RICH PICKINGS AS LESSONS LEARNED
Richie calling time on a career like no other
Earlier this season he broke a bone in his lower arm in an off the ball coming together on a puck out against Cork. I spoke to him a few days later and he said, ‘Broke my arm again.
I was, ‘Jesus, right, is that the season gone?’
Straight away it was, “No, Paddy Deegan did this two years ago between the Leinster final and All-Ireland semifinal and he made it back.
“It’s not my hurl hand. I have broken that one before. That takes a lot longer. This is my catching hand. I should be back in three or four weeks.”
That was it, and he was only on the way home from the hospital at the time.
Player
I don’t know any other player that wouldn’t look at an injury like that and say, ‘That’s me gone, done and dusted. I’m out.”
I doubt there is any player that knows their body better than him, with all the injuries he’s had.
He broke ribs and suffered a punctured lung against Galway in 2012 in the League and then played the League final four weeks later against Cork.
I remember him shouldering Sean Og over the sideline in the first five minutes. He was like a little wrecking ball.
There is a moment in Peter Pan where a small robust lad on the ship turns himself into a ball and ends up rolling down the plank and taking out a load of bad guys.
That was a clip we’d send into the Whatsapp group and send on to Richie. He had that low centre of gravity where if his shoulder hit your ribs that was lights out for the player.
In ‘15 again he had an injury on the Saturday, played the AllIreland semi-final eight days later and scored five points.
Everyone was, ‘Yeah, he is going to be ruled out. He is not going to play.’ But in his own head it was a case of, ‘Nah, I am never ruled out’.
His body was telling him to give up but his mind was saying to keep going.
He had the discipline too. I used to share a car journey with Richie and his brother, Paddy, down from Dublin.
Shop
Paddy was an animal of man. We’d pull into a shop. Richie would buy a packet of jellies, eat about three of them and empty the rest out.
You’d be looking at him saying, ‘Why did you do that?’
‘If they are in the car, I’ll eat them.’ He was meticulous in what he did and it showed in the clutch moments with the mastery of the lad.
LAST year’s Kilkenny Intermediate final had Thomastown playing Richie Hogan’s Danesfort.
I teach in Thomastown and it was kind of rumoured that Richie’s best days were behind him, and if he goes out to midfield, leave him off – he doesn’t need to be man-marked. Thomastown learned to their detriment that he does.
He ended up with 12 points, six from play and Danesfort won as complete underdogs.
Ability
Richie always had to be man marked regardless, because he always had that ability.
Look at the achievements he has. He is right up there with TJ, DJ and Henry.
He was possibly a 7/10
HOGAN’S RUN: Richie Hogan in the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final at Croke Park
The 2014 League final, the little one-two with TJ to win it at the end.
In 2011, a lot was made of the score he got off the hurl, top corner against Brendan Cummins, but he was also the person who set up the goal for Michael Fennelly.
Richie found himself in space, took the ball on the left, took the shoulder, offloaded it via the outside of the right hand to Michael Fennelly.
One perfectly-timed run later and he buried the ball in the back of the net.
The 2020 Leinster final, that genius goal, three touches.
Even in this year’s All-Ireland semi-final in an extremely close game against Clare he was still part and parcel of two scores.
He won a free when it looked like nothing was on and then set free taker and that was the one thing that might have let him down at times.
Because of that TJ or Henry would take over and get back in charge of the frees
Only for that Richie would have been the number one name on the team sheet the whole way through.
Richie was never satisfied with what he had. He was always pusing.
He was a primary school teacher. Then he went on to do a masters in business management and an MBA in business administration. He worked for Croke Park and is with PwC now.
It’s only when you understand the personality outside hurling that you understand, that’s why he went back for another year and another year.
Everyone said the goal in the 2020 Leinster final was the perfect opportunity to hang up the boots but to him, no, he had more in the tank.
He was brought on again and again by Kilkenny to try and get the win.
That was Richie, so incredibly driven and constantly striving for more. up Wally Walsh with a quick bit of thinking when he’d lost his hurl.
Speech
I also heard it was Richie in the final this year that was giving the speech at half-time.
He was just a born leader in the group in everything he did.
You could put Richie anywhere from 8-15. He was even the person brought back onto the line in ‘14 against Tipperary to make the penalty save against Seamus Callanan in the All-Ireland final.
Himself and TJ Reid.
Richie had spent time in goals at underage. He had the wrists. He is a relative of DJ Carey and he has all his attributes, every single one of them. But his ability to keep coming back and back and back really shone out.