‘Hero’ targets Own piece of glory

‘THE HERO’ – what a nickname to carry, to try and live up to.

Whoever tagged a fella with such a loaded moniker must surely have known the potential for slagging; whoever it was thus tagged must now be squirming, right?

Wrong. Kieran Murphy is indeed a key player for Erin’s Own, as they head into Sunday’s Cork SHC final against Cloyne; neither the nickname nor the way it came about bothers him in the least, however.

“I got it off my grandfather when I was young,” the personable young AIB bank official smiles.

“I don’t know why, really – he called me all sorts of things, and that was only one, but it just happened to stick, for whatever reason. It used to be a bit embarrassing, a bit like anyone with a nickname I suppose, but it’s after sticking now, nothing I can do about it.”

The original has now been shortened — as his team-mates call for the ball, it’s just “Hero!” — which could faze another guy. Not Kieran Murphy. “People call me a lot worse!”

Nickname aside, Murphy has had a very bad press over the years. A big lad, 6’4” even as a minor, he was at the centre of a major controversy several years ago, victim of a double-yellow card controversy in the All-Ireland minor football final. And he WAS the victim, very much so, even if he was the guy who stayed on the field after receiving that second yellow and played a crucial role in Cork’s win.

The error was the referee’s, yet a major portion of the blame fell on the Cork youngster (and on Cork county secretary Frank Murphy).

Then there’s the perception of him, dating from those years, that he’s big-headed and ill-disciplined. That is absolutely not the case. As evidenced above, Kieran Murphy is a nice guy on and off the field, good sense of humour, nice line in self-deprecation, but, nevertheless, a solid sense of his own real worth.

He is also a guy who feels strongly about the current club/county controversy. Even though he is on the Cork senior panel, his sympathy is very much for his clubmates, for club players generally: “It’s tough on county players too, especially fellas like me, not getting a lot of games (though many – including this observer – feel that he was at least worth a trial or two in the championship). You could have about 18 players with Cork during the season getting regular games, another 13, 14, just sitting there, watching. That’s tough, hard to stay patient just watching games all year, but it’s even tougher on the club player, training away, they can’t really set goals for themselves, very unfair.

“Slowly but surely there’s more emphasis going on the county scene, you wonder if the time is coming when guys won’t be playing any club hurling. Definitely there should be more scope given to the club games.”

Time something was done?

“Big-time, but what can we do? The club is still a big deal, it’s massive to us here anyway, it’s huge to Cloyne, huge to Newtown, huge to all the clubs around Cork. This is the biggest county, probably a bit more intense than most, the commitment shown by all players is huge. It’s very important to play with the club, with the guys you’re closest to, the will-to-win is greater.”

Which brings us back to Cork, and this long-time claim that it has now become like a second club for all those in the panel. Does this make it harder to play against Cloyne’s Donal Óg Cusack, Diarmuid O’Sullivan, Conor Cusack and Killian Cronin?

“No it doesn’t. I think we respect each other enough to be able to put the friendships aside for the hour, do whatever you have to do to win, but ultimately it’s only a game, we’ll all still be talking afterwards.”

Only a game?

“You know what I mean – this game is obviously a lot more important than the usual. For Cloyne it’s their third final in-a-row, and they’ve lost the last two, for us it’s a case of coming back from the defeat of 2000. In that sense it’s massive, obviously more than just a game.”

More than just a game to Cloyne especiallyafter those two final defeats.

“Yeah, but we’ll be just as motivated,” he counters, “We wouldn’t be in the county final otherwise. Our local derby here, in the semi-final against Sars, I think we came through that one well, with the conditions and everything we battled very hard. Same against Bride Rovers. I don’t think they’re any more motivated than us, it’s just the team that gets the breaks on the day is going to win.”

Will there be that extra edge to it because it’s another East Cork team, another derby?

“Ah no, I think all these rivalries are calming down. When we were younger alright we used to go a bit mad in those games, but it’s all calmed down now, fellas getting a bit sensible.

“There would be just as much of an edge if we were playing Newtown. I don’t think it matters who you’re playing in a final, you just want to win it. Last year was a bit of a disaster, the way we went out of it without hitting a ball (Erin’s Own withdrew when they weren’t allowed a postponement after Brian Corcoran came back from the All-Ireland final with an injury), but it’s good to see we had the fight in us to come back this year, make the final.

“It will be no good to us though, unless we win.”