Ascension into hurling heaven

THE training gear was a giveaway - an Australian jersey, bicycle shorts under his togs and runners.

Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, Cork All-Ireland-winning hurling captain and budding International Rules star, was out kicking “footy” with younger brother Aisake in Dublin yesterday while his team-mates prepared for the train journey home.

Seán Óg, in his own words, “likes to do his own thing”.

For him, chilling out with a drink is not an option. He has finished with hurling for the year and his priority is Na Piarsaigh’s second-round game in the Cork SFC next weekend.

After that, he will expect a call for training with the international squad and a place on the plane to Australia.

Longer term, Ó hAilpín has set himself a target of maximising the return from his playing activity for the next three years - after which he says he will walk away (at 32) from the scene “for a new life”.

“I hope to give every last ounce until then. After this year I’ll have three more years to go and after that, my hurling career would be finished. I want to get everything I can from hurling. Brian Corcoran talks about taking seven years to get back to a second final. The years don’t be long flying.’’

He quoted brother Setanta in a reference to the statement from a former AFL coach to the effect that “the player who looks back on his career and can’t honestly say that he put in a 100% effort will end up a frustrated person”.

“And it’s true,’’ he commented.

“I don’t want to be that frustrated person!’’

Seán Óg admitted the captaincy had put him under pressure - more so than people realised - because of the ancillary activities off the field.

It had “detracted” from his hurling, he explained, because he found it hard to say no.

However, that didn’t mean he did not feel “privileged” to captain Cork and “lucky” to lead them to All-Ireland success, the satisfaction all the greater when he became the first Na Piarsaigh player to lift the cup.

“I’m really looking forward to bringing it up to Farranree on Tuesday night.’’

He acknowledged he was lucky to have been able to continue his career after a bad car accident a few years ago jeopardised his playing career. And yet he looks back on it as something of a “blessing in disguise”.

“It gave me a different focus. Everything I have achieved is more gratifying than if it didn’t happen, because you can take things for granted.’’

Pointing out that the year had been “more testing” for the team than last year, Ó hAilpín says that talk of three-in-a-row is “dangerous”. It will give “more ammunition” to their rivals to stop them.

Specifically on his unique background, being born in Fiji, he felt it was something he would only really appreciate in years to come. But he could see how people regarded his story as remarkable.

“When I came to Cork, there was no guarantee about anything, when I first played locally with Na Piarsaigh and went on to represent Cork.

“It was a gamble I took, but it worked. But I have to say that Mum and Dad gave me every opportunity to make it. Everything I have done is mirrored through them. I remember bad games coming home, Mum would always say, ‘I thought you had a great game’, even though she knew I was useless. These were tough years starting off, playing a game that was alien to you.’’

Na Piarsaigh chairman Paddy Connery said that while they took a lot of pride in their representation in the squad, Seán Óg’s captaincy represented a significant first for them.

And because of their strong Gaelic tradition, they rejoiced over his inspiring address in Irish after receiving the cup.

Joe O’Leary, their representative on the selection committee, felt that no matter what game Seán Óg had taken up, he would have “risen to the top”, a view shared by county board secretary Frank Murphy.

“Once he mastered the basics of hurling, he just took off. From the time they won the All-Ireland Féile, he was destined to be a leader and fantastic athlete,’’ said O’Leary.

“Somebody described him as the ugly duckling turning into a swan. At the start, while he would have been good at football straight away, he took a while to like hurling before mastering the skills.’’

While conventional wisdom would indicate that children need to practise the skills of hurling from the age of five and six onwards, Seán Óg became a Cork minor after four of five years hurling, John Allen pointed out.

“Nobody else could do it, but he is so dedicated. It was wonderful that he made that progress in a few short years. To be Player of the Year last year and captain of his county this year ... and to get picked on the International Rules team without playing an inter-county football game for several years, it’s an amazing story for any sportsman.”