Late bloomer turned All-Star: Mark Coleman's rise to the top

Two Munster hurling championship medals, a Young Hurler of the Year nomination and an All-Star.

And he’s still got so much more to offer.

Ray Murphy – a man who would have known Mark Coleman for most of his life and coached him for a good portion of it, has watched the Blarney hurler flourish over the years.

And it all began with a camogie appearance.

“His mother and father were big into Blarney GAA and the camogie club,” Murphy begins. “Years ago, up in Brian Dillons, they were trying to form the camogie club again.

“It was U10s or something, and his mother was involved with the team.

“They were short a player for the last match, so when he was about six or seven – Mark played a camogie game to make up the numbers. That was my first meeting with Mark.” 

In the years after Mark would play for the age above on Ray’s team, lining out primarily as a corner-forward. Despite playing the age above though, Murphy never imagined Coleman developing into the hurler he is today.

And it wasn’t because Mark didn’t show the ability.

“Mark always had a hurley in his hand, he always had a lovely first touch,” Murphy says. “Very good footballer too, [something] that people wouldn’t know. 

You could always see he had the first touch and the skills.

“Mark’s problem was that growing up he was a very small young fella.

“I was involved with Muskerry and was asked to get involved with the Cork U15s.

“So, Mark made the U15 panel in 2012, we had an ‘A’ and ‘B’ panel.

“This was also when I first met Darragh Fitzgibbon. The two of them could have probably passed for U12s.

TALENT

“They were really small kids the two of them,” he remarks. “But you could see when they were training that they were unbelievably skilful. Their ability to pass and put the ball over the bar was exceptional, but physically they didn’t have it. The two boys couldn’t compete.

“We took them in for the second panel, and when you see the size of the two of them now, you would find it hard to believe they were the two smallest men on the panel.” 

Their height may have held them back, but Coleman and Fitzgibbon were more than capable of making up for that in ability.

“The second year in 2013, we won the U16 ‘B’ All-Ireland up in Tipperary.

“Mark was on that panel, I remember he came on against Galway and he got three or four excellent points when he came on. He nearly played all his hurling in the full-forward line because he was so small.

“Mark came to the fore at that stage. He developed after that into a serious player. I left the Cork setup, but Mark stayed in all the development squads and eventually made the Cork minor panel.

“They were beaten by Limerick in the Munster final, I remember Conor McCarthy was right half-back and Mark was left half-back. It was a big achievement for us [Blarney] to have two young fellas playing with Cork at the time.” 

In the years that followed, Coleman excelled. A year after playing Cork minor he made his senior debut.

By the end of the following season, he was an All-Star winner.

He instantly cemented his place in the Cork senior team, and unsurprisingly so. Coleman is an exceptional sweeper and a versatile force.

“Even at minor, he was there or thereabouts – but you couldn’t see him going on to become the player he became,” Murphy admits. “For a fella to win an All-Star on more or less his first year was just outstanding.

“You could tell he always had skill. He was a very quiet young fella, always very nice.” Coleman would walk into any intercounty setup and play a part. He can thank his versatility for that.

In Pat Ryan’s Cork team, he’s primarily been a sweeper – he’s also featured in midfield. Under Kieran Kingston he was always normally in the half-back line, be it in the centre or on the wing.

But for Ray Murphy, the 27-year-old belongs further forward.

“He spent an awful lot of time in the half-forward line for our intermediate team.

“I’d love to see him up the field, midfield or half-forward.

I know he’s a fabulous sweeper; he’s an attacking half-back. But he’s better in a free role.

“The only thing I will say is for the Cork half and full-forward lines, he gives them unbelievable service. The ball going in is out of this world. He does that in club matches too.

“I’ve seen him score 1-6, 1-7, 1-8 – one match I saw him score 1-11 when he’s on fire.” 

One performance in particular that stood out to Murphy was his display against Youghal in the Premier Intermediate HC relegation playoff in 2018.

With Paul Hallissey finding Coleman from the puckouts, he ran the show.

“We struggled for years at intermediate, and when we played Youghal, Mark was just on fire that night.”