For two years, as Graham Canty once remarked to him, Brian Hurley was like a car parked up in the garage.
Injuries kept him in there but looking back now, fit and all as he is, the Castlehaven club-man sees the bright side of his hamstring hell.
Two years out and a number of false dawns were tough to take but when he finally came out the other side, sometime around 2019, Hurley says that, given all the struggles, he came out stronger man.
Not only that, having put no miles on the clock for that period, his body was fresher too.
And that’s what makes him a young 30 now.
“It was actually Graham Canty that said it to me – you’ve to picture this as though you’re a car parked up in the garage he said, you haven’t put mileage on the clock so that was a great saying to me, and I use that in my head at times because my body feels good.
“Sometimes, you’d go by age or whatever, but when the body feels good, you can push that bit more if that makes sense.”
Hurley’s body is now doing what his mind wants it to and there was perfect evidence of this last Sunday, when he kicked 0-8 in a man-of-the-match performance against Dublin in the League.
“I don’t know am I sick of talking about my hamstring or what, but definitely, it made me ridiculously mentally strong being honest – the two years were long. 2018 was very challenging if I’m being honest.
“I remember being around the Cork panel and I got back for the Tyrone game and started, but played brutal, and we got a hammering.
“I took that very personally in that I was there mentally, 120%, but physically I was nowhere near it to be honest. That was so frustrating when my head was there but my body wasn’t.”
Is é Brian Hurley Laoch na hImeartha inniu! 🥳🥳
Comhghairdeas leis! 👏
BEO/LIVE ar @TG4TV @GAA_BEO | @AllianzIreland | #AllianzLeagues | #GAABEO | #GAA pic.twitter.com/gCH9tNA0Re
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) February 19, 2023
“Then in the club, we played Duhallow and we had two replays and I was missing chances that I’d never miss and I knew people were saying outside ‘he’s finished, he’ll never get back,’ but I used that as motivation to be honest. Look it didn’t happen overnight, there was a lot of work behind the scenes with my medical team.
“But look, that’s nearly a closed chapter in my book now. My body’s been good and I haven’t had any injuries related to the hamstring recently so hopefully I can keep that going and continue to look forward instead of looking backwards.
“Last weekend showed glimpses, despite not getting the win, and a lot of these younger lads are putting up their hands. As senior players, that’s encouraging, it keeps us on our toes as well.”
Cork were well beaten by Dublin in last year’s All-Ireland quarter final but you couldn’t escape the feeling after that game that something was brewing. The Rebels gathered in a huddle in the middle of Croke Park that day, and despite a topsy turvy start to this Allianz League, Hurley reckons they’re going in the right direction.
“We’ve a very settled panel. We had a very open and large panel last year, but it’s been cut down. There’s really good guys in it now, very honest, everyone’s in it for the cause and they want to get Cork back up to where Cork should be.
“I am (really enjoying it.) When you’re pushing on a small bit you try to grab onto it more and enjoy it more and you’re a bit more hungry for it. I like fast ball and we’re kind of playing a bit like that at the minute. Yeah, I can’t complain at all.
“The other thing is that there’s competition around me and I like competition. I like the way when there’s people putting pressure on you because that ups your own game. You practice more and you push yourself more and I like that side of it.”
