Midleton's O'Leary Hayes discusses man marking role and why he stepped away from the Cork panel

MIDLETON’S impressive run to the Premier Senior HC final this year stemmed from a variety of factors, and one of those is Seán O’Leary Hayes. Deployed as a man marker this year by manager Micheál Keohane, Seán thrived, and got better as the championship went on.

“I suppose my role kind of changed, I was definitely more of a man marker this year than I would have usually been,” Seán begins. “Every other year we kind of lined out the way we are and if it came to it then I’d be put in a man marking role.

“This year, it was just man marking from the start. It’s a bit of a different role, but I suppose I kind of grew into it. I was happy with the way it went, most games I didn't really do too much myself, I was more just kind of trying to spoil their game.

MAN TO MAN

“After the break in America, I came back hungry, and that's another big thing you need when you're going to these types of games when they're so tough.” Tasked with man marking big names like Patrick Horgan and Jack O’Connor, Seán excelled this year.

In his first game back from the States, Midleton found themselves behind at the break against Glen Rovers.

O’Leary was moved to mark Horgan, and the Glen forward was completely taken out of the game as he struggled to get on the ball, and even score from frees.

Against Jack O’Connor in the final, O’Leary Hayes restricted their star man to just two points from play, but one moment that stood out in particular from Seán’s season was in their semi-final win St Finbarr’s.

He was on Ben Cunningham, and as the Cork U20 scored a point, his only from play – O’Leary Hayes responded by getting one back in the very next passage of play, with a monstrous strike from inside his own half.

“I remember that, because in the game, my man took a short side-line and scored. I remember thinking after that it should have been stopped, especially if you’re taking on the role as a man marker.

“I remember I was annoyed to concede that, so I pushed forward more than I would have, and was glad to get a score when the chance came up.

“It's hard to make those [forward] runs when you're man marking, because you also have to think about where your man is if the move breaks down.” 

O’Leary Hayes’ season is made even more impressive when you consider the injury troubles he’s had over the past few years, especially while involved with the inter-county setup.

AROUND IN CIRCLES

Seán discusses the challenges he’s faced, and why he made the decision to step away from the panel earlier this year.

“Last year, leading up into the [National] league, I kept getting injured, and I usually don't,” he explains. “I needed a good run in the league to perform and get back into the mix of things. After the run of injuries, I remember going down to play this development game in Dungarvan.

“It was for players who might come onto the team, and I was going down there because I was just coming back from injury, while the Cork team was going to play a league match.

“Going back into training and then getting injured again, I just felt like I was kind of going around in circles. Then at the same time, my hunger for it wasn't 100%,” Seán admits. “I knew in the back of my head I wanted to do some bit of traveling as well.

“After being in the setup for so long, since U20, and then these injuries were coming at me and all these things were coming at once, I felt it was time to just take a break from it. Just to get my hunger back for it as well. When you’re in it, you have to be 110%.

When it's full on, it is full on. You kind of want to have everything else outside of it be in order.

“I dropped off myself because I just wanted a break from it and wanted to go and do a bit of travelling and come back then with another perspective on it.

“I would definitely like to go back [with Cork] at some stage, but that’s not a given. All the lads on the team, they're all sound. All the management team are sound.

“There’s not anything that I’m complaining about, but at the moment, I’m down here trying to finish college and get working, so I'd imagine that [a return] would be further down the line, but I wouldn’t rule it out.