Brian Hayes: Limerick are still the top team around, we don't read anything into odds

It’s a measure of Brian Hayes’s imortance to the Cork hurling team that the St Finbarr’s man is the only forward to have started every game so far this year.

Nine appearances across the Allianz HL victory and the opening two Munster SHC games have yielded a tally of 7-12. 

What makes such returns all the more impressive is the fact that, in Cork’s last regular league game, Hayes was forced off with an injury that looked like it might prematurely end his season.

Instead, the prognosis proved to be manageable to the point that the former county footballer was able to line out against Tipperary in the league final. From there, three fine performances earned him the PwC GAA/GPA Hurler of The Month Award.

“I suppose, initially, I would have been worried that, whenever you get a bit of a scare like that, you're going to be worried,” he says.

“I suppose, personally, if you were to be injured for a period of time you would have to rule out your season but thankfully it wasn't too bad. The physios and performance team around the place were very good. So it wasn't too bad in the end, thank God.

“When it happened, the league final didn't really come into question. It was just about getting back for the Munster championship if I could. You were going off symptoms and just taking things day by day and putting in great work with the physios.

“Once you were able to push on and see if pain wasn't too bad to be able to carry on, it wasn't too bad. So, thankfully, we were able to get back straightaway.”

BELIEF

That league win put Cork as favourites for further success in the championship. While Hayes doesn’t read too much into the odds, he doesn’t hide the belief within the group, either.

“Being honest, I suppose we wouldn't really put too much interest in the bookies now,” he says.

“Whether we'd be favourites or not, it wouldn't really matter but, I suppose, on form, we've no bother saying that we think that we're obviously up there with one of the best teams in the country.
“Obviously, there's Clare who beat us in the All-Ireland last year and Limerick who have been around for the last few years. 

There's two of them teams in Munster alone.

“We were only focusing on getting out of Munster and coming up against those teams, along with Waterford and Tipperary. I suppose the first two games have gone okay, so hopefully we can keep it going.”

That’s the attitude that Hayes has brought to his own situation since switching from football to hurling at the beginning of 2023. Did he expect to have progressed so quickly?

“I suppose you're always hoping to be in the starting team,” he says, “but over the first couple of years obviously you're trying to build towards that.

“For this year, when we went back after last season, I suppose that would have been one of the things you'd be targeting, just keeping fit and hoping to play every game and play a part as much as you can.”

HUGE TEST

And Sunday?

“Like any other game in Munster, really, it's going to be a huge test,” Hayes says.

It's going to be a huge test for us as a playing group. 

"They're still the top team around the place, so we'll be looking forward to trying to bring ourselves up to that level on Sunday.”