‘I am a big believer in having high standards’

BRIAN Hurley’s approach to football has changed over the years. He admits he doesn’t enjoy the game during the game itself, that it’s more about the joy winning brings to those around him than the personal satisfaction he gets. 

He traces this change of mindset back to his injury-riddled years, that time around 2016 and ’17 when the football-mad Union Hall man was told he’d never play the game again – but he defied the odds to return to the top. Similarly, Castlehaven have defied the odds in their ongoing campaign, taking out all the big guns to return to the top in Cork and Munster. And now an All-Ireland club senior semi-final is next up this Sunday.

Logic would suggest their main scoring threat and top scorer, in his 15th season of senior club football, is enjoying his own football in this campaign?  

‘I don’t really enjoy it, to be honest, only maybe after winning,’ Hurley says. 

‘I set very high standards for myself, I wouldn’t have been happy with how my inter-county went (in 2023), with injuries and what-not. I put a new page out for the club season and I really wanted to go after it when I got back.

‘It’s hard to describe, but you don’t really enjoy it, you’re trying to push the standards, you’re trying to drive everyone.

‘I don’t get nervous anymore. I don’t enjoy the game during the game, I just want to keep going; whether you are up or down, you keep pushing. It’s a weird enough approach, I don’t know where I got it from to be honest, but it just came. It is what it is at the minute and I don’t mind it. 

‘But there were a few days after the Munster final when I was on my own, and it was class to really think about it, add up all the work that went in, and it’s really special to know you have achieved something big, but hopefully have more to come.’

Brian Hurley celebrates Haven's Cork Premier SFC final win with his brothers, Shane and Michael, and mom, Patricia.

Earlier in the season Hurley remembers chatting to the younger players in the Castlehaven panel, telling them if they won the county title they would have the best week of their lives. He was one of a handful of the current group who had lived that week before, back in 2012 and ’13. Pure magic. On the October bank holiday Sunday, Castlehaven were crowned the best in Cork for the first time in a decade – and Hurley’s words of wisdom came true.

‘Those boys certainly had the week of their lives after that,’ he smiles, ‘and the joy it brings to other people, like the young lads, is good enough for me.’

In mid-December, Castlehaven regained top spot in Munster after a chaotic provincial final triumph against another fishing heartland, Dingle. A 12-rounder that went to sudden-death in a penalty shoot-out, Hurley was on one leg by the end, as the ‘crazy game in crazy conditions’ took its toll. It was worth the short-term pain, though. Christmas kicked off early around Union Hall and Castletownshend. Top of the world stuff. Again, that’s where the enjoyment lies.

‘The joy around the village, the joy to the older generation, the joy to the community itself, it has been incredible. That’s why we play football, why every club in West Cork plays the game, to bring that joy and happiness to your own people is special,’ Hurley says.

‘The place has been buzzing, there is a vibe in the village that I haven’t seen before. It’s great to have the older generation caught up in it all, talking about the games, and you have to soak that in.’

Like he says, the Cork captain does have those moments when the reality of Haven’s achievements hit home. After the Munster final, it was at the end of the following week. 

‘I was up the country before Christmas, and a fella who has eight All-Ireland medals came up to me and said “that’s one medal they can’t take away from you”, and that hit me, that this is big. But we are not done yet and we have a massive game on Sunday,’ Hurley says, and the All-Ireland semi-final against St Brigid’s in Thurles is now the target.

He knows Castlehaven is on the cusp of something quite special. It has taken them nine games to reach the last four in the country. He’s turning 32 in April and acknowledges, too, he might never get this opportunity again.

‘It would be the biggest game I’ve played,’ he states.

‘I like putting pressure on myself and on the lads, I like that because you have to perform under pressure.

‘It’s a massive game for the club and all the lads involved, but this is why we play the game, and now we have a chance. It’s a big opportunity for us all,’ he adds, and the ability to hit the heights under pressure is one of the reasons Castlehaven have beaten big guns like Nemo Rangers, St Finbarr’s and Dingle in this run.

‘I am a big, big believer in having high standards. To be fair, the whole group rose up to the standards expected. That’s really what the difference was this season compared to other years. A lot of senior players would have led that. Sometimes the standards might have been too high, but in fairness everyone is pulling their weight.’

Hurley is quick to stress too that this is a community effort. He has spoken before about how the locals ‘live and die football’. Forget the January blues, there is only one topic of conversation this week: the match. 

From manager James McCarthy and his management team to the local women, including Brian’s aunt Trish Hurley, who cook food while the team is training, this is a team effort.

‘This whole thing is linked together, the whole community has got around us, the local businesses, and we wouldn't be where we are without everyone else. We are in this together, and they are driving us on; that would be replicated in every club. We  couldn’t ask for more,’ he points out.

‘Look at our management team, they have been world class. Anything, and I mean anything, that we have asked for, we have got; they found a way to get it.

‘There is food cooked for us all year long, every night. Johnny Regan’s mother Harriet, my aunt, David Limerick’s mother Catherine and Marion Collins, while we are training for two hours they are inside cooking for two and a half hours.’

So when Hurley and Castlehaven run out onto the pitch in Semple Stadium, all the players know the team behind them has worked to give them this opportunity to take a giant step closer to joining the football gods. 

Look at the set-up manager James McCarthy and his management team of Bernie Collins, Seanie Cahalane, Enda Buckley and Gavin Gallagher have in place. Darragh O’Callaghan is the man with the van who looks after all the gear, assisted by Anthony Hegarty, Barry O’Neill and Ryan Deasy. There is a stats team, too – Brian Crowley, Ultan O’Donovan, Sean Gallagher and Daniel O’Regan. Donal O’Mahony takes care of the video side of things. Niall Buckley, previously involved with the Cork footballers, works with the Haven group on goal-setting and standards. Three Castlehaven two-time county champions act as water carriers – David Limrick, Dermot Hurley and Kevin O’Donovan. These are all locals from the parish, working voluntarily. 

The team stretches out further. Physio Orla Doolin has been with Castlehaven for the past four seasons; her gym programme and injury-prevention programmes are for the entire club, from U14 up. She is also a physio with Rowing Ireland. Skibbereen’s Brian Williams steps in when Doolin is not available.

Paul O’Sullivan, a performance nutritionist with Cork GAA, is Castlehaven’s dietician, planning each week depending on games or training. Then there is Fionn O'Shea who looks after sports science, providing the running programme, while he records and relays back all the GPS information from games and training. Like Brian Hurley says, the set-up is top class, and that’s the platform to allow the players to meet their challenges.

‘The bar is always rising as you progress. The funny thing about Munster club and All-Ireland club is that you don’t know the other teams as well as you know the teams in Cork, and that’s exciting too. The level goes up, and you have to push yourself and the body more to meet that,’ says Hurley who loves the challenge and the pressure of an occasion like this.

He might not enjoy the biggest game of his life when it’s swaying back and forth, but once the final result brings enjoyment to his own people, then it’s job done.