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13th May 2022
07:34am BST

"There is a balance to the whole thing. I know some managers out there of my particular vintage would argue that there is a little bit too much analysis."
"The video analysis can take hours. And at the end of the day, you’d wonder have we really benefitted enormously from all the analysis we do on opposition and looking back on our own games. We didn’t have that. Or I had it back with Mayo in the 90s but it was a very crude system back then. We had no GPS.
"So it’s a balance. I’m probably old school. I have younger coaches who are pulling me in that direction. And I’m kind of battling a little bit. I’m saying, “I’d love to see these guys pushed a little bit harder in training.
"But then we look at the injury crisis we have. We were supposed to train tonight but because there is a league programme fixed in Offaly tomorrow night and Saturday - so we felt on balance it was better to release them back to their clubs.
"But still, I wanted to train them tonight, and let them play tomorrow night. But my scientists and the experts are telling me “John, you can’t do that”. So that’s where it’s at."
He has a hard exterior. But he'll listen if you've something to say.
It's some going, really, that 32 years after winning a Munster championship with Clare, Maughan is still in the thick of it. In the mean-time, he's managed in each of the four provinces and though the road from Castlebar to Kilcormac isn't getting any shorter, he's still getting a kick out of it.
"That is the one downside of management for me and look, I did it in Clare 32 years ago, I was living in Galway City, working in barracks in Athlone, and heading down to Clare Tuesdays, Thursdays and weekends but I was young, I was only 28 at the time. That was fun.
"Sitting in the car now, I dreaded it last Tuesday, sitting in the car after the two-week break and driving to Kilcormac.
"I absolutely dreaded it but the minute I arrived in Kilcormac I know what it is, you’re in an environment where you really love it. You get out of the car, you’re meeting the lads, you’re hoping it’s a good session, hoping you don’t pick up any injuries, and you feel good about yourself.
"The drive home, invariably, particularly if it’s a good session, you feel better."
60. Going on, we'll give him 50.
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