Paudie emerges from behind the Rock

First there was Sully, the Rock, the one and only Diarmuid O’Sullivan, a powerful and imposing presence protecting club-mate Donal Óg Cusack and the Cork red-zone for over a decade. Now there’s Paudie, another O’Sullivan, youngest brother in the formidable hurling family from Cloyne.

Like his oldest brother, Paudie too operates on the edge of the square but at the other end of the pitch — where Sully was the crusher, Paudie is an assassin, a finisher, and has been since he first picked up a hurley.

He played in his first county senior final for Cloyne when he was a mere 15, featured again in two more losing efforts in the two following years. He was quickly marked out by the county minor selectors, then the U21s, and by 2008 — still a teenager — he was on the Cork senior panel.

A cruciate injury interrupted his career shortly afterwards, but now, at 23, he has fully hit his stride and a goal against Kilkenny in last Sunday’s big league win in Páirc Uí Chaoimh has underlined his current good form. Along with Patrick Horgan and Jamie Coughlan, Paudie has become part of a Cork full-forward line that oozes skill.

“The way training has gone, gym-work and hard running and all that — it’s still hurling,” he explained. “You obviously have to be fit enough to keep going for 70 minutes but you can’t lose sight of the fact either that you need to be able to control the ball and put it over the bar. Jamie and Hoggie have fantastic touches, my own isn’t too bad — sometimes!”

Many see him in the mould of another famous goal-scoring son of east Cork, the lethal Seanie O’Leary. He has that low centre of gravity, that fantastic balance that enables him to bounce back to his feet in an instant, and most of all, he has the poacher’s instinct. More suited to corner-forward then, perhaps, with Patrick Horgan at full? It happens anyway, says Paudie.

“The management team have been encouraging us to rotate, that’s the way the game has gone. Look at Tipperary’s forward movement, at Kilkenny’s forward movement — you can’t afford to stay static anymore.

“Everyone in the full-forward line knows we’re going to spend some time in any of the three positions — Hoggie is a brilliant full-forward, Jamie has played there for his club [Newtown]. It keeps the backs on their toes — it’s too easy for a back to mark a man who’s just standing still.”

Speaking of management, it strikes that Paudie, a most amiable guy, is perfectly suited to the Jimmy Barry-Murphy hurling philosophy: play with a smile on your face.

“Yeah, he’s just so laid-back, it generates a great atmosphere in training. He’s a fella you want to do well for — Jimmy Barry Murphy, sure the name alone is nearly enough!

“Everyone knows what he’s done down the years and learning from someone like him — he gives you great encouragement, great confidence. The forwards especially — he wants us to play hurling the way it was meant to be played and you can see the results of that.”

License to express themselves then, while staying true to their defensive duties when they don’t have possession?

“Exactly — that’s something he stresses, you’ve got to express yourself. He’s also realistic enough to know that you’re going to make mistakes; forwards aren’t going to put every ball over the bar, every trick you try isn’t going to work, but he’s not going to hold that [failure] against you.

“He’s encouraging people to take shots, to express themselves, he’s put 100% faith in all of us. You can see from the way we’ve played in the last few games that it has started to pay off already.”

Three wins from four, Cork go into this weekend’s final round of games in a good position; to guarantee themselves a semi-final place, however, a win is a must.

“We’re playing the All-Ireland finalists, in Thurles, and Tipperary certainly don’t like to lose at home, especially to Cork. There’s everything to play for. There are so many permutations; you can take nothing for granted.

“We’re going there to win the game, I’m sure Tipperary will have the same attitude — you can’t afford to be distracted with having all that stuff [permutations] in your head. If we win the game we’re qualified, that’s what we’re looking for.”

And what about his neighbour from Midleton, five miles back the road who has everyone talking about his trickery — Conor Lehane.

“Without wanting to build him up again, he’s absolutely brilliant, no doubt about it, no point in trying to deny it anymore. We’ve all seen over the last few games what he can do, he’s definitely been our best player, if not the player of the league.

“But you must remember too he’s still only 19, it’s unfair to put too much pressure on him, you can’t be expecting him to be winning games on his own.

“I made my debut as a teenager and I know it’s not easy at that age. It probably took me two or three years to find my feet fully at inter-county level but Conor came in and took off straight away.”