Sully was a big help to me and I’ve taken a lot of stuff from him on board
DIARMUID HAS BIG RESPECT FOR CAHALANE & FEELING’S MUTUAL
DIARMUID O’SULLIVAN’S defence of Damien Cahalane last month wasn’t the first time he had the Cork defender’s back. Cork’s best full-back of the modern era has played quite a role in shaping their current one, who enjoyed a terrific Championship campaign last year up until the All-ireland semi-final loss to Waterford, in which he was sent off. Speaking a few weeks ago, O’sullivan said the Cork management team, of which he was a part at the time, accepted responsibility for his second booking.
“He was in a position that he shouldn’t have been in,” said O’sullivan. “Just little things like that, they just play on your mind.
“If we had seen it maybe 30 seconds earlier, we could have got Damien back inside and Colm [Spillane] would have been out and he wouldn’t have been in the position where it happened.
“It was as much as our fault as anyone else’s, Damien just committed a foul and it was a yellow card and that was it.”
“Look, I suppose myself and Sully would be fairly close now,” Cahalane acknowledged ahead of Sunday’s Munster final against Clare.
“He was very good with me in terms of the coaching he did with me over the last few years.
“I have a huge amount to thank him for and you know, growing up as a Cork supporter, Diarmuid O’sullivan was always a huge figure. “When you got to be coached by him then, you were extra vigilant in taking advice on board from him.
“Definitely, everything that he has worked on with me over the last few years has been carried on this year.” His fine form last year was largely attributable to the three-time Allireland winner.
“I suppose it would have been. It was specialised coaching in that po- sition as well which was great. But a lot of it came from confidence too, and that came from management and when I got a vote of confidence from the Cork public and that probably fed into how I was playing afterwards.”
He’s engaging with the
Cork public that little bit more these days having recently opened a new bar, Cahalane’s, on Hanover Street in the city.
“I’ve done a bit of work behind the bar but mostly I am managing the place.
“We have good staff inside there, that have given me a great opportunity to live out my passion of playing hurling for Cork and for the moment, that is the priority with the Munster final coming up.
“I have huge amount of praise and thanks for the staff for letting me do that.” A lot of players shy away from talking hurling outside of the team environment but Cahalane speaks freely. I have had good support from the Cork public and you know what, I don’t mind that.
“A lot of people don’t like talking about hurling outside of hurling but at the end of the day, I am a sports fan as well so I don’t mind chatting about Cork.”
The 26-year-old missed the vast majority of this year’s League through but has started each of their four Championship games so far.
He added: “For the first game, I think the big thing was that I didn’t have a whole pile of game-time under my belt so we had a good few A v B match scenarios in training so that would have been a huge help.
“You find there in training, you are always marking the best of the best.”