Michael Browne has had huge success over a distinguished coaching and managerial career. He was at the helm when his beloved Crusheen made their historic breakthrough in 2010 and retained the Canon Hamilton in 2011. After having been on a rollercoaster of a journey this time around he finds himself once more only sixty minutes away from glory but is very reluctant to take little or any credit for this remarkable run.
“I have very little to do with it. The guys I got involved with our set up this year have been there and done that. They know what it takes to win, the sacrifices one has to make but more importantly they know what joy winning brings. At the start it was very difficult to sort things out. I’ll be honest and say we struggled to get everyone to buy into what we were doing. Aidan Harte though has been a massive addition. He is a really top trainer and an outstanding communicator. All of the instructions he delivers are crystal clear. Players win matches. Your job as part of a management team is to sow the seeds, make the ground as fertile as possible and let it grow. Thankfully we’ve grown and I feel we’ve progressed all year.”
Way down the pecking order for Canon Hamilton glory at the outset Browne freely admits to being surprised that they will walk behind the Tulla pipe band on Sunday.
“To be honest we are as surprised as everyone else is that we are in the final. After the game against Clonlara, I won’t sugarcoat it, I was humiliated. I was disgusted and felt I had let everyone down. There was an awful amount of hurt and we took that pain and channelled it into this run. I can’t put my finger on how we are here but I do know the hurt of that group defeat to Clonlara drove us. We’ve a great bunch who never miss training and they were hurting. They were embarrassed by their performance that evening and they rolled up their sleeves. It helped us massively that we had a month to prepare for the quarter-final and I think Newmarket probably took us lightly. There was most definitely a factor of restoring pride when we played them. We started well and they never recovered.”
In the semi-final Crusheen were outstanding throughout and were fully deserving winners but Michael feels that it could have been different but for scoring efficiency.
“We took the momentum from defeating Newmarket into the Scariff match and we played some great hurling that day. We had some fantastic scores but we have to be honest about it. Scariff had alot of wides that day and we were very efficient in the shooting department which was probably the difference in the end.”
After already having faced Clonlara in that well documented final group game Michael has nothing but praise and admiration for them and feels it’ll be a massive challenge for his side.
“Clonlara are a really super team, they’ve six forwards who score for fun. They’ve a powerful midfield and a dominant half back line. They’re obviously going to go in as favourites but we have to prepare as best we can. We have to rise ourselves for what is a monumental challenge. John Conlon is performing incredibly well but they have super hurlers all over the field. I’m delighted Colm Galvin is back playing and playing well. I just hope he doesn’t play well on Sunday” he says laughing.
On a pairing that not many people would have predicted the shrewd coach feels it’s great for Clare hurling in general.
“Look it’s absolutely fantastic for the County to have different teams in the final. That’s no disrespect to all the other clubs, especially the more successful ones, but it will be a huge day for both communities. It means so much. At the end of the semi final there was Crusheen people with tears in their eyes with emotion but we have to watch that. It was only a semi final. We have nothing won yet.”
Emotion though can fuel desire as he is well aware.
” When players see that emotion it does drive them on and makes all the hard work worth it but we have to reel it in too and not let the occasion get to us. As cliche as it sounds we have to play the match and not the occasion.”
On his team he feels nothing but pride in what they’ve achieved so far.
“They were desperately lacking in confidence when we took over and I suppose I underestimated them if I’m honest but we soon realised that we have pace and we have power, two vital ingredients of any successful outfit. When we met with them they said that they wanted a Crusheen set up this year. It isn’t that they had any problem with other managements they’ve had, it’s just they wanted the closeness that only your own can bring. Other teams have a couple of outstanding players. We don’t have that. We don’t have lads on the County panel but what we do have is massive team spirit and we have a good blend of youth and experience. Our fitness levels are high. We just have to get ready for one unmerciful battle.”
Speaking of battles this will undoubtedly be the biggest one yet. The man with the midas touch just wants his troops to leave it all out on the field and see where that takes them.
“When the game is over you have to be able to say that you couldn’t have given anymore. If you can do that the rest doesn’t really matter. If you’ve given your all, left it all out there well that’s all one can hope for. You need luck and hope the bounce goes your way on the day. Nobody wins without a bit of luck.”
If they do manage to pull it off how will he feel?
“There is nothing like winning with your own. I’ll never forget coming under the bridge in Crusheen with Gerry O’Grady on one side, me on the other and we both had a hand each on the Canon Hamilton. Walking up through the street was magical. To see the joy it brought to everybody was just out of this world. It’s truly magical to win with your own. You have a bond for life and that’s the beauty of hurling and sport. All I want is to build a capacity within the club so that I can walk away and know we will continue on the right path.”
One feels that his beloved Crusheen with Browne at the helm will continue on the right path while also getting that feeling that Michael will never walk away. He loves hurling way too much and he has the blood and bandages in his heart.