Hurling Hands: Diarmuid O'Sullivan - 'I broke Patrick Horgan's hurley over my knee and threw the two pieces up into the stand'

Breaks? I would have broken most of the fingers. That’s only natural. The tops of some of them won’t bend anymore, one or two more are like springs going this way and that, they do their own thing.

That’s part of it, though, isn’t it? You have to accept it. In our time there weren’t special edition Mycro gloves around, and they’re a great device now for kids starting out, they’re a great protection, but that’s the game.

A few breaks — that’s what you expect. I don’t think I ever really missed a game. Even at that time the whole 'being in full plaster for six weeks' was gone out, or going, and if there was a big game coming you’d tape the fingers together and play anyway if you had to.

To wear one of those gloves playing, I think you’ve got to be reared up with it, to be used to it. I see a lot of kids now at under-8, under-10, and they’re wearing them, but then later they seem to dispense with them.

I know there are a few intercounty players who wear them, and if you were a dentist or a medical professional or depended specifically on your hands, then it’s a must, and it’s a great development.

It’s something similar with helmets, though I found, ever since the rule came in that everyone had to wear a helmet and facemask, that the back of my head and neck were a lot sorer after games.

I think that when some fellas didn’t wear helmets then you weren’t really going to take liberties if the ball came in high, you wouldn't go all out for it maybe — but now that everyone is protected I think players feel they have a right, or an entitlement, to really go for the ball. And I notice that soreness as a result: you’re not spared, put it that way.

Diarmuid O’Sullivan, Cork, stops the progress of John Mullane, Waterford, in the 2007 All-Ireland SHC quarter-final at Croke Park. Picture: Brendan Moran/SPORTSFILE

I wouldn't be too particular with hurleys. I see some of the lads we have with Cork, the likes of Patrick Horgan, and the hurley is the holy grail for them, getting it right. He’s a good example, Patrick: years ago we played the Glen down in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in a county quarter-final, and he was young enough but he was playing senior.

One of the lads had already told me he was obsessed with his hurley and getting it right and all of that, and at one stage there was a small row on the Covered Stand side. I came across and found his hurley, and I picked it up and broke it over my knee and threw the two pieces up into the stand.

And you could see by his face that all he wanted to do was go home because the hurley was broken.

I notice the way the shape of hurleys has certainly changed — some of our players are 6’1 or 6’2 but they play with 32- or 33-inch hurleys, while we’d have always used 36- or 37-inch hurleys.

That extra length? That was to catch the forward on the elbow, of course.

I still have a few at home. I probably have close on 30 around the house. Where do I keep them? Anywhere I can, though I know a lot of people keep theirs on the bathroom floor — cold tiles, small bit of moisture, all of that helps.

Pure hands and skill? Patrick (Horgan) of the current generation is exceptional. I’ve played with him, played against him, marked him at training plenty of times — he’s an exceptional, exceptional talent.

From my own time playing, I’d go for Ben O’Connor. Not only was he the classiest hurler, the guy on the team with the best hands, but he was the overall package. When fellas would ask me who the best hurler was that I played with, Ben would be up there. He had everything you could want.

Interview: Michael Moynihan

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