Country Road takes 3 talented sportsmen home
By Shane Brophy
Maybe there is something in the water out Rathnaleen and Rapla way that has seen three young men make their way to the top of their respective sports.
For their formative years, Jake Morris, Barry Coffey and Ben Healy were neighbours and classmates, hanging out with each other and playing hurling, soccer and rugby for sheer enjoyment.
Now with the advent of Covid-19, they are back together again, forced home with the shutdown of the three team sports in which they are carving out a future for themselves at both home and abroad.
"I haven't been home for this long in three years,” admitted Barry Coffey whose season with Glasgow Celtic is currently at a halt.
“That has been a silver lining at the end of it all, back at home eating my mother’s food there's nothing better than that.”
Jake and Barry are next door neighbours in Rathnaleen, a puck of a ball dividing their two houses while a mile down the road is the Healy farm, close to Kilruane where Ben and Jake went to national school together.
"Barry and I would know each other since we were seven or eight,” revealed Jake Morris.
“I often would have gone off on cycles with Ben so it's funny that we have gone down three different routes in terms of sport.
“Ben from a very young age was able to kick off both feet, I remember that being a remarkable thing for a young fella to do. That was down to pure practise. He was good at Gaelic football. Gilbert Williams (principal at Kilruane NS) tried his best to turn him over (to hurling) for rugby was always number one for Ben.”
Ben Healy would have been from a family with a strong rugby background, steeped in Nenagh Ormond RFC where his father Fergal was a former player and president while Ben’s older brother John is the current captain of the senior team.
"I would have friendly with Jake all the way up, not the same with Barry, but I knew him alright through Jake,” revealed Ben.
"I would have played a lot of GAA until I went to school in Glenstal Abbey.
“I played GAA until first and second year when I was at home in the summer. I enjoyed it a lot and it was helpful in terms of hand eye coordination. I would have been better at Gaelic football than hurling but being from Kilruane you'd want to have been better at the hurling, but I did like both.”
Jake could have gone down the soccer route, having won an FAI Under 17 Cup medal with Nenagh AFC in 2017 along with Barry Coffey, prior to the latter signing for Glasgow Celtic. However hurling was the game that gripped him more while it was the opposite for Barry who was also a very accomplished hurler for Nenagh Eire Og as a juvenile but soccer was a greater lure and it’s a decision that has worked out well for him so far having signed a new two year contract with the Scottish giants earlier this year, as well as playing a leading role for the Republic of Ireland Under 19’s at last year’s European Championships in Armenia.
Barry Coffey
"The goal three years ago was to try and get another contract and not live off what got me there,” he said.
“The hard work only started three years ago, and the new contract was a reward for the hard work I have put in. It was a great joy to get offered the new deal and was nice confidence booster to know you are still wanted at a club the size of Celtic. I never had any other intensions bar trying to get a new contract to stay there.”
Coffey would have been signed under Brendan Rodgers and when the Antrim man left for Leicester City in 2019, young players such as Barry Coffey could have been vulnerable to a new manager having a different philosophy but luckily enough the return of another Ulster man in Neil Lennon for a second stint has worked in Barry’s favour as he got closer to the first team in the past season.
"When Rodgers left it took everyone a bit by surprise because of what he was doing at the club,” Coffey admitted.
“There is no denying what he did with us and the club was unreal the achievements they had and Brendan himself.
"It was the first time in my career I had to get used to a new manager and I was anxious to get to working and proving yourself, but Neil Lennon has been unreal. He has taken it in his stride and is proving what a great manager, he is.
"It was great to go on the pre-season tour with them and to play a few games with them and get in and around the first team players.”
Lennon’s return has seen a renewed greening of Glasgow Celtic if it were possible with Coffey’s underage Irish international teammates Lee O’Connor and Jonathan Alofabi having joined last summer with Johnny Hayes and Luca Connell already part of the first team squad. However, O’Connor and Alofabi have gone out on loan since but Coffey doesn’t feel under pressure to get first team football experience elsewhere just yet, instead focusing on forcing his way into Neil Lennon’s plans over the next two years.
"Everyone’s goal is to play for the first team week in week out,” he said.
