Brothers in Sport (15 page)

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Growing up, Colm Bonnar was accustomed to winning hurling trophies. He was successful with the club and with Cashel CBS. By the age of twenty-one he had acquired a neat collection of All-Ireland medals at minor and under-21 but was denied a medal at junior level in the 1985 final. By the end of 1985 the anticipated promotion to the Tipperary senior team came. It must have seemed like he was entering a different world. There were good players in the dressing-room, but years of defeat, especially the Munster final loss in 1984 to Cork, had cast a dark shadow over Tipperary.

Supporters were becoming increasingly frustrated and even disillusioned. It was hard to understand why Tipperary were struggling with such a continuous flow of talent coming through the under-age ranks. Colm made his Senior Championship debut against Clare in 1986. Tipperary led by nine points at one stage, but they eventually lost by two points. It was a blow which prompted some serious soul searching. Michael Lowry, later to find fame in the political world, was the Tipperary GAA chairman. It was he who made contact with Babs
Keating to ask him to become Tipperary’s manager.

Changes were immediate. Tipperary reached the semi-finals of the National League in the spring of 1987. Players who had previously been discarded now returned. Pat Fox had been a corner back; in 1987 he was moved to corner forward. Colm Bonnar had played in defence in 1986 but by summer 1987 he was at midfield and would remain in the Tipperary team for the next decade.

The new-look Tipperary, with All Star wing back Bobby
Ryan now positioned at full forward, stumbled over Kerry and Clare (after a replay) to qualify for the Munster final, where the opposition was provided by Cork on 12 July. On a sultry day in an electric atmosphere Tipperary let a seven-point lead slip in the second half and had to rely on a free in the final seconds of the game to snatch a draw. But they had survived and lived to fight another day; they had turned a corner. An official attendance of 56,000 was given for the day, but many more thousands gained entry when two gates were forced open. A momentum was building.

The replay was set for Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney the following Sunday. It was another epic encounter that went to extra time. Again Tipperary had flirted with disaster but emerged intact. The added time would be theirs. With fresh legs they pummelled Cork. Colm galloped around the field bewildering opponents. Michael Doyle scored two goals,
Donie O’Connell scored another. Few who witnessed the scenes when
Terence Murray of Limerick blew the final whistle had ever experienced such an outpouring of emotion. The youthful captain
Richard Stakelum lifted the trophy and declared: ‘The famine is over.
’
The celebrations were wild.

‘That was probably the proudest moment I ever had in a Tipperary jersey,’ says Colm. ‘It is hard to describe the day, to explain the emotions. A generation of Tipperary people had grown up without experiencing the county winning the Munster Championship. There had been so many disappointments. And the games were so tight and there was so much tension. It was a great experience.’

The sequence of games and the celebrations took a toll. Preparations for the All-Ireland semi-final against Galway were adversely affected and still Tipperary had an opportunity to win against more experienced opponents. They lost by six points, but it was a much tighter game than the scoreline suggests. Despite defeat, there was still a feel-good factor around Tipperary. Colm wonders if it might have been a missed opportunity. ‘There’s no doubt that the effort to win the Munster title took a toll. The celebrations had gone on too long. It was as if winning Munster was the main thing and anything else that came along was a bonus. And that was a mistake.

‘Galway had lost the 1985 and 1986 finals and they were under pressure. If we had beaten them in the 1987 semi-final a lot of pressure would have come down on
Cyril Farrell [the Galway manager]. Who can tell what might have happened then? Some of the senior players might have gone, players like
Conor
Hayes,
P.J.
Molloy,
Noel
Lane, Brendan
Lynskey. And without them you have to wonder how we would have fared against Galway in 1988 when they beat us in the final. The 1987 semi-final was a tight game and it was one of the better hurling games between us. It had none of the enmity that built up between the teams over the next two or three years.

