Graham Callanan v Wayne Sherlock: Vote for Cork's best city hurlers
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WHEN Glen Rovers were comprehensively beaten by Sarsfields in the 2014 county final 25 years after defeating their East Cork rivals in the final of 1989, there might have been a fear that the lengthy famine since that victory would continue.
It was a fairly shattering defeat by any standards but the Glen quickly got it out of their system, regrouped and a short 12 months later turned that loss into a glorious victory against the side who had run them ragged. The victory was greeted with wild scenes of pure joy and when inspirational captain, Graham Callanan took possession of the old trophy, grown men and women cried.
Some of the greats of Cork hurling have captained the Glen on county final winning days and it was only right and fitting that one of their greatest servants, Callanan should have had that great honour.
A year later the Glen were back defending their title very successfully and Callanan was at the helm again of a side wonderfully managed by Ritchie Kelleher. Without doubt, Callanan was a Glen great, a player who always led by example from his wing-back position.
He played at all levels, winning a county U21 title in 2001, represented Cork at minor, U21 and senior. He made his senior debut in 2004, playing in all of Cork’s league games and was an unused sub in the All-Ireland victory of that year.
He had great positional sense, read the game with near perfection and was always an influential presence in a dressing room when things might not be going as well as would have been liked. Down through the years, the Glen have always had this ability to produce great club players, players who subsequently wore the red jersey with success without gaining the accolades of others and Graham Callanan was certainly one of them.
It took an awful lot to come back from that county final loss of 2014, lesser people wouldn’t have but the old and great spirit of the Glen came to the forefront once more. Callanan played a major role in all of that and there is an enduring image of him carrying the trophy across the Christy Ring bridge in 2015 when the club rightfully took its place again at the top table of Cork hurling.
A top man on and off the field.
WHEN Kieran Murphy of Sarsfield’s came on to the Cork senior panel in the early 2000s, he had to get up to speed quickly as the training matches were of such a high intensity.
“I remember in one of those games I was marked by Wayne Sherlock,” he said “and he gave me a bit of a lesson. When I was coming off, I was talking to Seánie McGrath and he said, “Don’t worry about it, Sherlock destroys us all!”
The encapsulation of a player who did his job with the minimum of fuss, Sherlock didn’t come from a GAA background but soon began to shine in the Blackrock under-age structure and earned call-ups to Cork sides.
A key member of the teams that won All-Ireland U21 titles in 1997 and 1998, he was among several young turks given their chance by Jimmy Barry-Murphy for the breakthrough 1999 season, a rock of solidity in the right half-back position. That same year, he helped Blackrock to end a 13-year wait for a Cork SHC title.
While Cork failed to immediately build on that success for several reasons, Blackrock did and Sherlock was again integral as they won the Seán Óg Murphy Cup again in 2001 and 2002, with Sherlock nominated as Cork captain after the ’01 triumph.
When Cork made it back to the steps of the Hogan Stand under Dónal O’Grady in 2004, Sherlock was imperious at right corner-back, earning an All-Star award that year. While surgery in the early part of 2005 meant that he wasn’t a starter that year, he remained an important member of the panel as the Liam MacCarthy Cup was retained.
He retired in 2007, still shy of his 30th birthday, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that his absence was felt in the years that followed.
As a player, he kept it simple and backed himself.
“As the years went on, you were given videos and DVDs of players; but to be honest, I never, ever looked at one of them,” he said.
“In my head, I felt that if I focused on it too much – whether a guy pucked off his left or right or whatever – you’re nearly overthinking it and second-guessing."
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