“My mindset has never changed from that but with the talent that is there and the quality of player, any experience will only benefit you in terms of young and playing first team football but the only thing I want to do is to play for Celtic. I know how hard that is and the journey I have to go on to get there.”
However, for now he is biding his time at home having managed to get out of Glasgow when Scottish football was shut down in mid-March, however, with not much more than the clothes on his back.
"I managed to get out before things got really serious in Scotland,” he revealed.
"In terms of us in the academy we were told to take a few days off as they were going to clean the academy building in case there was anything there and they told us to come back in on the Tuesday so I came home for a few days.
“We were due to get three or four days off, but most players knew things were getting a little dicey. After the that we were getting updates and the date was getting pushed back and that is when all the guidelines came in for us to stop.”
“We were due to get three or four days off, but most players knew things were getting a little dicey. After the that we were getting updates and the date was getting pushed back and that is when all the guidelines came in for us to stop.”
Since then it has been about keeping himself fit through online coaching provided by the club but having to high end sportsmen and friends in Jake and Ben is a great help to keep him focused.
"I have two top professionals, one in rugby and one in hurling only a matter of steps away and while we keep our social distance we are also keeping each other on our toes and that's what good players do, they push each other,” Barry said.
"We have sports scientists that are excellent and are always there for us to contact. For the first three weeks they gave us a full program to do but as the shutdown got longer, they gave us a bigger plan and it was up to us to do it ourselves.
“I have been doing that as much as I can with running and in the gym here at home in the garage, I was able to get access to some equipment.”
"I have two top professionals, one in rugby and one in hurling only a matter of steps away and while we keep our social distance we are also keeping each other on our toes and that's what good players do, they push each other,” Barry said.
"We have sports scientists that are excellent and are always there for us to contact. For the first three weeks they gave us a full program to do but as the shutdown got longer, they gave us a bigger plan and it was up to us to do it ourselves.
“I have been doing that as much as I can with running and in the gym here at home in the garage, I was able to get access to some equipment.”
However, when he can return to Scotland is anyone’s guess with the Scottish season officially brought to an end recently with Celtic completing a nine-in-a-row of premier league titles.
“There was a bit of confusion over what is going to happen in the lower leagues, but it is player safety first.
“I'd have liked to have finish the season, but health and safety comes into it and that is the main thing. We want to get back playing but we don't know when that will be,” he said.
“There was a bit of confusion over what is going to happen in the lower leagues, but it is player safety first.
“I'd have liked to have finish the season, but health and safety comes into it and that is the main thing. We want to get back playing but we don't know when that will be,” he said.
Ben Healy
It is the same for Munster out half Ben Healy who has been restricted to the family farm in Rapla for the last eleven weeks since the season was brought to an abrupt halt in mid-March.
"It all happened pretty quickly,” he said.
“We had played the Scarlets and we back in training on the Monday and Tuesday. We always have a day off on Wednesday, so I came home.
“I kind of said we aren't going to train on Thursday or Friday because things were a bit uncertain so I stayed at home until things became more clearer so I went back into Limerick and moved all my stuff back home that weekend.”
"It all happened pretty quickly,” he said.
“We had played the Scarlets and we back in training on the Monday and Tuesday. We always have a day off on Wednesday, so I came home.
“I kind of said we aren't going to train on Thursday or Friday because things were a bit uncertain so I stayed at home until things became more clearer so I went back into Limerick and moved all my stuff back home that weekend.”
In an effort to ensure all players could keep their to their strength programs, the gym at the Munster High Performance Centre in UL was cleaned out with every player getting a certain amount of equipment to take home to keep themselves ticking over and Ben feels he is fortunate to be able to ride out the shutdown in the countryside.
"I am able to get my kicking done but at the moment my time is pretty well taken up, we are in a heavy volume training phase where we have to do two gym and one running sessions a day. That is keeping me busy.
"At the start we weren't quite as high a volume at that.
"Living out in the country gives you more things to do. I don't know how I'd be living back in Limerick.
"Munster have been very accommodating. We have been using Microsoft Teams to have online meetings. Everything we have been sent is very clear. They are always keeping us in the loop of where we are going and what we are doing.
