'There’s savage unity' - Rebels won't back down in promotion push, says Hurley
Cork Senior footballer, Brian Hurley. Picture: INPHO/Tom Maher
Brian Hurley is his usual polite self. Wearing the sponsor’s logo at this press event he might have even more reason to be, but there’s a smidgeon of spikiness in his responses.
With one win from three games, is promotion from Division 2 still attainable, the Cork captain is asked?
“I certainly think so, yes, definitely, but I’m not looking past this weekend. Maybe in your world, you can look that far down the line but as a player you have to focus in. Games come really quick, like.”
The follow-up question refers to Cork’s seven seasons outside Division 1 and whether that sustained period has hurt them.
“Division 2 is very competitive. Would you be asking the same question of Dublin, I wonder, who are down there at the minute and I thought Sunday’s game had massive intensity and pace laid to it and you mightn’t get that game in Division 1 at times, if you know what I mean.
“We’ve been stuck there for a few years but obviously the goal is to get to Division 1 and play the top teams in Ireland. But some of the top teams in Ireland are in Division 2 at the minute when you see the likes of Derry and Dublin there.”
It’s not that Hurley is bristling but these are points he clearly feels shouldn’t be sidestepped. Perhaps that strain of defiance can be sourced from the successful stand he, his team-mates and most of the current management team took last year when they insisted their Munster semi-final against Kerry be played in Cork as per the counties’ home-away agreement irrespective of Páirc Uí Chaoimh’s unavailability.
“We as players felt it was the right decision for us and our team, that we would make a stance and say, ‘Look, we’re playing in Páirc Uí Rinn’. Unfortunately, the game didn’t go quite as we would have planned. I know we were there for about 50-55 minutes but I genuinely think we had as much done, to be honest with you.
“In the first year of (Keith Ricken/John Cleary’s) management, you find out a lot of things in players and stuff like that but definitely this year we’re a lot settled panel and people know each other better to form better.
“There’s savage unity. This year, I know the banter is even higher in the group. Fellas are getting along, they’re meeting for coffees and stuff outside of training. It all ticks boxes, like. When you’re training three or four nights together, that all helps.”
Turning 31 in April, there is still a sense that Hurley is making up for lost time after his hamstring issues. “I get hungrier, definitely. You don’t know when the end is going to be, but you know you’re touching the side of 30, it means a lot more to you. You try and enjoy it a bit more if that makes sense as well because I’ve been involved with Cork now since 2012 and, Jesus like, if you had to say that to me, it’s flown, like.” Although, trying to strike a work-football-life balance is tougher now, he admits. “It’s kind of gone a bit more difficult, if I’m being honest with you. Just social media and the way the GAA has gone, it’s gone massive. Phones everywhere now and what not.
“Just, people are interested in the GAA more. It’s a massive association so nearly everywhere you go it’s GAA, GAA. Even outside of work, in work, outside after training, even if you went to a different county, it’s mad but in a good way.”
Hurley has no complaints about the structure of the new football season, even when county secretary Kevin O’Donovan likens Division 2 to the championship given the Sam Maguire Cup places on the line.
"The harder the game, the more I love it,” enthuses Hurley ahead of Limerick’s visit to Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday. “The harder the game, the more pressure and I enjoy that environment.
“There’s a lot out there talking about Cork but at the end of the day, we have one win out of three so this weekend is big for us. As a player, you’re looking forward to it all week.”
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