Former Clare hurler insists GAA players are one of the ‘best examples of what is great about sport and Irish culture’
Kerry performance coach Tony Griffin lifts the Sam Maguire Cup after the 2022 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final win over Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Tony Griffin has reflected on a roller-coaster ride as performance coach with the Kerry footballers for the past three seasons having helped Jack O’Connor’s Kingdom side to reach the holy grail with All-Ireland SFC success in 2022.
The former Clare hurler, an All-Star forward in 2006, had been clear that 2024 would be his final season working with Kerry having even taken the step of moving his family to the Dingle Peninsula for a year to help with his duties.
It has always been clear the esteem with which Griffin holds this group of Kerry players in and he shared with them “what the previous 20 years working with people had taught me as well as lessons from playing at a similar level to the players”.
With Paddy Tally now focusing on the area of performance coach after Cian O’Neill’s return to the Kerry set-up as football coach, Griffin intends to now focus his attention on his “writing career” but the Ballyea native was keen to share what he had learned in the footballing heartland along the way.
“At the top level, the margins between eventual realisation of the goal of winning and coming second are so small that it’s hard for those on the outside to appreciate it,” Griffin wrote in a LinkedIn post.
“Or appreciate the amount of time, conversations, thinking, sacrifice and planning that goes into preparing on behalf of the management and players.”
Griffin went on to say that GAA players are one of the “best examples of what is great about sport and Irish culture” while he outlined how “everyone must grow (players, management, backroom) if the team is to realise its potential and create magic”.
Playing without fear can only be attained in “the right environment” while one of his fondest memories from his Kerry involvement was to see Seán O’Shea – “one of the best warriors I’ve ever worked with” – lifting the Sam Maguire two years ago as Griffin ran hand in hand around Croke Park with his son.
“I learned that the flow state is the real goal. Winning is secondary. But to access that state requires so much habitual preparation over years, constant learning and iteration of skills,” he added.
“It involves responding from the hurt and pain of defeat and learning to play without fear (as much as is possible). And most of all – without the right environment it is almost impossible to access this flow state.
“I learned that if you can get your players to care about each other, want the best for one another and take actions to mind each other you will have a stronger and more indestructible group. The sum of their parts will be much more than any single individual.
“A fond personal memory is running the length of Croke Park hand-in-hand with my son as one of the best warriors I’ve ever worked with Seán O’Shea gave his acceptance speech after the 2022 All-Ireland final win.”