Brosnan hell-bent on immediate bounce-back to 'where the Glen should be'

The Glen won the minor county last Monday week. Dean Brosnan had three nephews playing. When they step up to adult level, their uncle wants them stepping into a Premier Senior panel.

FINAL-BOUND: Glen Rovers' Dean Brosnan ahead of the Cork Senior A hurling championship final. Pic: Jim Coughlan.

Dean Brosnan won’t thank us for our opening question.

How did you feel walking off the field at Fermoy 13 months ago?

Thirteen months ago in Fermoy was of course the scene of Glen Rovers’ fall. The end of 97 years of top-flight hurling in Cork. Relegation. Regret. Recriminations.

Brosnan was at right half-forward against Kanturk. Top scored from play with 1-1. Tried his damnedest, as he’s done since his 2009 debut. It wasn’t enough. They weren’t good enough.

“It was one of the most disappointing moments of my life,” he says in reply to the opening question.

“Sitting down in the dressing room and just knowing the hurt you are after causing in Blackpool, in a club of such history and tradition as the Glen.” 

A desperately overused phrase is the old root and branch review. It’s repeatedly thrown out as a knee-jerk reaction to sporting setbacks of a certain size. 

Glen Rovers being removed from the Cork Premier Senior hurling championship for the first time since 1925 was a setback and then some.

To say what happened next was a root and branch review would be too neat. What they did was turn the house upside down to see where improvements could be mined.

“From the top of the club down and back up again, we looked at everything,” Brosnan continues.

“It would have been easy for the club to turn on us after last year, but they have been very supportive, right from the chairman all the way down to the children playing underage.

“Going into this year then, getting Tommy Dunne in was a huge coup for the club. Even off the pitch, professionalism has gone through the gears big time in terms of strength and conditioning, nutrition, supplements, and just looking after ourselves.

“Relegation was something that refocused every player. We made sure to give ourselves the best opportunity this year that we are not going to leave any box unticked in our campaign.” 

Senior A are bad words in the club. An unwanted label, the same as Brosnan and his teammates can't rewrite the unwanted fact that they are the men responsible for that label.

They’ve absolutely zero interest in hanging around in the second tier. There was no celebration after overcoming Castlelyons in the semi-final. No one had their back slapped inside in the dressing room.

They’ve one goal, and that’s to get the hell out of here and back to where they believe they should be. Where the Glen has always been.

“If a ball is there to be won, the hurt you felt in Fermoy last year is there in the back of your head that you have to make sure that you get there and win that ball because last year we didn't get there.

“Last year, we lost four games in the last 15 minutes. When momentum went against us, we didn't fight back. Whereas our team unity this year is different. That showed against Castlelyons when put to the pin of our collar.

“A point down with 10 minutes to go, we finished the game 1-4 to no score to win by six, so maybe that was in the back of our heads that we are not panicking, we are here together as a team, and that is what drove us home.” 

The 33-year-old teacher has played in seven county finals. Each and every one of them was the main event. 

Sunday’s curtain-raiser, he says, is every bit as important as 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

The Glen won the minor county last Monday week. Brosnan had three nephews playing. When they step up to adult level, their uncle wants them stepping into a Premier Senior panel.

“These fellas have grown up looking at the Glen playing in Premier Senior finals. Our group is the exact same as last year as this year's minors aren't allowed to play adult, so we haven't let any of those players down in terms of them not being able to play Premier Senior hurling.

“I have a nephew, Jake, who I'd love to be able to say, you can play Premier Senior next year. We want to get up Premier Senior so they can play at the top level.

“We are in a position now where we can win a final and go back to where we believe the Glen should be.”