"We also do meetings on Zoom so you could be in those meetings three of four times a week doing various things such as mindfulness and meeting with the coaches. We'd also have projects to do so they have been good.”
"At the start we weren't quite as high a volume at that.
"Living out in the country gives you more things to do. I don't know how I'd be living back in Limerick.
"Munster have been very accommodating. We have been using Microsoft Teams to have online meetings. Everything we have been sent is very clear. They are always keeping us in the loop of where we are going and what we are doing.
"We also do meetings on Zoom so you could be in those meetings three of four times a week doing various things such as mindfulness and meeting with the coaches. We'd also have projects to do so they have been good.”
While training in small groups has resumed this week, but with the 5km restriction still in place Ben can’t return to Limerick for another three weeks as rugby builds up to its restart on August 10th as part of Phase 5 of the governments reopening of the country following the coronavirus.
"It is what it is,” said a philosophical Healy.
“You control what you can control is the message we have been given. You'd like to be back quicker but there is nothing we can do.
"This time is a good opportunity to focus on yourself a little bit and reflect on what I have done. I'm more using this time to develop myself. Rugby is a team sport and when you are in-season you are so fixated on winning and the weekend and it is so relentless, we had just gone through thirteen weeks with thirteen games in a row.
“Now is a great opportunity to develop your own knowledge in the game by watching some coaching webinars or developing myself physically, even with limited equipment.”
"It is what it is,” said a philosophical Healy.
“You control what you can control is the message we have been given. You'd like to be back quicker but there is nothing we can do.
"This time is a good opportunity to focus on yourself a little bit and reflect on what I have done. I'm more using this time to develop myself. Rugby is a team sport and when you are in-season you are so fixated on winning and the weekend and it is so relentless, we had just gone through thirteen weeks with thirteen games in a row.
“Now is a great opportunity to develop your own knowledge in the game by watching some coaching webinars or developing myself physically, even with limited equipment.”
With Joey Carbery and the now retired Tyler Bleyendaal having being badly hampered by injury so far this season, it has provided Ben an opportunity to get valuable experience of training with the first team which had led to him making his debut in the Guinness Pro14 against Edinburgh last November and made his Champions Cup bow against the Ospreys in January.
With the shutdown giving Carbery the opportunity to recover from wrist and ankle injuries and with JJ Hanrahan having impressed in the number ten position this season, it provides a huge challenging environment for Ben Healy to get more game time at the highest level into the future, which he is welcoming.
"At the end of the day you are there to win competitions and if you have good quality out halves it makes for good quality competition and it will make me better and there is a greater chance of Munster being successful,” he said.
With the shutdown giving Carbery the opportunity to recover from wrist and ankle injuries and with JJ Hanrahan having impressed in the number ten position this season, it provides a huge challenging environment for Ben Healy to get more game time at the highest level into the future, which he is welcoming.
"At the end of the day you are there to win competitions and if you have good quality out halves it makes for good quality competition and it will make me better and there is a greater chance of Munster being successful,” he said.
Jake Morris
Jake Morris might be the only amateur player of the trio, but the demands of a senior inter-county hurler nowadays are professional in everything but name.
“I'm used to be going five nights a week,” he said of his schedule prior to the shutdown.
“I wouldn't be used to training on my own but there is nothing we can do about it. We are given good programs and I have a bit of a gym at home and a field down the road so it's not too bad.”
"Coming from a time where everything was laid out for us in terms of training, we are still given good programs. It's about getting into a routine in terms of getting those sessions done in the morning, then do a bit of college work so the day doesn't be long going.
"You can get into a bad sleeping habit and be up until all hours but I get up early enough and do the training and the study so the day it pretty well laid out with the evenings off to go for a few pucks or whatever.”
“I wouldn't be used to training on my own but there is nothing we can do about it. We are given good programs and I have a bit of a gym at home and a field down the road so it's not too bad.”
"Coming from a time where everything was laid out for us in terms of training, we are still given good programs. It's about getting into a routine in terms of getting those sessions done in the morning, then do a bit of college work so the day doesn't be long going.
"You can get into a bad sleeping habit and be up until all hours but I get up early enough and do the training and the study so the day it pretty well laid out with the evenings off to go for a few pucks or whatever.”
