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Seamus Harnedy - Cork's Captain Marvel

Cork hurling captain, Seamus Harnedy, pictured at the launch of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship on Dún Aonghasa, Inis Mór. 

Cork hurling captain, Seamus Harnedy, pictured at the launch of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship on Dún Aonghasa, Inis Mór. 

By John Harrington

Trailing by 2-11 to 0-9 in the 35th minute of the Munster SHC Final against Clare, Cork found themselves in a pretty dire situation.

They were being out-hurled by an increasingly rampant Clare team and it seemed as though they’d go to their dressing-room at half-time in a state of crisis.

When your back is to the wall like that you need your leaders to lead by example, and that’s precisely what Cork captain Seamus Harnedy did.

With his hurley held aloft he demanded that Anthony Nash drive a puck-out towards him straight down the middle of the pitch.

Nash obliged and Harnedy soared into the air to claim a brilliant catch above Clare’s Patrick O’Connor before turning on a five-cent piece and charging towards the Clare goal.

Luke Meade was on his shoulder and Harnedy popped the perfect pass so the wing-forward wouldn’t have to break stride as he collected it. That allowed him to stay one step ahead of the chasing Clare defenders before driving it to the back of the net.

It’s no exaggeration to say the match turned on that moment because instead of going into their dressing-room with their heads down, Cork now had their tails up and would go on to destroy Clare in the second half.

Harnedy scored 1-4 from play over the course of the match but the leadership he showed for Meade’s goal was the most decisive play and summed up why he’s such an important figure for this Cork team.

“They're the kind of pressure situations you have to enjoy,” Harnedy told GAA.ie

“When you're under a bit of pressure, it's nice to pull something out of the fire. That just happened to come my way. In fairness all I did was catch the ball.

“Luke Meade made an unbelievable lung-bursting run, I just had to literally give the ball to him and his finish was cool, calm and collected from there.

“He was arguably as much of a leader as I was in that place. It's nice to be able to do that. But, again, you have to prove it the next day, you can't dwell on it.”

Seamus Harnedy celebrates after scoring a goal for Cork in the Munster SHC Final against Clare. 

Seamus Harnedy celebrates after scoring a goal for Cork in the Munster SHC Final against Clare. 

Harnedy is certainly not the type to wallow in self-congratulation or pat himself too heartily on the back.

And even though he’s clearly an inspirational captain, he prefers to spread the credit around when the conversation turns to leaders in this Cork team.

“I think there's so many kinds of leaders in the team,” said Harnedy.

“It lessens the burden anyway. I just see myself as one of 15, one of 20, one of 30. My main focus is looking after the younger lads. We had a lot of lads coming in last year, they settled in nicely. You just look after them.

“We have a number of leaders there obviously, Anthony Nash, Patrick Horgan, Bill Cooper, Mark Ellis, you'd lads like that in and around you and they help. They're unbelievable. They keep pushing things.

“Even Alan Cadogan, who picked up a knock this year, he's incredibly good. Obviously Conor Lehane as well. You have lads that have played for a number of years and are experienced and are good leaders.”

If Harnedy views his leadership role as mainly being a guiding hand for the younger players in the panel, then he’s doing a good job of it.

Players like Mark Coleman, Darragh Fitzgibbon, Luke Meade, Shane Kingston and Sean O’Donoghue are growing with every game and clearly feel very comfortable and confident within the Cork team environment.

“They're very good, burst onto the scene last year," said Harnedy. "The most encouraging aspect of them is how grounded they are. They want to be successful.

“How they apply themselves on a daily basis, they're incredibly grounded, modest for what they've achieved in a short space of time. The challenge for them is trying to keep them levels of enthusiasm up.

“They're a great bunch, they're not hard to manage and if anything they're driving the older lads as much as we're trying to drive them. They're incredibly good in that aspect.”

Cork captain Seamus Harnedy lifts the Cup after victory over Clare in the 2018 Munster SHC Final. 

Cork captain Seamus Harnedy lifts the Cup after victory over Clare in the 2018 Munster SHC Final. 

It’s easy to imagine those young players are inspired by the example that Harnedy sets because he’s had to work ferociously hard to get to where he now is.

Not too many players from small junior clubs like St. Ita's go on to captain their county, and he admits himself he occasionally has to pinch himself that he has.

“A small bit yeah because for years you're just striving to get into the setup itself and then to be given that honour is very nice,” he said.

“You can't dwell on it too much, though. The days go very quickly.

“It’s nice for the lads at home I suppose. They are incredibly good people behind me from home the whole time, they've very supportive.

“After the Munster final, a busload of them travelled up the last day. I'm very proud of where I come from and there's good people down there.”

Harnedy is definitely one of them.