‘We had so many great hurlers and we didn’t seem to go on and do more. We won two All-Ireland titles but you have to think that we were good enough maybe to win another two more at that time. Galway had a very good side. They won two All-Irelands as well. They were a strong, physical team and they had a brilliant half back line. They played a different style to us, a hand-passing game, and we weren’t cute enough to deal with it. There were so many times that if we had just managed to get over Galway we would have achieved a lot more; even the 1993 semi-final was one we should not have lost.’

The arrival of his two brothers on the squad during the 1988 Championship added something of a novelty factor for Colm. ‘Our first priority was to look after our own place, but it was good to have the two brothers involved. We are a close family. As well as being brothers we are friends. After games we would seek out each other’s company. That made a difference.’

Cormac relished his second chance. His appearance – the helmet with faceguard, the absent teeth, the beard – and his obvious determination made him an instant hit with supporters. He was christened ‘The Viking’. ‘Those months in 1988 when I was coming on as a sub were a big learning curve for me. I remember coming into the All-Ireland final and the first thing that struck me was the pace of the game. My hurling was not up to scratch that year. It was a big step up from club hurling. So it really took me until the following year to catch up to full standard.’

He worked hard throughout the winter of 1988 on his fitness levels and on his skills, spending as much time as he could in a handball alley. He enjoyed the new physical regime introduced when former international athlete Phil Conway was included as fitness trainer. Team-mates recall gruelling 300-yard sprints repeated a dozen times an evening, with Cormac setting a savage pace.

‘I was a back who played with the instincts of a back but my job was to play between Nicky [
English] and Pat [
Fox] at full forward. I was the one to do the donkey work. I was there to harass, to hook, to chase and to block. My job was to make room for Nicky and Pat to do their thing. If they could get the ball they would score. My job was to help them get it. It was comforting to know those guys and the other forwards could score from any angle.’

The plan was working. The three brothers played together through the 1988–9 League campaign. Tipperary reached the final but were defeated again by Galway. They reached another Munster final and on 2 July 1989 the three Bonnar brothers played Championship hurling together for the very first time. ‘Not many players start their first Championship game at the age of thirty,
’
Cormac chuckles. Uniquely Cormac featured on the front cover of the match programme in his first Championship start, while Colm, then coaching in the Waterford Institute of
Technology, was the subject of a special feature in the programme.
Nicky English scored thirteen points against Waterford that day, eight of them from frees, as Tipperary won their third Munster Championship in a row by 0–26 to 2–8.

Conal recalls the experience of playing together. ‘In the dressing-room it was like being back at home at the kitchen table, it felt like home. It also made it easier for me being so young. Coming in I felt comfortable, this was a natural place to be. It was very enjoyable. We are a very close family so we enjoyed preparing together, enjoyed the games and what came after the games. But we always knew we were part of a team and we were lucky that it was a very close setup. It was special and it wasn’t the same playing for Tipperary when they weren’t there. You still wanted to do it but you no longer felt like it was home.’

They beat Galway in an ugly semi-final and met surprise opponents in the All-Ireland final, Antrim. Tipperary were raging hot favourites to win. Conal recalls: ‘I remember sitting beside
John Heffernan on the eve of the final and being a naïve nineteen-year-old getting caught up in the hype about the opposition and saying to him “it’s a pity it’s not Kilkenny we’re playing tomorrow” and he said “go away ye fecking eejit, I wish it was the Isle of Man.” We hadn’t won an All-Ireland in eighteen years so the only thing about it was to win. And I think Antrim were the second or third best team in the country at the time so they deserved respect. I have as good memories of that All-Ireland as the 1991 win. We had to beat the teams put in front of us and we did that. We started poorly in the final and if they had got a few breaks that game could have been very close. Once we got going we dominated everywhere. Fox got a great goal,
Declan Ryan was very much in control at centre forward and when he got his goal it took the pressure off us. We were a team playing under pressure, and when that goal went in we let loose and there was no one better to let loose than
Nicky [who scored a record-breaking 2–12].’