The shutdown from hurling has provided Jake with no excuse in terms of his studies as a third-year student at the University of Limerick studying Arts, Economics and Geography, completing his most recent term online.
However, when he feels like he will be able to return to offline activities with both Tipperary and Nenagh Eire Og remains to be seen, despite the governments roadmap of a return to play on July 20th.
It has given him a chance to reset his goals after a remarkable four years in which he has won All Irelands at minor, under 20, under 21 and senior level with Tipperary.
"It's been a great couple of years but I'm looking forward to the next stage,” he said.
“We are looking up to the older members of the panel such as Seamie, Brendan, Paudie and Noel and how successful they have been, and it drives you on for more as a youngster. You never want to get to complacent and live off your victories. Hurling has become so competitive. They are the perfect role models for us coming onto the team in terms of keeping us driven and keeping our feet firmly on the ground.”
“We are looking up to the older members of the panel such as Seamie, Brendan, Paudie and Noel and how successful they have been, and it drives you on for more as a youngster. You never want to get to complacent and live off your victories. Hurling has become so competitive. They are the perfect role models for us coming onto the team in terms of keeping us driven and keeping our feet firmly on the ground.”
2020 should have been the year, and it hopefully will still be, where Jake would look to force his way into the starting line-up at senior level after a spectacular end to the 2019 season, ignited by one magical moment in the dying seconds of the Munster Under 20 Hurling final against Cork at Semple Stadium.
"It would have been a big moment,” he said of his goal in the third minute of added time which rescued victory from the jaws of defeat.
“I was looking for a spark as things weren't going that well for me. That night I was being closely marked but one moment can change everything and when that ball fell to me and I put it in the back of the net I never looked back from there.
"I knew time was against us and we were in a bit of trouble but when you are out on the field you have to keep the head and hope you get one more chance and the way it fell to me for fortunate as it was succession of errors before it came to me.
"I didn't have a chance to reflect on that much as the games came so quickly after. It was a great way to be. I loved the buzz of it all. It was a very exciting time and being part of two good teams and two good management teams who were well set up and having a part to play in both was very exciting. You wouldn't get a chance to be tired with the adrenaline that was flowing.
"The seniors would admit they got a kick from it watching us that Tuesday night against Cork. It gave everyone a huge boost; it was good for the county as well as everyone was behind us and we went on from there.”
“I was looking for a spark as things weren't going that well for me. That night I was being closely marked but one moment can change everything and when that ball fell to me and I put it in the back of the net I never looked back from there.
"I knew time was against us and we were in a bit of trouble but when you are out on the field you have to keep the head and hope you get one more chance and the way it fell to me for fortunate as it was succession of errors before it came to me.
"I didn't have a chance to reflect on that much as the games came so quickly after. It was a great way to be. I loved the buzz of it all. It was a very exciting time and being part of two good teams and two good management teams who were well set up and having a part to play in both was very exciting. You wouldn't get a chance to be tired with the adrenaline that was flowing.
"The seniors would admit they got a kick from it watching us that Tuesday night against Cork. It gave everyone a huge boost; it was good for the county as well as everyone was behind us and we went on from there.”
Five days later, Morris looked set to be the goal-scoring hero once more, this time at Croke Park when he goaled in added time against Wexford in the All Ireland Final before an unwelcome whistle spoiled his moment.
"I didn't hear the whistle,” he admitted of referee Sean Cleere awarding the free for the foul on Seamus Callanan, rather than playing the advantage to Morris.
“I was gone off celebrating but I was looking into the crowd and saw some of the facial expressions and I wondered what is going on here, and I turned around and saw the referee had blown for the free.”
Tipperary got a point from it in the end to nudge them in front with Morris providing the crowning glory of one of the great victories for the premier county with his audacious late point from under the Hogan Stand with little angle to work with.
"It was one of those ones that if you hit it is has to go over,” he said.
“After the goal being ruled out it was a nice touch to get the point at the end, but it was a massive team victory.
"It was brilliant. It gave everyone a big boost in the county. They were two teams that deserved to win because of their performances throughout the year.”