm Ryan had developed a pretty accurate knack for knowing if his charges were on song and, to this regard, the 72-year-old recalls the casualness which had afflicted the squad on the run-in to their quarter-final loss against Tyrone in 2010 — their first championship defeat in six years.
Just this August, the Rebels faced into their third championship game against Kerry in as many months and Ryan had forecast a typically emphatic Cork showing: “I knew we were going to perform. Whatever about the result, I knew we were going to go from the start.”
Monaghan were different though. Ryan was unusually nervous. A day out from the final he still wasn’t convinced.
Travelling to Dublin on the Saturday evening, a traffic accident on the M50 coupled with the large volume of cars heading to the hurling final replay prevented the Cork bus from reaching the GAA ground where they had planned a light session.
Determined to get in a kick around before docking at the hotel, Ryan ordered the bus driver to voyage out to the Curragh.
What unfolded served not only to reaffirm Ryan’s view of this bunch of players, but, more importantly, put his mind at ease for the following day.
“The day before the game I became fairly secure in my mind that we were going to perform very well,” he notes.
“We went through the Curragh looking for somewhere to kick a ball around and found an army field. There were no dressing rooms. A team would always expect, particularly the day before an All-Ireland, that the plans are perfectly made. Our plans had gone all astray. The team didn’t bat an eyelid. There were no recriminations. There were no protestations to be more professional.
“They got out of the bus, sat on a grassy bank and got changed in the open country. The players had to climb over a high fence to get into the field and train as if this was very normal, but it wasn’t. The day before the All-Ireland; togging out in a field, climbing over a fence and taking advantage of a pitch where we had no permission to train.
“They took it all in their stride and that showed me, even though they are mature and high achievers in their personal lives, they would do whatever is asked of them.”
Ryan evokes a similar instance from earlier in the year.
“I was coming back from London and I was writing out a coaching plan for training that night. I realised that the shooting drill I was laying out for them was one I had used maybe 300 times previously over the nine years.
“Again they went through it without fuss. I waited to see would there be any reaction. There wasn’t. They got on with it.”
Trailing Monaghan then with eight minutes remaining, Ryan called once more for that no-nonsense approach to rescue a fading All-Ireland dream.
“We made a lot of mistakes, a lot of bad decision making, particularly in the shooting department. A bit like the adversity the day before, they just got on with it. People didn’t start blaming each other for the wides. They encouraged each other. Thanks be to God it came right in the end.”
Twenty four national and provincial titles have been amassed since Ryan stepped into the breach in 2004 and while acknowledging that this incredible run will come to an at some point he knows full well Cork have squeezed every drop from their time at the summit of ladies football.
“We have made the most of our time at the top. Over the last three years there has been a huge increase in standard. All teams are preparing much more assiduously than ever before. To win it now, you have to be in top gear on the right day. Each year it is getting harder to win it.”
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