Collins Snr on football mission

Colm Collins’ appointment as Clare football manager last October garnered but a few inches of space in the national papers.

Football has always run a distant second in the county and with hurling celebrations still in full flow, Collins’ ascension from Cratloe boss to county chief was never going to be treated as anything more than a ‘meanwhile’ story by the national newspapers.

Now cast yourself back to January 6 of last year and the flurry of flashing bulbs as Mick O’Dwyer emerged from the tunnel at Hennessy Park for Clare’s opening round fixture in the McGrath Cup. Senior reporters from all quarters flocked to Miltown-Malbay to witness the latest chapter in Micko’s incredible managerial run, rolled programme and Pat O’Donnell-sponsored jacket in toe.

When Clare open their Division 4 league campaign away to Waterford tomorrow, Collins accepts there won’t be too many photographers battling for position at Fraher Field. He appreciates his was a far quieter entrance to the realm of inter-county management. Would he change it? Not one bit.

Indeed, Paudie Kissane’s unveiling as Clare football coach back in November, shortly after pulling the plug on his inter-county career with Cork, generated twice the interest compared with Collins’ ratification two weeks earlier. Into the winter then and the Collins surname started to dominate football headlines, Colm, however, was once again a mere footnote. Cratloe annexed a first county title in overcoming Doonbeg, securing their place in the Munster decider less than 24 hours later.

Colm’s sons Podge and Séan pulled the attacking strings on a historic weekend for the South Clare club, sharing four points between them over the two games. Following the Munster semi-final win over Waterford’s Ballinacourty, Podge told the tale of how a father and his two sons celebrated Cratloe’s maiden championship success the night before.

“Just sitting at home on Saturday night around the kitchen table, having a cup of tea and a chat was really enjoyable after winning a county final. He [Colm] grew up in Kilmihil, football country, back in West Clare. He won one in 1980 so it is nice to win one ourselves with him as a manager. Our house is now as happy as it could be.”

It provided a strong insight into the grá for football in the household and once the dust had settled on an ultimately disappointing Munster campaign, speculation mounted as to whether Podge and Séan would follow their father into the inter-county set-up for 2014. And so they did, though Colm says far too much has been made of their decision to adopt a dual mandate.

“I am not going there,” he utters. “We have an excellent panel of players and while it is great to have everyone involved, there is quite a bunch there already. Together, hopefully we can drive on.”

Kissane, however, revealed sightings of the pair have been few and far between on the training ground. Hurling has always been their first priority, he claims, and that hasn’t changed one iota.

“There is hurling and obviously they were away on holidays at the start of the year,” said Kissane. “Hurling is their priority but we have had them a small bit. We will see how things develop in the coming weeks. Hopefully we will have them as much as possible.”

The involvement of his sons aside, Colm is enjoying a first stint at inter-county level management. Mind you, he didn’t have long to ease himself in. Once matters with Cratloe were wound-up, it was a quick switch of the bainisteori bib.

“Oh absolutely,” he laughs. “It was a very quick turnaround. There was no time for rest. It is not a job to be honest, though. It is very enjoyable. If you viewed it as a job, you wouldn’t be involved. There is a tremendous group of players there. Hopefully now the players will start to get some reward this Sunday.

“You have to surround yourself also with excellent people and I have been blessed with the people on board with me. Paudie is doing well as coach; we have an excellent strength and conditioning coach in Chris De Looze, who played with Munster for a spell. We have numerous other people behind the scenes and overall I am delighted with set-up. It makes life very easy.”

It would appear, from the outside at least, that Cratloe’s exploits prior to Christmas, in particular their Munster final showing in which they ran Dr Crokes to a solitary point, lifted the morale of Clare football. They’ve been close to securing promotion to Division 3 for a number of years now and with a fresh outlook this spring, the line may finally be crossed.

“Traditionally, we’ve been very strong at club level, not just Cratloe. Kilmurrary, Doonbeg, even Kilrush have done well in Munster before. How much of a lift it has given Clare football we will know Sunday evening. The result is one thing, but I will be focusing more so on how we play and how we perform. We know there are benefits to be gained from competing in Division 3 and that’s where we want to be.

“There is a group of enthusiastic Clare people that are mad into this. They are just as passionate as the people on the hurling side of things. They think Clare shouldn’t be in Division 4 and will be expecting us to get out of it. Pressure comes with every job, regardless of how a team is performing or what level you are operating at. If you don’t want pressure, don’t get involved with a GAA team.”

His sons, regardless of the code, will continue to write headlines this season, but whether Colm Collins is still a ‘meanwhile’ story by the end of the summer remains to be seen. Flashing bulbs or not, he’ll continue with the task at hand.