LAST SATURDAY, JK Brackens’ interests in the Tipperary senior football championship were ended by Upperchurch-Drombane at the quarter-final stage.
On Sunday, the same two clubs clash in the last eight of the senior hurling championship.
At the helm for JK Brackens in both codes is 2001 Tipperary All-Ireland hurling winner Eamonn Corcoran. Juggling two managerial roles is a challenging task but one that he feels best serves the club and its players.
Back when Corcoran was club chairman, they decided to follow Loughmore-Castleiney’s model of appointing the one senior manager for hurling and football. It was the best way for the club to promote both codes equally.
He swapped the chairman’s role for the dual management job at the start of 2020.
Corcoran has the same management team across the teams, with Andrew Kavanagh leading the hurling coaching and Joe Hayes their main football coach. They serve as selectors in the other codes. Stephen Butler runs the strength and conditioning, while Kevin Mulryan and Mikey Hyland are also coaches on both squads.
“I think it has to be that way because at the end of the day there’s player welfare [to consider],” Corcoran tells The42.
“I see in other clubs where you’re pulling and dragging players with your own agenda. Because if I was only over the hurling I’d have one focus, if I was over the football I’d have one focus.
“So over both you’re managing the rest, recovery and making both are getting equal opportunities. We’re fortunate too that all the players play both codes. It’s the way to have it. Everyone will have their own views on it, I think we’ve seen progress doing it that way.
“We’ve gone this way and feel we’ve been relatively successful with it.”
Like Loughmore-Castleiney, who completed the remarkable Tipperary senior double in 2013 and 2021, JK Brackens operate off the same playing pool in both codes.
“In fairness Loughmore have set a template there where they’ve got it right. They’re dual county champions last year. I often use the phrase, ‘Why can’t it be us?’ That’s what we go after, that’s our mantra.
“We have to do what Loughmore have done well but we’ve to do it better to be successful. They’ve proven that it can be done, with more or less the same players playing both codes as well.”
Football goalkeeper Kuba Beben is the only individual across the panels who isn’t a dual player.
“All the other players [play both] and more or less play the same positions which is a bit unique as well a lot of them,” Corcoran explains.
Indeed, five of their starting six defenders play in the same positions in both codes, backboned by centre-back and county hurler Paddy Cadell.
Upperchurch are in a similar situation as the nearby mid-Tipperary clubs prepare for the second leg of their quarter-final battles.
County football finalists in 2019, JK Brackens were “very disappointed” their season was ended early last weekend.
But Corcoran says it’s “great to have the turnaround” of another big game to look forward to.
“We don’t use excuses if we win or lose, and we can’t get too high or too low,” he adds.
“Straight away as we got into the huddle afterwards, and we can said we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve to refocus and ready to go with the hurling now.”
They operate with a similar style in both sports, which means the gameplan doesn’t alter massively.
“We do play quite a bit of a running game off the shoulder the guys adapted quite well to it,” he says. “But we can change it too.”
They returned to hurling training last night as they look to build on a shock preliminary quarter-final win over Nenagh Éire Óg.
A dramatic last quarter rally saw JK Brackens overturn a seven-point deficit to claim victory, which sent them into the club’s first Tipperary SHC quarter-final.
Their attack is led by Lyndon Fairbrother (scorer of 0-10 against Nenagh) and Andrew Ormonde (1-3), who were part of recent Tipperary All-Ireland winning minor and U20 sides respectively.
A group stage draw with Loughmore-Castleiney filled them with confidence as did collecting their maiden Mid division senior hurling title after beating Seamus Callanan’s Drom & Inch in July.
“I’m fortunate with the players that we have. They’ve really bought into what we’ve done in the last three years in particular,” says Corcoran.
“I keep saying we’re a club that was only formed in ’92 so we’ve to create our own history. And these lads are hell bent on doing it now and not waiting for another group to come around.
“Where I would have felt when we played football in the past that confidence was there but it probably wasn’t there as much in hurling. But in the last two to three years, since we’ve come up to senior A they’ve really adapted well to it.
“The pace is completely different to what we’d have been used to playing in the past. So they’ve had to adapt to everything. You can see at club level now it’s as professional as inter-county was 15 years ago. So there’s a lot of lifestyle a sacrifices and changes lads had to make and in fairness group that we have there, they’ve all done that.
“From a hurling point of view, they’re starting to get that belief that they can play and compete at the top table. Winning the Mid really just have them the confidence to go on and do that.
“Then beating Nenagh was a great boost from a confidence point of view. It’s the first time we’re in the last eight, to beat a team like Nenagh, it gives guys belief that we are good enough to compete.”
JK Brackens are a rising force in both codes. The club was only established 30 years ago as the parishes of Templemore, Clonore and Killea joined forces in both codes. In 2018 and 2019 they lifted county U21 A football titles.
In 2019 they also were beaten in the senior football decider and achieved promotion from hurling’s second tier with the Ó Riain Cup success.
In addition they’re proud to have produced an AFL player in Colin O’Riordan, who recently called time on his career due to persistent hip injuries. The 2020 Munster football winner is regularly in touch with Corcoran and sent him a congratulatory message after the Mid win.
For now, O’Riordan looks set to stay in Australia and Corcoran says the club are extremely proud of his achievements as he weighs up his next move.
“We all wish him success over there. It’s just unfortunate that an injury has finished his career over there but I think we all took a huge interest with Colin. At juvenile level for the club he was our main man coming up along in both codes, hurling and football.
“He was brilliant and obviously any player that gets a chance to play sport professionally, it’s what we all dream of and Colin got the opportunity. It’s just unfortunate it was cut short. But I’d say he probably wasn’t expecting his career over there to be cut short so for the moment he’s probably just assessing next steps in his life.
“Whatever he does I’m hoping he will be successful. He’s that type of person if he comes back he’ll be welcomed with open arms. If he stays over there, I just hope it really works out. But whatever he does, Colin will be successful in life.”
