“If only I knew that in my early 20s, I’d know a lot more.” – O’Brien’s advice worth heeding

There's a presence about Paudie O'Brien.

He's a man you'd shut up and listen to. They say the quietest person in the room is the strongest and that old adage certainly rings true with the Kilmallock hurler. It's not that he's stuck for a word - far from it - it's the lack of exaggeration that pulls you in. It's one of the first days back after Christmas, it's an interview building up to the provincial finals you couldn't have known were happening so soon so it's easy to see why the cliches are doing the rounds. 'Do ye like being underdogs?' 'Has it sank in yet?' That sort of thing. And you can spoof them out to Paudie O'Brien all you want, the only trouble is that he'll throw them back at you straight away. Underdogs shmunderdogs. Why would that actually matter to us? This is a man who'd captained his club to the county title by the time he'd turned 23 so it's hardly any surprise that, at 32, he knows the wheat from the chaff now. If you learn from your experiences then this is a war veteran, it's a man who's seen plenty. He's won with Kilmallock, played with Limerick, got dropped from Limerick at 26 then had to watch that team win three All-Irelands in four years without him. Tough times and tough people. So when asked what he's learned in all that time, as a young hurler, you could do worse things than listen in. "I suppose if I was to reflect back into my younger years in my 20s and stuff, especially when I was involved with Limerick, it was probably the be all and end all for me.