NIALL RONAN EXPERIENCED many highs in professional rugby, playing more than 100 times for Munster and winning four Ireland caps, but also tasted the low of being forced to retire from the game early due to a knee injury.
The 35-year-old has moved on with his life and has founded Titan Wellness – who look to build “a culture of health and wellness” in the organisations they work with – but those good rugby memories remain strong.
Drogheda man Ronan’s first love was Gaelic football and he played for Meath at minor level before being convinced that rugby was his future, progressing through Leinster’s underage ranks and into their senior team.
But a move to Munster in 2007 led to seven happy years with the southern province and, as soon as 2008, a game that he cherished more than any other.
“Signing for Munster and playing against the All Blacks would be the two best memories,” says former back row Ronan of his playing career.
“I know it wasn’t an official, competitive game against the All Blacks but to be involved in that, with the atmosphere, it was amazing. Unfortunately, we didn’t win but if you played in that atmosphere every week you’d be happy.”
A cartilage issue in his knee forced Ronan to hang up his boots in 2014, but he was soon dusting them off to return to the Gaelic pitches with St Colmcilles back in Meath.
Ronan has also coached Boyne RFC in Drogheda in recent years, while he has run his own ‘Niall Ronan Performance and Rehab’ company, working with individual clients and groups.
Many professional rugby players find the transition out of the game very difficult, but Ronan feels fortunate that Rugby Players Ireland [formerly IRUPA] guided him in preparing for the inevitable change.
“They helped me go back to college to study Strength and Conditioning with Setanta College; I had no qualifications when I was 25,” says Ronan. “Going back to college gave me a different type of discipline than training.
“I wanted to be the best rugby player but when it came to the academic side of things, I didn’t put the same effort in.
“IRUPA helped me on that side of things and when you put the two of them together, it gave me a structure with what I wanted to achieve when I retired and it gave me the confidence to set up my own business.”
Niall Ronan Performance and Rehab is still part of Ronan’s working life and he trains with his clients three mornings a week at 6am, but Titan Wellness has taken on the majority of his focus since he founded the company last year.
Titan works with companies in the corporate world and beyond, focusing on increasing the physical health of employees, educating them in nutrition, guiding them in the vital area of mental health and also looking to drive team bonding.
“In professional rugby, we were in a family environment – we worked hard together, communicated, had fun,” says Ronan of the crossovers from rugby into what Titan does.
“We’d eat well, train well and then there’s a release at the weekend when we played our match. Setting goals and things like that were huge and that’s what we’re trying to do in the corporate world now.
“If you enjoy work and have a happy environment, you’re eating well, and have opportunities to do physical activities like yoga or a ‘couch to 5k’ in the workplace, then it’s going to be a more enjoyable experience to go to work.”
The idea came from Ronan giving one-off wellness talks, leading to his understanding that long-term programmes could bring about better results in terms of helping companies to reduce sickness absence and have “healthier, more active employees who are more aware of their stress and anxiety.”
The Munster connections in Titan are strong, with former scrum-half Cathal Sheridan working as ‘mental well-being expert’ and out-half Johnny Holland providing knowledge in the fields of nutrition and fitness.
Sheridan and Holland were also both forced to retire from the game early due to injury and that’s the main reason Ronan looked to bring them on board.
“That’s why I approached them,” says Ronan. “Cathal will openly say that there were times in his career where he found it tough and he’s promoted the ‘Tackle Your Feelings’ campaign with Rugby Players Ireland.
“If you can experience that and then actually have the qualifications to present and interact with groups of people, that’s the best formula.
“You could study it and tell people, but that’s not quite the same. Life experience is as good as any qualification, in my opinion. The same with Johnny, so to have those guys on board and working with us is excellent.”
Titan are already working with one major nationwide company in Ireland and various other clients, and Ronan sees major scope for growth in the coming year.
One company has brought in yoga classes every Monday as part of the working week, paid for by the employer, while there has been great interest in Titan’s ‘wellness hubs,’ which are “bespoke chill-out zones and fitness areas in the workplace.”
One particularly interesting member of Titan’s team is comedian Joe Rooney, perhaps best-known as Father Damo in the Father Ted TV series.
“We have laughter therapy where we bring in a comedian to talk about the importance of your wellbeing in a funny way,” explains Ronan.
“It’s different. I was personal training Joe and asked him to do a few talks. He has had a few tough issues in his life and he’d do a sketch on that – so we’re trying to be different.”
While laughter therapy might not have been an official part of his previous life as a rugby player, Ronan understands that the good times he had with his team-mates in Munster were as important as anything else in their environment.
His hope is that Titan Wellness can bring about a similar atmosphere with the companies they work with.
“We run our ’couch to 5k’ nationwide in the corporate world, and I’d do a presentation before we start,” says Ronan. “I might say ‘There are people in this room and you don’t even know their names and probably wouldn’t speak to them on a daily basis.
“‘But when you’re running together for the next six weeks and you have accountability, you’re going to be communicating with each other and then when you’re in work you’ve built that connection.’
“We would have had that team environment in Munster, where you’re working towards a happier place that you can enjoy.”
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