Stats underline how important Séamus Harnedy was to Cork

Nothing summed up Séamus Harnedy’s inter-county career like the way he ended it.

The St Ita’s man, who was 36 in July, could have mentioned the four Munster SHC medals – one of them as captain – or the three All-Star medals won across a 12-season span. Instead, he framed his time in the red jersey in terms of the team-mates, opponents and managements he had encountered, while thanking those who helped to make him the player he was.

“I’ve had the honour of playing with and against some of the greatest hurlers of all time,” he wrote in a statement on Instagram.

“On top of that, I’ve had the privilege of working under outstanding management teams and mentors but the time has come to step away.

“Incredibly grateful for the support from my family, my friends, my club, St Ita’s and the people of Cork.”

Harnedy will never be found trumpeting his achievements, so it’s important that we commit them to record just to underline just how important he was to the Cork team since his league and championship debuts in 2013.

Thanks to the renowned hurling statistician Leo McGough, we can lay things down in bare facts before ever considering all of the intangibles he brought.

Across 68 championship appearances, Harnedy scored in 61, garnering 9-156 or a total of 183 – an average of 2.69 points per game, without ever taking a free for the county.

Scoring in 90 percent of the matches he played for Cork is a marvellous return, all the more so considering there were some fallow years to go with the plentiful ones, but arguably more impressive is the fact that he scored more than once in 50 of his outings, or 74 percent of the time.

While it’s easy to overplay the ‘don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’ angle, it’s one that can be applied to Harnedy – indeed, there had already been an element of that in 2026 as injury limited him to just three outings in the championship.

Naturally, as was the case when Patrick Horgan retired last year, there is regret on Harnedy’s behalf that the All-Ireland remained elusive but there was little more he could have done in that quest for glory.

The hope is that his dedication and application will have rubbed off and that, if and when the long wait does come to an end, more than a little bit of the credit will be due his way.