Cormac describes the winning feeling as ‘phenomenal. It was a proud moment for each of us individually and then collectively as a family. It is an indescribable feeling. For our parents it was a very proud day. They instilled a simple philosophy into us – it was to get out there and do your best. If you have a talent don’t sit on it and don’t come home thinking you have not given everything. It didn’t just apply to hurling. It was a valuable lesson for life. I considered myself very lucky to have come along and been able to latch onto a terrific team.’

The pressures two years later were quite different. Tippe-rary had surrendered their Munster title to Cork in 1990. ‘People were beginning to question our worth, were we as good as people had thought?’ Conal recalls. ‘We knew we were good enough. The question was did we have the bottle to go out and win another All-Ireland and prove that we were a really good team.
’
They beat Limerick, then they overcame Cork after a replay. The Galway hoodoo was broken in the All-Ireland semi-final. For the first time since Tipperary’s re-emergence they faced Kilkenny. Cormac and
Nicky English were injured in the build-up to the final. Both started, neither finished. But Tipperary won a second title. ‘We scraped home but it was a huge relief to get that second All-Ireland. That proved how good we were.’

Celebrations were put on hold. The Cashel club reached the Tipperary final. Ailbhe Bonnar had joined his three brothers on the team. Brendan was a selector. Their father looked after first aid.
Justin McCarthy had joined as coach and they won the Tipperary title for the first time in the history of the club. They added the Munster title and in February 1992 played in a memorable three-match series against Kiltormer of Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final. Kiltormer eventually won the tie and went on to All-Ireland glory.

Cormac retired in 1993. Colm and Conal continued to play and lined out in the All-Ireland final against Clare in 1997 which they lost by a point. ‘We had great chances to win it,’ says Colm. ‘Everybody remembers the chance Johnny
Leahy missed, but there were other chances too. But it would have been an injustice if we had won that one. Clare were well drilled and they got a run at us.’ Colm played for one more year. Conal remained until 2000, but injuries were becoming more frequent. He had suffered cruciate, back and hamstring problems between 1994 and 2000 and underwent surgery for his back problem. Just before the All-Ireland quarter-final against Galway another injury struck and he called time with Tipperary. ‘There was a small sense of regret that we did not achieve more. We had been so close. But then we were lucky to win two All-Irelands.

‘It was a great adventure, not just for the three of us, but for the whole family. They would all meet on the night before big games and we would always meet up with them afterwards. It was like having seven or eight christenings or weddings a year. It was special for my father and mother. It hadn’t been easy for them and I think the hurling success was in some way the fruits of their labour.’

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During his thirteen seasons with Tipperary, Conal witnessed big changes in the inter-county scene. ‘Preparation has changed dramatically. We brought a new sense of professionalism to it in 1989, the way we were trained and the way we were treated, the equipment – we had everything we needed. We had a professional trainer. But it was still quite social and enjoyable. We had a great time. By the time I had finished it was work. It had moved on to another level. An inter-county footballer or hurler nowadays is almost full-time. You need to be in the gym every day, watching your weight. The social aspect of it is nearly gone. You train and you go home.

‘I remember we won the Waterford Crystal League in one of my last games and we were waiting for the bus driver afterwards to come out and bring us home. When I started the bus driver would always have to wait for us because we would be in no hurry, hanging around, maybe having a few drinks. You don’t do that any more. That is the way it has to be now to compete at the highest level. Just look at the 2009 hurling final. The intensity of that game for seventy minutes solid was incredible. I know games evolve, but it is so intense now that there is no room for error, you have to be the right weight, you have to have the right body fat, you must have your stamina work done, your speed work, your skill work. You have your psychologists and your various coaches and that is what you need if you are going to compete. Just look at the physique of the players now. Hurling has at least kept the skill level along with the intensity, which is the advantage it has over football and last year’s final showed that. Football has the intensity but it has detracted from the skill levels.’