Harnedy: We’re living in a golden age of hurling

Diarmuid Sheehan Seamus Harney is relishing the new Munster SHC format

EAMUS Harnedy will again lead Cork into championship action this weekend and the Imokilly star can’t wait to get going. “Yeah, just can’t wait now for it to start. It is hard to believe that it is just this Sunday. The excitement is really building up. We know the importance of a home game first of all. Tipp also gave us a bit of a doing in the league so this is a challenge that we are all looking forward to.”

Harnedy’s suspension was over turned recently to allow the Cork star take part in what will be a huge day for hurling Leeside.

“I am looking forward to it. That [suspension] was hanging over me now for a few months and I am just delighted to be available for the day. We had put in a lot of hard work in the league.

“John [Meyler] has put a lot of emphasis on the league and on strengthening our panel. You could see that last year that the game is gone well beyond the 15 and the five players that come on have to perform.

“Outside that all the 30 players that come training will have a huge bearing on the championship this year so at the moment the main focus is on May 12, but we know that we have four very tough games coming up.”

Harnedy is well aware that this Munster Championship is anyone’s and getting off to a positive start is key.

“It is an absolute minefield. You can see the strength of Munster in the last few years. You could see that in the league as well this year with Waterford making it to the final progressing along the way.

“We are under no illusions. It will be extremely difficult this year. You have to hit the ground running and that is why the squad will play a huge part this year. The Round Robin system helps that if you haven’t played well one week you have other opportunities to put that right where as the old system you could be training hard all season for one or two games.

“That is the beauty of the new system and

I don’t think anyone has problems with the new format.

Emphasis has been back on training in recent weeks, but really looking forward to getting going.”

Building a fresh squad is important however getting some of the more seasoned players back is also a plus for Cork.

“We have new lads in and some very experienced players like Alan [Cadogan] coming in nicely which all goes to making the competition for places better. In saying all that all our opponents are very strong as well and all have players back as well so we are under no illusions about the challenges that are ahead but these are the challenges that you relish and these are the days you play hurling for.”

Letting players go back to their clubs for the opening round of the club championship raised some eyebrows initially however Harnedy is a big fan of the decision.

“A lot of our players including a lot of our big guns came through and put in some good shifts in the first round of the club championships – and I think it has been a good move from the county board in recent years to let players go out with their clubs and their club mates – it helps sharpen them and then they can come back into the county side looking great – that all helps everything to shape up well for this weekend and for the subsequent three games after that as well.”

Harnedy is a seasoned pro at this stage and knows well the what the challenges of being an inter-county star are so it was no surprise that the attacking powerhouse agreed with the recently published thesis from Noel Connors on the modern inter-county player and the shortening of their career.

“He has hit the nail on the head there. He is lecturing down there in WIT and he has put an awful lot of work into it. The county scene has gone absolutely extreme at the moment. The number of hours that you need to put into it now is extreme – it is tough to mingle everything but I concur with his findings. “The inter-county career has drastically shortened – as I said you can put in any number of hours but family and other commitments have to be put to the side but look it is demanding and getting more demanding every year so we have to enjoy it as much as we can. “We are in the golden era of hurling now where anyone can win it – it’s wide open and a great time to be playing.”