BRIAN Hurley has seen some of his best friends step back from the Cork football panel in recent years, but the Rebels captain hasn’t felt the urge to follow them.
The Castlehaven sharpshooter insists he has more to give.
He turned 33 years old this week, yet Hurley doesn’t feel the clock is ticking. It’s the opposite in fact: he’s convinced that when he’s in full flow he can make a difference. It’s why when he has watched friends exit stage left, like John O’Rourke last November, Hurley didn’t feel the urge to consider his future.
‘Representing the red jersey is special and not everyone can do it. When I can, I’ll try to make the most of it,’ he says.
‘Some of my best friends have stepped away and that has been fairly hard. I still feel I have something to offer and that I can improve Cork football – and I’ll keep trying to answer that call while I can.’
The talismanic attacker reckons he has been involved with the county senior squad for 14 seasons – and he’s right, drafted into Conor Counihan’s set-up back in 2012 – but this is also his 20th season in Cork football stretching back to his U14 days. Carbery Rangers footballer John O’Rourke started with Cork at the same time. Those two men from neighbouring parishes – and rival clubs – soldiered together in county panels for 19 years so when the Rosscarbery man retired from Cork football last November, Hurley felt it too.
‘Johnno and myself had a tough phone call before it was announced and we met up again after … and it was tough,’ he says.
‘You’ve been joined at the hip for all these years and it’s unusual then not to have him around. Then you have my brother Michael (Hurley) and Mark (Collins), who I’m very close with as well, and for them not to be there …
‘You build new friendships and new relationships with lads, and the wheel keeps turning.’
Castlehaven's Brian Hurley is one of the top club forwards in the county.
Hurley doesn’t bristle when asked if he feels there’s a finite time on his own Cork journey because he genuinely believes he can contribute to the cause. His club form backs this up. In the last five county premier senior football championship campaigns, only Steven Sherlock (who has opted off the Cork panel for 2025) has scored more than Hurley. Look at his championship scoring tallies: 0-25 (2020), 4-29 (2021), 1-33 (2022), 1-19 (2023), 0-28 (2024). In last year’s county semi-final win against the Barrs, Hurley tormented the city side, scoring 0-11. On form, he’s one of the best in the business in Cork club football, a leader in Castlehaven’s back-to-back county titles, and he wants to spark success at inter-county level too.
‘I don’t think so, to be honest,’ he replies when quizzed if he feels conscious that he’s nearer to the end of his Cork story than the beginning.
‘I can see what you’re saying, but if I can give my max every year and keep my standards and my competitiveness there, that helps the rest of the team – and that’s all I can do. If I can do my job and get the most out of myself, I think that helps the team.
‘Being honest, I didn’t get that out of myself in the first part of the league because I missed so much. Hopefully I can rectify that in the championship.
‘If I do my job well, hopefully that puts Cork in a better position.’
From left, Limerick vice captain Barry Coleman, Cork captain Brian Hurley, Tipperary captain Steven O'Brien, Kerry captain Gavin White, Alan Sweeney of Clare and Waterford captain Conor Murray at the launch of the Munster GAA Senior Hurling and Football Championship 2025 at Muckross House in Killarney. (Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile)
Perhaps it’s the 2016 and ’17 seasons he lost through those career-threatening hamstring injuries that have an influence on his mindset. Hurley was told at one point he might never play football again, yet here he is, still contributing to the cause. Because it was almost snatched from him, maybe this football-obsessed Castlehaven man values this opportunity to play football for his county more than most of us understand. He doesn’t hide the fact that the sacrifice and commitment needed for inter-county has reached ‘off the charts’ levels. It’s not an easy task year after year after year, but while Hurley can, he will.
‘Don’t get me wrong, you probably don’t enjoy three-quarters of it – it’s such a commitment and training is tough. But what I am told is that you will enjoy it down the line, looking back,’ he muses.
‘I’m doing my best, trying my best for Cork football, like everyone else in the group. The championship is here and hopefully all the work we’ve put in all year will pay off and justify what we put in.’
Ask Hurley what his ideal birthday present would be this week and odds are he’d reply ‘beat Limerick’. Cork’s latest Munster senior football championship campaign begins this Saturday evening where Hurley’s own inter-county career started back in 2013: the Gaelic Grounds. He made his championship debut there, kicking 1-1 in a 3-17 to 0-8 victory. Cork were the reigning kings of Munster that season, having won in 2012, but the Rebels have come up short in every provincial campaign since. That hurts.
After John O’Rourke retired, he told this paper: ‘In my own head I didn’t want to finish with Cork until we had won something substantial … that’s the hardest part, walking away having not achieved that.’
Clonakilty footballer Thomas Clancy, another to retire from the Cork scene over the winter, feels similar: ‘It made it harder to step away knowing that I haven't won something substantial at senior level.’
Hurley knows the feeling, a serial winner with Castlehaven but with little to show from his Cork career. The path to Munster success isn't straightforward this year either. If Cork beat Limerick, it’s Kerry next in the semi-final. But Hurley won’t stop trying.
‘If you are not looking to achieve the most in the red jersey you probably shouldn't be here. That has to be my goal every year. Yes, Munster is a medal that I don’t have and it’s one that I will be pushing to get. That starts with Limerick on Saturday,’ he adds, and he’s likely to start in a full-forward line including Chris Óg Jones and Mark Cronin, two in-form forwards in their mid-20s. Add in Cathail O’Mahony, and a returning Conor Corbett at some stage, and the Cork attack carries a threat, with captain Hurley naturally assuming the responsibility of a man who has, in his own words, been around the block.
‘My biggest job is to stay on the team!’ he laughs.
‘Mark and Ogie are after a big league, O’Mahony is playing well, with more to come back, so I’m being kept on my toes, for sure. There will be a lot of competition. That’s healthy. As one of the older lads you welcome that, that these lads are playing well. I like competition because it means you will get more out of yourself.
‘I think Cork have good forwards and if we can get everyone up to full speed we will be in a good position.’
Hurley, having missed most of the league, is moving towards top speed now, with the belief that he has more to give – that’s why he comes back every season.
