Kanturk Rebels well armed for battle

If Aidan Walsh could split himself as easy as he does ash, he would likely be on the hallowed turf on Sunday.

Dual playing, at least at senior level, is not something he has yet entertained. As much as he was crowned the 2011 U21 Hurler of the Year, he has not yet pucked a ball for the seniors.

But that’s not to say he won’t have some part to play in the All-Ireland final. As much as he’ll be confined to the stands, his product will be on display in both the Cork goal and its midfield.

Anthony Nash has been using Walsh hurleys for a few years now, his other Kanturk team-mate Lórcan McLoughlin a little less.

The midfielder simply looks for a 34½ inch hurley but Nash, as he says himself, has his idiosyncrasies. Walsh is acquainted with them at this stage. The length — 35 inches — is always the same but there are quirks.

“His mentality towards his hurleys are that they’re his children. It’s a good way to be, I suppose. If he wants anything touched up he just calls. It’s a good way to be because it’s so important to have the hurley just right for yourself.

“It’s just a big part of your game. If you break a hurley to have something similar replacing it means everything. He’s very finicky but it’s the same for a footballer with his boots. If you’re not making a priority it will come against you in some way. He’s all about the spring and with the puck of the ball he has that’s very important. About every two weeks, I make him two hurleys.

“I make them this week and he mightn’t use them for two or three months. He prepares long term. He has a good stock of hurleys that he can choose from. They are using them the whole time now and they seem to be fairly happy with them. When you’ve clubmen like that it’s handy. They can just call five minutes over the road if they want a hurley fixed or something taken off it.”

Walsh doesn’t charge his friends for mending or touching up hurleys and he has an agreement with the club for the hurleys — “Nash has a full-time job so I might start getting at him,” he laughs.

Walsh credits Nash as a walking advertisement for the hurleys. “In fairness, he is asked a lot about his hurleys and where he gets them from. They see the distance he strikes the ball and people are asking, ‘jeez, how he’s doing that?’. I’ve got a few orders that way.

“He’s a secondary school teacher down in Mitchelstown and a lot of his students have looked for hurleys. It’s been good. It’s always great to see Cork in an All-Ireland and even there today a fella called wanting a hurley from me because I make them for the lads. The kids want to know where the local lads’ hurleys are coming from.”

He’s met Nash and McLoughlin most nights over the last few weeks, chatting hurling and what not. Having played in the 2010 All-Ireland football final, he has imparted some advice on what they can expect in their first senior deciders.

“I was lucky to be involved in one in 2010 but I was probably a bit young to take it for what it is. It’s massive. You think once you get there it’ll be the same every year but what I’ve been telling the boys is to make the most of it.”

With the O’Connors up the road in Newtownshandrum regarded as among the best hurley makers in the country, Walsh is aware of the competition in the market.

He started working with pieces of ash when he was 15 and it was a case of trial and error before he got in contact with Eddie Grant in Ballinure just outside Horse and Jockey.

“He let me watch him and showed me the techniques he used to make them. I took the small things from there and kept working on it. My parents helped me out big time. It’s very expensive to start up and to get the right machines to make the hurleys properly. They stuck by me and I probably lost a lot of money in the process but once you start up you’re able to make them and you have it for life.”

As much as his season ended with the footballers’ defeat to Dublin in the quarter-finals and his attention has turned to International Rules training, he’s treasured doing his bit for the hurlers.

“It’s always nice there to come back and make the hurleys. The summer was all about football but it was great having the lads come over and you’d have a chat about how the hurling is going and you’d know what’s going on around the place and what training is like. It’s great that way to keep in contact.”