Former captain Mick Galwey and Erins Owen/Mallow GAA clubman Colm Coakley have been added to the Munster senior management ticket for the coming season.
And in further deference to the 'boot room' tradition made famous by another red clad brigade from Merseyside, Munster have also announced enhanced roles for two other former stalwarts, Anthony Foley and Paul McCarthy.
Foley, Munster's most capped player and leading try scorer, formerly a Technical Advisor, assumes the role of Assistant Coach with additional responsibility for Defence while maintaining his function as Head Coach to the Munster British & Irish Cup side.
McCarthy, who featured on the Munster side that famously defeated Australia in Musgrave Park in 1992, and prior to this, a part-time scrum advisor, will now be full time Scrum Coach - working alongside Laurie Fisher and Foley - with additional responsibility for identifying and developing front row talent to feed into the Munster professional set-up.
Galwey, captain, and teammate of Foley's, of the Munster side that reached the 2000 Heineken Cup final becomes Munster Squad Advisor, a part-time position that will see him act as Mentor for the Senior and Development contracted players with additional responsibilities cognisant of that role. The Kerryman, who won the last of his 136 Munster competitive caps in February 2003 was also on that Munster side - coached by Munster's CEO Garrett Fitzgerald - alongside McCarthy in that '92 Musgrave victory and was also involved with the Foley coached Munster British & Irish Cup side that remained unbeaten until last year's final.
In addition, Munster also announced the appointment of Colm Coakley as Squad Physiotherapist. Cork native Coakley will provide physiotherapy services, along with current Physiotherapists Anthony Coole and Neil Tucker, to the Munster Squad in Cork and Limerick. A graduate of UL, and currently operating from a practice in Midleton, he spent the past season working with the Munster Academy and Munster British & Irish Cup squad.
