High-flying Corbett stays firmly grounded
In September he was man of the match in Tipperary’s All-Ireland SHC final win over Kilkenny. A few weeks later he collected his second All Star in succession, before been named Hurler of the Year. And tomorrow the rollercoaster rumbles on as he lines out for his club Thurles Sarsfields in the county senior hurling decider.
So, how’s life treating you Lar, still keeping your feet on the ground? “Ah, the finest! Sure I still have to get up for work in the morning, don’t I? That will keep your feet on the ground for you. It’s enjoyable to be playing hurling at inter-county level and then to come back and play for your club. But life is the very same as it was before all this. I’m still an electrician and am still working for the same company, T&R Electrical.
“Playing inter-county makes life so much easier, but it gets very demanding at times with weekends away and time off. But the two boys in charge, Tom McDonnell and Ray Corbett, are very understanding. People forget, I’m putting in a 40-hour week with these boys, so I spend more time with them than I do with the lads on the team. I’m on the tools, doing a bit of everything, business and domestic. We’re no different to anyone else I suppose, work has dropped a bit but no point getting excited, is there? Whatever is going to happen is going to happen.”
That’s Lar, in his very essence. No airs, ordinary working man, plugging away and making the best of life. On the field, however, he is extraordinary with great things expected of him every time he steps onto the field. It must be frustrating then when he has days like the semi-final win over Toomevara. That afternoon he was doing what he always does with club or county – running left and right, up and down, trying to find space and trying to get on the ball. But almost everywhere he went, the ball went elsewhere.
“That’s a problem, without a doubt, but I don’t get frustrated by things like that. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, but at least you can say that you tried.
“I’d often find it harder in a club matches than with the county anyway. You’re trying to get on the ball, trying to get a bit of space, but you’re finding that fellas are keeping an extra eye on you. When you’re with Tipp they (opposition) have to keep an eye out for Eoin Kelly, for Noel McGrath, all those boys, and that can give you a bit of freedom to sneak away from a fella and maybe pick up some loose ball out around the middle of the field – it’s harder to find that space at club level. You won’t get too many passes like Noel McGrath gave in the All-Ireland final, coming into space. When I’m playing with the club, the most important thing for me is work rate – I don’t care if I score or not as long as we win.”
What about the tongues wagging though, “Ha, some hurler-of-the-year!” – is that a problem? “No, I don’t mind that at all, in fact I welcome it; at least people have an opinion on what you’re doing, wouldn’t it be worse if you weren’t playing at all?”
It was a close call in the end for Sars, a goaled 20m free by Pa Bourke, in a controversial later finish.
“It was a great strike from Pa, but isn’t it funny – the two tightest matches I played in all year with club and county were the Galway match (All-Ireland quarter-final) and the Toomevara match, and Pa Bourke was the main man in the two matches.
“He came on against Galway, set up the two final scores, and only for him we were gone; same again with Sars the last day, that goal. It’s good to see him back, he was sick for a few months, but of the six who were dropped off the panel he was the only one who came back. He came on in the Galway match and did the job. It’s good to see people with that kind of temperament who get knocked back but come again. Look how his year finished.”
How will the year finish up for Lar, however? All those titles and awards, yet be assured – if this one is lost it will take some gloss off the year. And it could be lost, he reckons, if Sars don’t take the right approach.
“Inside in Thurles town there, they were talking about us winning the All-Ireland club final without us even having played in our own championship yet. Walking down the street you hear people saying ‘Thurles Sarsfields are this and that’ – even after the semi-final. We haven’t learned our lesson, people are still at it. We got out of jail in that game and you’d think people would pull back a bit. I don’t know where this hot favourites tag comes from. Two years ago we played Clonoulty and it went to a replay, and even then it took extra-time to win. We only got past them then by the skin of our teeth. We’re going to have it all to do.”
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