Why have Shannon fallen so far?

It has been a miserable few weeks for those involved with the once mighty Shannon RFC.

The former powerhouse of domestic rugby sit bottom of the Ulster Bank AIL Division 1A table, having conceded an average of 40 points in humiliating defeats by Young Munster, Lansdowne, Dolphin and Old Belvedere.

Then on Monday afternoon, club chiefs confirmed head coaches Stephen Keogh and Eoin Cahill had left the club with Brian Tuohy and James Hickey in charge on a caretaker basis for the next fortnight.

It means a daunting Limerick derby against Garryowen takes on added significance tonight for all involved with this Limerick institution.

So how have one of most feared — and revered — clubs in the land found themselves in this state?

Shannon chairman Jack Keane believes a perfect storm of factors are at play. He explained: “We are where we are because of a combination of factors, most notably emigration, players moving to Dublin to find work, retirements, having four Limerick clubs in Division 1A of the AIL and perhaps most importantly of all, we have been badly hit by injuries. As a result we are working with a much smaller pool of players.

“We are now working on a process to install a coaching set-up that will do things in the Shannon way. We know it won’t be easily done.”

Shannon’s predicament has been flagged for some time. A club that won the last of its record nine AIL titles in 2009 had to settle for mid-table safety in 2010 before narrowly avoiding the drop to Division 1B in the last two campaigns. The departure of Colm Tucker was another huge blow. Tucker junior had been head coach for 12 months when he gave way to Stephen Keogh which in turn precipitated his departure for UL/Bohemian whom he guided into the top division of the league last season. Ironically a key figure in the UL/Bohs progress was Mossie Lawler, another with a long history of success with the club.

It seems almost inconceivable that such misfortune should befall a club that captured the first of its record nine AIL titles in 1995 and proceeded to complete the four-in-a-row when the competition was at its height.

They reeled off a hat-trick of titles from 2004 and won it again in 2009 — though that success wasn’t enough to keep then coach Geoff Moylan in his role.

Given their current crisis it is perhaps easy to forget Shannon’s contribution to Munster and Irish rugby.

Some may have overlooked the fact that the Shannon trio of Marcus Horan, Jerry Flannery and John Hayes formed the front-row when Ireland pulled off the Grand Slam in 2009.

And, 31 years earlier another Shannon trio — Gerry McLoughlin, Brendan Foley and Colm Tucker — figured in each row of the Munster scrum that beat the All Blacks.

People like Anthony Foley, Mick Galwey and Alan Quinlan are legends of Irish rugby while the production line of talent continues with the likes of Donnacha Ryan and Paddy Butler.

Can the club known as ‘The Parish’ due to their sense of unity and community ever recapture those glory days? Keane has no doubts.

“Cycles come and go in every club but we’re not closing our eyes to reality,” he stressed. “Apart from all the other factors I have mentioned, money is scarce these days. Just think of it, there were hardly more than 200 at last week’s Limerick derby between Garryowen and Bohs, I doubt if there were more than a hundred at our game against Old Belvedere. The situation is made a lot tougher by the advent of the A interpros and the British & Irish Cup and the IRFU are no help either. They are not showing any guidance to the club game. Shannon has always looked after its youngest members, that is still the way and it always will be. Even then, though, you can’t hold on all of them. Apart from those who go on to earn contracts with Munster — and we are very proud of all who succeed in the red and green jersey — we have had a number in recent times emigrating to Australia or moving to Dublin for work purposes. They just have to.

“And still, the way to determine your future is to look after your youth base and we’re very much on the right road in that regard.”