Captaincy role rests easily on Grennan's shoulders
By Kevin Egan
His father Seán started 80 league and championship games for the Offaly senior footballers, and aside from playing a handful of games in his first season at right wing forward, every subsequent game saw him tog out at centre back, midfield or centre forward, with a handful of appearances as a target man on the edge of the square towards the end of his career.
His uncle James was even more specialised. Sixty starts for the Faithful County, 56 of them at midfield, with three of the others at 12, but effectively as a third midfielder.
Conor Grennan was never likely to be a nippy, bantamweight corner-forward. Add his impressive stature into the mix, and selecting him at midfield was undoubtedly one of the easier decisions for the senior football management team in Gallen Community School.
His softly spoken demeanour would hint at the fact that the decision to make him captain might not have been quite as straightforward – but that’s only until the big Ferbane club man starts to speak, and his unflappable, likeable nature starts to shine through.
It would be easy to say that the weight of responsibility sits easily on his broad shoulders, but it’s probably more accurate to say that he doesn’t carry it at all, because he doesn’t feel it.
“Captaincy doesn’t make a bit of difference, I just play the way I usually play,” he says, and and it rings true.
Instead, Grennan’s leadership manifests in both his down to earth nature, and his positivity, which sit well, side-by-side.
“At the start of the year, I’ll be honest, the management came in and they said that they thought we had it in us to get to an All-Ireland final, and looking around the room, I’m not sure I believed it at the time,” he says with a smile.
“But once you start to get a few wins and you build on things from game to game, you see lads improving as individuals and you start to click together as a group, you start to realise what’s possible. And once we got past what we knew was a good Clara team and got to a Leinster final, we knew we were capable of beating anyone.
“The last few games, everything has gone our way and it has given us a lot of momentum. That match against Dungarvan and going to extra-time, having to dig deep and find a way through, that’s really going to stand to us.”
Perhaps part of the reason that Grennan doesn’t feel the pressure of the occasion, or the role, is that he relishes the chance to be at the heart of things. Also following in the footsteps of his father, Conor is well able to wield a hurl as well as kick a football, and like his father, who grew up playing on Offaly hurling teams alongside John Troy, Johnny Dooley, Brian Whelahan and that incredibly talented vintage, Conor’s physicality has seen him drafted into an Offaly U-20 hurling panel that has high expectations.
Combining both is working well for him.
“In fairness to the two managers, I just chat to them and let them know what I’m doing and the two of them work together and make sure that I’m not overloaded with work so it’s working out grand,” he explains.
“That hurling team, there are some unbelievable players on it and while it’s great to be part of the panel and to be involved, I know that getting playing time in the championship is going to be very tough going. It’s nice to be able to switch from that to the football here, to come back to that and to know you’ll be at the heart of it, and you’ll have a chance to really help the team out on the field, which is where every player wants to be.”
In particular, a big day like Saturday's All-Ireland final is an occasion to relish.
“Absolutely, there’s going to be that excitement. I’ve never been in an All-Ireland final before but there’s no point being nervous or thinking about it; if you do that, you mightn’t perform on the day. We’re playing well, we have momentum, we just need to keep that going for another hour,” he added.