*Clare manager, Wayne Freeman. Photograph: Burren Eye Photography
WAYNE FREEMAN is plotting the downfall of his native Kildare as he bids to seal an All-Ireland title for Clare’s ladies footballers in his first season as manager.
Ratified as Clare manager last October, Wayne took on the role not long after stepping down as Louth manager. He has hit the ground running, guiding Clare to win promotion from Division 3 of the National League while also reaching the TG4 All-Ireland intermediate ladies football final.
When he was scouting his first club back in Miltown Malbay last winter, he couldn’t foresee what would follow but when holding their first trials in Caherlohan last year, his confidence of what the group could achieve began to grow.
He recalled, “I remember when we had our first trial in Caherlohan it was clear to see the talent on show, I turned to the boys and said ‘I think we’re good enough’ on that day, from an early stage I had an idea we would be good enough to push and I felt once it got to the summer the hard ground we’d go better because our skill level when it came to the rain and poor weather was quite good, it was the muck and the crap that was slowing us down, once the ground hardened up even in the wet weather we were phenomenal, our skill level was excellent, the ground was hard but we could get around and show our athleticism.
“I had an idea quite early and as time was progressing my confidence and belief in the group was getting stronger, for the girls they were starting to gradually look at Croke Park as being a realistic target especially with how close we went in the league final. We said within the group that we could go the whole way”.
On what enticed him to apply for the Clare job, Wayne said, “The talent down here is phenomenal, we lost more than nine of the total panel and we’ve fourteen new players into the panel which is unbelievable to have still got to the All-Ireland final with that, the talent down and culture of football really encouraged us. We have values around a kicking game, wanting to play football and attack games and not being overly defensive, it is very much the culture down here to play that way so we were a nice fit. We saw it as a challenge, we like to challenge ourselves, it was always going to be a challenge with the travelling but it has been a really enjoyable year, I’ve been delighted to work with this group”.
Indeed, he saw this talent at close quarters last season overseeing Louth’s 2-08 0-10 win over Clare in Cusack Park last June. “They were always a good team. There was one or two moments last year, Amy Sexton hit the post in the second half, if it went in they would have gone on to win the game I think. We have learned to manage games a lot better this year, I remember last year, they had parked fourteen behind the ball and the ball was being turned over a lot, this year we have got very good at being composed, we’re very good at creating pockets and working different angles. The last day, the ten minutes that Ciara McCarthy had been sin-binned, we kept the ball for seven of those ten minutes, when Caoimhe Harvey went off against Westmeath we held the ball for the last five minutes of the game with fourteen players. We’ve improved on that side of the game but we’re also mentally stronger, we’re seriously strong on the psychological side of the game, driving each other around the pitch and being calm under pressure, if we’re ahead or behind we have to stick to the process and stick together”.
An early blow was flung towards the direction of management when seasoned campaigners Niamh O’Dea, Grainne Nolan, Caitriona Callinan and Ellie O’Gorman outlined they would not be part of the panel. “I wouldn’t say it was a setback because they never came in, we did our trials and got our group together, Laurie and the two Caoimhes came in so we had three girls from the Banner, looking back on the last couple of years I managed against Clare in Cusack Park last year we’ve gained Aine Keane and Caoimhe Harvey back but I also think the players that were here last year have stepped up massively and have improved unbelievably well. I think they have gone to another level this year, maybe them players not coming in gave them the opportunity to take bigger responsibility and take on bigger roles within the squad, it has been a joy to see and to see girls around the squad coming in and starting, really taking the jersey, grabbing on and holding key roles within the team. From an early stage, we knew they weren’t coming in but I still knew we were good enough”.
Honest assessments have been par for the course in all of his post-match assessments. So it comes as no surprise that Wayne is not shy in voicing his confidence that Clare can beat Kildare in Sunday’s final.
This optimism is not dented by the fact Kildare beat Clare in the league final. “We were two points up in the second half of extra time and we slipped up, that is a fact, I don’t know if they were better than us or if it was because we slipped up, you can create an argument on both sides, I’m confident we can do the job, all our players are, we have a good enough game plan and our form has got better, we’ve improved dramatically since the league final and we’re in a really good place, training levels are really high, our workrate is through the roof but most importantly I genuinely think there is a massive desire in them to go out and perform.
“We always say if we’re good enough we will win and if we’re not we won’t, if we can put in a performance that is good enough then we will be walking up the steps, that is what we live and die by, we’re looking forward to going up and hopefully we can put on a show because we want to attack the game and not leave it behind us, we want to show everyone from Clare going to Croke Park to support us that we’re not going to just play this defensive game, be nervous or be passive, we want to be really aggressive, intense and bring a hard-running game, be positive in everything we do and go to try win the game”.
Seeing dozens of young supporters attend an open training session in Cusack Park provided a big lift for the players, he noted. “It’s not just about but inspiring future generations too, us getting to Croke Park and all these young girls getting to see Clare go and represent their county is brilliant. Success breeds success, it is very rewarding for the girls to be able to come here and sign autographs and get the recognition they deserve”.
Wayne who works in human resources with Iarnród Éireann travels to Clare training with coaches Lee Hunt and Brian Willis. They ordinarily leave Kildare at 5pm, arriving in Ennis at 7pm for an 8pm training session and are back home at roughly 11:45pm. “There’s never been one day where we got into the van and said I couldn’t be arsed coming up here, we’ve never had one of those days, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed the year so far and we’ve one more step to go,” he admitted.
That he faces his native Kildare in the All-Ireland final makes things more interesting for the Monastervin man. To say he is getting some stick is “putting it mildly,” he quipped. “My family will all be going to Croke Park to shout for us, there is no doubt about that, my daughter will be wearing a Clare jersey, she is my good luck charm so hopefully it will work one more time. A lot of my friends will be going to support Kildare, it doesn’t matter, I won’t be looking over my shoulder at the crowd, I’ll be looking at the field and all that matters on that day and in that moment is the fifteen on the field, I hope we get the result and I think we will”.
After suffering a stroke at the age of 21, Wayne was forced to call time on his own playing career which prompted him to dive head-first into coaching. “It will never replace playing I’ll be straight up and say that, I always stress that point because you see players walk away from football and it always disappoints me especially when they have so much talent, it doesn’t replace it but there’s other parts it gives you that you never had as a player like the emotional side as a coach compared to a player is phenomenal, the relationships you build with players is incredible, friends for a long time after I’m gone from here I’m sure I’ll be ringing and texting some of these players, all that side you get from coaching and managing is amazing. I’ve been lucky enough in that things have fell my way a little bit, I got lucky that Seán asked me to come in and I’m here”.
Future coaching ambitions have not been laid out for the twenty nine year old. “If I answer that question and my wife is listening she will shoot me. I don’t think beyond the next game, we don’t as a group are very good at departmentalising what is in front of us and staying in the present, I’ve always been like that as a coach, we never look too far ahead. I never thought about Clare until the position came up, I was going to take a break after Louth to be honest. I probably won’t sleep until the All-Ireland final”.
