Patrick Horgan v Ronan Curran: Vote for Cork's best city hurlers
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THE only current player to be included in this illustrious list and with every justification. One of the modern era’s greatest forwards, he has given the Glen and Cork outstanding service and that continues right up to the present day.
He has lined out in all six forward positions and he is the leading scorer in championship, surpassing some of the game’s greatest players, including Joe Canning and Henry Shefflin. There have been times when he almost single-handedly made the difference between the winning and losing of games.
In a glittering career, he is still waiting to win a Celtic Cross as an All-Ireland senior winner and, although now in the autumn of a glorious career, the cause still endures that can be rectified. Of course, great players from many eras end their careers without that honour but that never diminished or lessened the contribution that they made.
Horgan is the holder of two county senior medals with the Glen in 2015 and 2016 and on both occasions was a massive contributor, winning the man of the match award in 2016. Those achievements rank as his proudest days with a hurley in his hand, something that he is rarely without.
One of best dead-ball experts of all time, his points from those situations have won many a game. He is an inspirational figure to thousands of youngsters on Leeside and he is the player that they seek out in the immediate aftermath of a game.
He has been recognised by the All-Star selectors on four occasions and has been chosen for a host of other honours too. He remains as devoted to the game as he was when his career was only in its infancy stage and his unique talents are hailed everywhere.
While Limerick are the undisputed kingpins at the moment, there is was every chance that Cork would have got another final crack off them this season if the Glen great had been on the field from the outset against Galway.
He recently stated: "Going down training and just trying to be a small bit better all the time, that keeps me going and it’s an obsession of mine."
The fervent hope of every Cork supporter is that he will get that All-Ireland medal but one way or the other he will always be one of the greatest players that his club the Glen and Cork ever produced. When he secures possession, a score usually follows, a true great.
HOW different things might have been if Ronan Curran hadn’t been talked around after a rash decision to leave the Cork panel in the early 2000s.
“I was on the panel in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and I only played one league game in that time, I think it was against Derry at home,” he said.
“I’ll be honest, I was getting fairly fed up by the second or third year in there, not getting games. I walked away at one stage, I think during Tom Cashman’s reign, but I came back – I got a couple of phone calls saying I was still very young and didn’t know what way it would go."
Eventually, the appointment of Dónal O’Grady in the wake of the first strike afforded Curran and everybody else a clean slate. The dual minor star was left in no doubt that there was a spot up for grabs.
“Dónal he said to me, ‘You’ve always been centre-back, there’s a number 6 position there to be won – it’s up to you so off you go.’ I played a few challenge games and did okay, then it came to the league and I was very lucky to get off to a good start. In my first game against Limerick, I remember playing really well and that gave me the confidence that I was able for the level.
“That could very easily go the other way, where a few things go wrong for you and you end up questioning yourself.
A successful championship debut against Clare in 2003 meant that any doubts about Brian Corcoran’s long-term successor were put to bed. Cork won the Munster title that year, reaching the All-Ireland final against Kilkenny.
While the Rebels lost that game to the Cats, they went a step further the following year having come through the back door, and went back-to-back in 2005, the first time since the mid-1970s that Cork had retained the title.
Through it all, Curran was the rock in the middle of the half-back line, flanked by John Gardiner on one side and Seán Óg Ó hAilpín on the other, as good a trio had ever linked at numbers 5, 6, and 7. The St Finbarr’s man won All-Star Awards in 2003, 2004 and 2006, when Cork again won Munster but were denied a three-in-a-row by Kilkenny.
As a manager, he took St Finbarr’s to the 2019 SHC semi-finals and did likewise with Kanturk in the 2020 senior A grade – in each case, they lost to the eventual winners Imokilly and Charleville respectively.
For 2023, he will be part of Ben O’Connor’s U20 management team. He will have a lot of wisdom to impart.
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