Lar Corbett: Inter-county players will decide future of ash

Lar Corbett: 'The inter-county guys are going to dictate what comes next because everybody wants to use what they’re using on television'. Picture: Picture: David Maher

Lar Corbett says only when the leading inter-county hurlers move away from ash will there be an appetite for alternatively-made hurleys.

As the ash dieback disease looks set to raise the price of hurleys in the coming years, the likes of Torpey in Clare have developed a bamboo hurley (bambú tech), while the GAA’s development department foresee hybrid versions comprising an ash bas and synthetic shaft and butt.

The 2010 hurler of the year’s Lar Corbett Sports company manufactures several thousand hurleys a year but the lack of games has meant sales haven’t been as strong as previous years.

“At the minute, we haven’t heard anything as regards the price of the ash planks going up,” says the former Tipperary star. “We won’t be putting up prices if they’re not being put up for us. Another thing is not as many as usual were sold in 2020 and at the start of 2021 for obvious reasons.

“I imagine there is a lot of hurleys being stored at the moment across the country. Everything comes down to supply and demand and we will have to see if the demand is there when things open again.

The inter-county guys are going to dictate what comes next because everybody wants to use what they’re using on television.

“One or two county hurlers have been using the CúlTec hurley but I don’t think there’s enough using it for that to take off.

“Now there are other hurleys coming into the market but it’s all trial and error and right now I don’t see anything passing out the ash for the moment,” he added..

“The best way to market your product is for inter-county hurlers to use it and if they’re not then it means your product is not good enough to be used to push the ash hurley to one side.”

Two-time All-Ireland winner Corbett has done well selling hurleys at agricultural events across the country and admits the lack of them last year hurt business.

“We would have done a lot of shows like Balmoral in Belfast, the first hurley makers from the south to sell sticks there, the Lammas Fair up near Cushendall, the Tullamore and Tinahely Shows and the big one, the Ploughing Championships.

“It was a great chance to showcase our products and what we found was people would tell you very quick what was right or wrong with your product so it was great for us in getting feedback. We had a stall at matches outside Semple Stadium as well.

We’re in the same boat as everybody right now and we had to change approach and put more emphasis online and our sales there have been very good but you want to be engaged with the customers.

As the yellow sliotar becomes the standard colour ball at inter-county level from this year, Corbett is also keeping an eye on how that too might feed into the club game.

“It’s an interesting development and we will have to see how that affects the future of the white ball.”