Annual GAA National Coaching Conference: Ian O'Riordan talks to Joe Kernan and Conor Hayes, two keynote speakers at this weekend's gathering

Ian O'Riordan

It sounds slightly contradictory that some of the best GAA managers in the country are coming together this Saturday to reveal the secrets behind their success. Aren't their secrets what set them apart? Yet apparently they'll be open to all forms of interrogation at the third annual GAA coaching conference, this year entitled: "Delivering a New Age for Gaelic Games".

The day-long conference, to be staged at The Helix in Dublin City University, includes 10 high-profile managers of the past and present, along with team trainers, psychologists and former players. Several of the sessions run parallel, but among the highlights will be a presentation by former Meath manager Seán Boylan, who'll reflect on a quarter of a century of Gaelic football.

Pat Daly, the GAA's Head of Games and one of the conference organisers, revived the event two years ago after some previous incarnations in the 1990s. "We have a huge cross-section of people attending. Obviously they are predominantly club or underage coaches who want to tap into the high-profile end of management . . . but our hope is that everyone will leave with at least two or three very strong ideas to take into coaching, and of course a higher degree of motivation."

The conference includes several of the more topical issues currently facing the GAA. Former footballers Joe Brolly and Martin Carney make another key note presentation entitled: "Is Traditional Gaelic Football Dead?" while Galway hurling trainer Gerry Dempsey addresses the topic "Combining Fitness and Finesse in Hurling".

Daly added: "We've tried to respond to last year's feedback as much as we could to come up with these topics. We try to encapsulate as much theory and practice as we can, but we don't want to drift too far from the educational purpose, without getting overly technical.

"Coaching, for example, is effectively about integrating and the three Ts and three Ps. That's the technical, tactical, and team play aspects, and also the physical, psychological and playing aspects. But one of the great paradoxes of coaching is that you're trying to create some cohesion in a team, while maintaining competition for places. So I believe coaching is still an art as much as a science."

The conference concludes with a forum, chaired by former Meath midfielder Colm O'Rourke, and including Liam Griffin (former Wexford hurling manager), Tony Hanahoe (former Dublin football captain), Mickey Harte (Tyrone football manager), Babs Keating (Tipperary hurling manager), Eugene McGee (former Offaly manager) and Anthony Daly (Clare manager).

Limited places are still available by contacting DCU at 7007578 or at www.gaa.ie. The cost of 100 includes a CD Rom of the speaker presentations.

Few managers have moved so smoothly and successfully from club to county management as Joe Kernan. Having led Crossmaglen to the highest honour in club football on three occasions (1997, 1999 and 2000), he took over as Armagh senior football manager and did likewise during his first year (2002). It was the county's first senior All-Ireland title.

Kernan makes the first keynote presentation at the GAA National Coaching Conference, and it's fittingly entitled "Planning for Success at Club and County Level". He was recently reappointed for a fifth year as Armagh manager, but ahead of Saturday's conference, Kernan admitted yesterday his managerial role is probably more limited than some would suspect.

"For a start, I don't do any physical training anymore," says Kernan. "In fact I haven't done any training with a team in six or seven years. I know my knowledge of training is just not up to scratch, and that the whole thing has moved on in so many ways, so I just don't do it anymore. It's not my strength.

"Of course I do still work on the coaching end of things, and would work a lot with one-on-one situations with the players. But I see my main job as overseeing the whole operation, that everyone is doing their own job, and of course that the players are being looked after 100 per cent.

"But there's no way the manager can do all those jobs anymore - the training, coaching, and everything else. The way I see it is I've given everyone a specific job . . . and then I oversee the whole thing."

Kernan is often credited as elevating the position of a county manager beyond its more traditional level. To do that, he has clearly needed a deep trust in his two selectors, Paul Grimley and John McCloskey. Together they have made up the Armagh management since 2002. In fact Kernan wasn't prepared to carry on in the position unless they did too. McCloskey takes care of the physical training, and Kernan will also address the changes in that area during Saturday's conference.

"One of the things I'll be talking about is managing teams and club and county level, how they compare, and some of the solutions in addressing the issues involved. There is a perception that the gap is widening all the time, but I'm not so sure that's the case.

"I know when I first came into the county scene there was a wide gap, especially from nine or so years ago when I first came into club management. When I was still involved in the club scene, a lot of the training was done in the old traditional way, like kicking and catching the ball and throwing in the 20 laps or whatever. And as long as there wasn't blood running everyone was alright.

"Nowadays most clubs have some excellent facilities at their disposal. But I'm one of those who believe that too much knowledge can be a dangerous thing. So I think it's very important that common sense is used here, and communication between club and county managers continues to improve.

"There's no sense at all in beating players into shape, and just putting in one hard session after another. It's often about getting the simple things, like making sure all players are given enough recovery, and we stop the burn-out that we have seen."

Conor Hayes is ideally qualified for Saturday's second keynote presentation. Along with former Cork manager Donal O'Grady, the Galway hurling manager will lead the debate on one of the more controversial topics of this year's championship: "Can Hurlers be Pre-programmed to Carry Out a Game Plan?". Galway were one of the teams accused of having no game plan, yet they reached the All-Ireland final, beating Kilkenny, Tipperary and Limerick. Surely that didn't happen by accident?

"Essentially I think a team's game plan is just being construed as a team's style," says Hayes. "Obviously you can develop both, but not without very skilful players. But you also want players to be able to adapt, and move from one position to another.

"I think the best example of that is Newtownshandrum. I don't think they hit the ball on the ground more than four times when they won the All-Ireland. That also meant they cut more of the 50-50 stuff out of the game. But that was just playing to their strengths of speed and skill, which again is effectively what a game plan is.

"But the bottom line for any team is speed and skill, so I think the old system still stands. You just have to look back at our match with Kilkenny this year. I think the game plan went out the window for both teams that day. You can talk about the defensive mistakes that lead to such a high scoring game, but it was still an incredible spectacle, and I think it would be a shame to kill that spontaneity."

Clearly Hayes believes a game plan will only take a team so far: "First of all you're trying to get 15 individuals to play as a team. If you send each one out with their own game plan they're obviously not going to be in tune with each other. You can't have too much of a game plan if you're trying to get each player to do the same thing.

"And say we're playing Tipperary. If they play Michael Webster at full forward, you know they'll be using the high ball, and if they use Eoin Kelly in midfield it's going to be a different style of ball altogether. So you also need to step back and think about what the opposing team's game plan is.

"I also think it's more important that I promote some discussion around this topic, rather than try to dictate anything, because I don't think you can be definitive on a topic like this."

Hayes accepts there are situations when game plans can be relied on, but they're just not as frequently found in hurling.

"I think other sports are much more suited to game plans, especially rugby. And I think the game has suffered because of that. There is much more static plays in terms of rucks, mauls and lineouts. There's also the offside rule, which means the players at least know the opposition are facing them most of the time. But then you can look at the All Blacks and realise much of their game is based around skill.

"There's also much less space on the hurling field as there used to be, because of the improvements in player fitness. It's fine in, say, seven-a-side hurling, where you can play a possession game, but in 15-a-side players hardly get a chance to look up anymore before they have to get rid of the ball.

"So it's fine at times to have a game plan, but you don't want to be relying on it either. Things can always change in a game, like if a player is sent off or whatever. And you can't tell a defender to clear the ball high or low if he can't his hands on it first."