Brothers in Sport Read Free Page B

at the highest level with two brothers as players and I was probably tougher on them than on the others,’ says Pat. ‘But there was never any real issue. Both of them had earned their places, there were no question marks about it and we got on with it. ’ Clearly, it wasn’t just the Kilkenny selectors who felt they deserved their places on the team. Ger was an All Star in 1982 and 1983. John received the same award in 1983. Ger recalls at an early stage in his career being shouted at from the sideline by one supporter: ‘“You’re only on the team because of your brother …” That stung me more than any belt I ever got,’ he says. ‘I decided there and then I would prove him wrong. Pat treated us no differently to the others. He didn’t spare us, but he was fair.’
    On one occasion during that period Pat did take John off during a League game against Tipperary. ‘I wasn’t happy at all,’ recalls John, ‘so I rang him up the next day and gave out yards.
    ‘“Why did you take me off?” I demanded to know.
    ‘“Because you were useless,” he told me and he used more colourful language than that.
    ‘I couldn’t argue with that. But there was never a problem for Ger and myself. I think all the pressure was on Pat really.’
    They won two more Leinster Championships in 1986 and 1987, plus a League title, but lost the 1987 All-Ireland final to Galway. ‘It’s a funny thing but that was my best individual performance in a final,’ says John, ‘and I remember it fondly even though we lost. We suffered that day because we didn’t have a second free-taker.’ Pat adds, ‘It was a good Galway team too and they proved it when they won the All-Ireland again the following year.’
    That final marked the end of Pat’s involvement. He had changed jobs and stayed away from coaching for a number of years. He also underwent heart by-pass surgery and was forced to take things easy in the early 1990s before returning to coach at club level and becoming involved in under-age development squads in Kilkenny. Ger remained for another two seasons, but by 1989 realised the only place he was guaranteed was on the bench. ‘At that stage of my career there wasn’t any satisfaction for me sitting on the bench. I decided it would be best to give that to a young player on the way up.’
    That left John. A cycle had been completed. He played in the 1991 All-Ireland final when they lost to Galway. ‘It was a final we could have won. But I enjoyed playing with that team. Ollie Walsh was manager and he wanted me to stay on but I knew my time had come. I had a great relationship with my two corner backs, Bill Hennessy and Liam Simpson, and with Michael Walsh, the goalkeeper. I knew that team would win something. D.J. [ Carey] was coming through. Those were good times as well.’
    In 1993 there was a new twist in the family tale. Ger and John were still playing with The Fenians. Pat’s sons were playing with Dicksboro and he agreed to coach their team for the County Championship. They reached the county final. Fate decreed that The Fenians would also qualify that year. Dicksboro triumphed. ‘You can imagine it caused a bit of a stir,’ says Pat.
    The three brothers remain involved in various capacities in the game and have shared in the enjoyment of the successes of the last ten years, masterminded by their old team-mate Brian Cody. They have known Cody for most of their adult lives and are not surprised by the success he has enjoyed. Pat is full of admiration for Cody and what he has created. ‘I hear Cody being asked, why are you doing it, and his answer is straightforward: “because I love the game”. It’s not about money or the time spent, you never hear those things mentioned, and that transfers through the whole setup. His philosophy is very simple: he tries not to complicate things. He puts an awful lot into it. He measures it by the enjoyment he gets out of it. It is his leisure time. Some people see it as a