Upbeat Moane excited ahead of 2021 season

Ladies football

Aideen Coyle, Cavan Ladies PRO

Cavan Ladies will prepare for the 2021 campaign under new manager Gerry Moane who was announced as the new senior ladies team manager last week by Cavan Ladies County Board. The Fermanagh native takes over from James Daly who stepped down from his role a few weeks previously after three years in charge of the Breffni women.

The Brookeborough man comes with plenty of knowledge and experience of managing both men’s and women’s teams. Moane took charge of Tyrone Ladies for the past five years and had great success with the team, most notably winning an Intermediate All-Ireland title with the county in 2018.

Speaking on his appointment, Moane said he was looking towards the future with excitement while also recognising the work done down through the years.

“I am really looking forward to it and very enthused about the appointment. The talent in Cavan ladies is phenomenal. I have been seeing this this last number of years with the amount of work that is being done at underage,” he said.

“Whatever has happened in the past is forgotten about, this is a new dawn, a new journey. Let’s get on board this journey!”

Speaking about what the future holds for this county, Moane remarked “that the future is very bright for Cavan”

Moane made reference to the underage success in Cavan multiple times in his interview, in particular the county's dominance in Ulster and success at All-Ireland level and noted with excitement that his challenge was to bring this success to the senior ranks.

“There is serious talent out there in Cavan. Cavan are very physically strong. I played them a number of times in the last few years [with Tyrone]. The talent at underage is phenomenal and the amount of work being done at underage is outstanding as well with a lot of good people involved.

“But now it is about taking that on to the next level and getting all those players into the senior set-up and getting them gelling together and the hard work done to progress this on. There is no reason why a county that won an All-Ireland a few years ago at underage with those players can’t push through at senior level to push this team on to new heights.

“If all the best players make themselves available and buy into this new journey, I can guarantee talking to you and when I get to see the players there will be no stone left unturned to make sure they can be the best they can be.”

Moane also recognised the challenge of getting the strongest possible group of players into the county set-up to give him and his management team the best opportunity heading into the season.

Moane made reference to the clubs' involvement in this becoming possible.

“I want every club in the county to encourage their best players to get involved with the new county set-up,” he said.

“This in turn will raise the standard of players returning to the clubs as they will be training and playing at the highest level. The most important thing in the whole of any football team is your players and getting buy-in from all the players.

“I don’t care what has happened in the past, it’s about now and the future for Cavan Ladies. I will do whatever it takes to have the best possible group of players available to get the opportunity to play in the blue and white of Cavan.”

Moane has big ambitions for this squad as he targets an Ulster Championship and Division 2 national league successes.

“The obvious ambition is to go and win an Ulster title. Division 2 of the league is going to have plenty of interesting clashes and will depend on where the home games and away games are. The goal is to build a team and a structure in the team and create an environment where they can be competitive and then your ambitions is to go and win.”

The new Cavan manager pointed out how close Cavan have been in the past few years with the two National League final defeats and the Ulster Championship game against Donegal two years ago, which they lost in extra time.

“They’re not that far away and have been knocking on the door. The game against Donegal was one of the best games of ladies football in a long time. Cavan are not that far away,” he insisted.

Moane will be joined by his right-hand man Barry Grimes who will take on the coaching role having spent the last four years working alongside Moane in Tyrone.

“It took a bit of convincing to get him out of Tyrone,” laughed Moane but he is absolutely delighted to have him on board alongside him again for the 2021 campaign.

Grimes, similarly to Moane, brings with him a wealth of success and experience having worked in the academies in Tyrone, as a Tyrone minor coach and with the Tyrone ladies.

“Barry is a very successful coach. To my mind he is one of the best ladies coaches in the game and I will make no bones about that. The girls will love him,” stated Moane.

Also re-joining the management team will be Martin McKiernan who continues in his role as Cavan Ladies S&C coach, Michael Lee (Physio) and Sean Óg Brady (stats). Moane briefly spoke about the invaluable role McKiernan will play in his team as the ladies game is continuing to develop.

“I was blown away by him. To have someone with his enthusiasm and expertise is priceless for Cavan Ladies. I will be utilising him in every single way possible. The benefits of having someone with his expertise long term are going to be phenomenal. He can offer so much professionalism as ladies football has come to reach new heights and is going to go to more heights. I am delighted to have him on board.”

In what was an uplifting first interview in his new role Gerry Moane spoke with such passion, positivity, excitement and enthusiasm about his new management venture. Moane is looking to hit the ground running after Christmas with his new team.

“I honestly can’t wait to get started and get to know the players. The players are the most important thing. We can talk about managers but it doesn’t matter about managers or the background team, it’s your players that are the most important. Also creating an environment for them to come in and enjoy football and work hard is so important. You won’t get anywhere without working hard!”

In his final words Moane stated with a big smile: “The more I talk to Cavan people, the more enthused I get because there is great passion for football in this county. The success the lads have had in the past few weeks will have a knock on effect to everybody in Cavan and it is great to get involved at this time in Cavan.”

Chairperson of the county board Carol Kiernan stated: “On behalf of Cavan Ladies Football, I extend a warm Breffni welcome to our 2021 senior ladies manager Gerry Moane, coach Barry Grimes and their backroom team.

“With Gerry’s appointment, Cavan ladies hope to progress, recognise and develop the player pathway of our talented footballers. Over the past numbers of years we have seen the transitioning of a talented squad with the integration of youth and experience and we look forward to their new journey as a team.

“Cavan ladies will rise to this new challenge and I am hopeful of a seamless and continuous fixture fulfilment for Gerry and his team. I thank James Daly and his team for the past three years and wish them continued success in their future ventures.”