Irish Daily Star - Inside Sport
Hogan’s a real lead bould and beautiful
YOUNG ADAM WAS DESTINED FOR BANNER HEADLINES
FINLAY Bealham will become only the seventh player to make 200 appearances for Connacht when they play Zebre at the Sportsground tonight (7.30).
TOMMY GUILFOYLE remembers a bold prediction his son Gary made seven years ago about Adam Hogan.
Feakle-killanena had unexpectedly won an under-14 A county title, upsetting establishment club Sixmilebridge in the
nal, with Gary managing the side and Hogan starring in the full-back line.
“I remember my son saying after that he’d be an All Star by the time he’d be 21,” says Tommy.
“At 14 years of age he just saw something in him.”
Nominated for an All Star and young hurler of the year in his
rst full season at 20, he’s 21 this year and well on track to make good on Gary’s projection.
He was the obvious choice for man of the match in Clare’s League nal win against Kilkenny this month, despite Aidan Mccarthy’s haul of 2-1.
He charged out of defence time and again, drawing four frees, the last one effectively putting the seal on the win at a time when Clare were on the back foot.
Stock
Hogan comes from solid stock, with his mother, Ruth Murphy from Turloughmore, a daughter of legendary Galway hurling gurehead, the late Phelim Murphy.
His father, Micheál, won a Clare SHC alongside Tommy Guilfoyle, a former Clare captain, with Feakle in 1988, their only title in the last 80 years.
“He would have been our manmarker, as the man says. He’d be a small bit different to Adam.
“He would have been known as a guy that wouldn’t stand on ceremony, I’d say.
“He’d take you out rather than tell you what he was going to do, if you understand me.”
Adam couldn’t be accused of waiting for things to happen either, but his game is built around speed, skill and anticipation as a natural corner-back that plays very much from the front.
With his distinctive style and red undergarment, he stands out. He’s passionate, and the Clare crowd feed off it.
He’s not lacking in cuteness either, using his low centre of gravity to engineer at least some of those frees won in the League nal.
“Sometimes he’s bould,”laughs Guilfoyle.
“He could be niggling but I think if he plays from behind, particularly against the marquee corner-forwards out there, he’s not physically the strongest so I think he needs to play in front.”
It’s not just the club under-14s that he has elevated coming through the ranks, as he starred for St Joseph’s Secondary School, Tulla, who came from nowhere to win a Harty Cup two years ago.
Earlier this year, he was part of Mary Immaculate College’s Fitzgibbon Cup win, just their third ever.
Former Clare star Podge Collins coached the side.
“They [St Joseph’s] played in C and B in Munster so to come up and to compete in a Harty, it was a bit of a shock really, to be very honest about it,” he explains.
“Even from watching those games, Adam was excellent.very consistent. He’s constantly improving, which is always a great sign in a player.”
Guidance
Collins said he “needed very little guidance from the line” during this year’s Fitzgibbon campaign, despite not having been able to train regularly with the group given his other commitments.
“For such a young guy he almost plays like a veteran but if you’re going to the Clare games over the last two years, you can see that, the way he communicates with other players and everyone listens to him as well, the way he talks.
“He’s a second year but a lead
SUDDENLY, Sean O’donoghue is 10 seasons deep as a Cork senior hurler and trying to get his head around approaching veteran status.
Not that players are usually bracketed in those terms at just 28, but given the age-pro le of this Rebels panel, he’s now one of the more senior servants.
First called in by Jimmy Barry-murphy in 2015, he was a Cork underage footballer of note, captaining the Under-21s in 2017, all while skirting around the edges of matchday panels for the senior hurlers.
But he became established and captained the side last year, though a dead leg in the League opener meant he only featured in their closing two Championship games.
He retained the captaincy this year and played in four of their ve League games.
“I feel like I blinked and I am one of the older fellas,” he says. “I remember coming in when I was about 18 and talking to Christopher Joyce. He was telling me he was 23. And I was thinking, ‘Jesus, you are so old’, but now I am 28 and I am trying to think who was 28 when I came in, they are well retired now.
“I still feel like I am 22, 23. The body feels great. Hopefully I can keep going for another ve or six years, if not longer, if I mind myself off the eld.”
O’donoghue would probably describe himself as an accidental cornerback having played out the eld during his developmental years. In football, he was a nailed-on centre-forward.
“I think what happened was I was playing mid eld for UCC. Kevin Daly from Dungarvan, he was full-back. He was full-back for the Waterford minors the year before me.
“He did his cruciate. They lobbed me into the full-back line and that was it. I was pulled onto the seniors then as a corner-back.
Position
“You grow into a position. You learn to deal with it.”
O’donoghue remembers thundering out with a ball against Limerick two years ago and, as is the way of the modern corner-back, looked for a short pass rather than a booming clearance.
“(Aaron) Gillane stayed inside when I ran out with the ball and instead of hitting it long I tried to work it out and got turned over and Gillane was waiting inside and got the goal. So I suppose there is still the chance that you can leave it long and I think I have to bring that into my game.
“I suppose I felt like it was completely my fault really. But, again, you just have to focus on the next ball. If Gillane tried to chase me out he wouldn’t have been inside.
“So that’s what I was telling myself, he was lazy then so he was able to get the goal. I suppose he’s a goal-getter too, he knows where to stay. He’s cute that way, he knows how to get goals.”
Is corner-back a position that can be truly enjoyed?
Question
“That’s a great question! I think I enjoy it when it’s done and we’ve won and I’ve done a good job. I think you grow into a game as well and if you’re starting to beat a fella you get a feeling in your head that you’re wanting the ball to come in, there’s no fear.
“I think no matter what, some fellas anyway, and I’d be one of them, I think your head can tell you that if you make a mistake here you’re dust. I’ve gotten better at dealing with that now as well and just taking it play by play.”
Coming up against the likes of Alan Connolly, Shane Kingston, Patrick Horgan and Jack O’connor in training, O’donoghue says he’s well road-tested for anything he’ll face in the Munster Championship in the coming weeks.
“I suppose I look at the fella I’m marking and realistically I’ve marked someone who’s stronger than him, someone who is faster than him, someone who is a better hurler than him at training.
“I’m starting to have that mentality now heading into a game. Heading into the Wexford game the last day I was thinking no matter who I’m marking today at training I’ve marked someone
tter, someone faster, someone stronger. That gives me a bit of comfort that I can deal with whoever I’ll be marking.”
Championship hurling returns to a revamped Walsh Park tomorrow.
The previous Championship game there was when the Rebels scored a victory there two years ago that reignited their season.
“That game is the biggest one we’re going to have this year,” added O’donoghue.
“We’ve got to put the boot down early and get on top of them early and hopefully keep adding on those points, stopping them when they get a bit of momentum and coming away with a victory, hopefully.”