Cork hurling: Sarsfields' puckout variety tells you why they're the team to beat

Statistics are no longer a sideshow in GAA. In the Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship, they are the bedrock of preparation, shaping training sessions and game plans.

Most of that information never sees the light of day, tucked away in dressing rooms. The public get only the surface view.

The value of having a dedicated streaming service like Clubber, is that the curtain lifts slightly. Not only does it put every game at your fingertips, it lets us go back, pause, and pick apart moments that would otherwise be inaccessible.

And so far, every one of the top five club contenders has played twice, with each game available to watch back on Clubber. That gives us a rare chance to see how their puckout approaches shape up.

We’re starting with Sarsfields, and over the coming days we’ll work through all five.

Sars have been ruthless on their own ball. Against Fr O’Neill’s, they retained 81.8% of puckouts, every single one in the second half. Against Erin’s Own, it was 69.23%, losing just four in each half. Their opponents, by comparison, managed 56.75% (Fr O’Neill’s) and 55.81% (Erin’s Own).

Into the wind, Ben Graham has seldom gone short. Sars have hit 29 puckouts against the breeze, and only 10 of those have been in their own half. Of those, nine of 10 have been secured.

When they’ve gone long and into the breeze, the aim is almost always one of the two flanks. Only one long-distance strike into the wind has been central, in the first half against Erin’s Own.

When their opponents have had the wind, only five of a total of 39 puckouts between Erin’s Own and Fr O’Neill’s have landed inside their own half. Sars’ opponents have constantly looked to press up their full or half-back line, and neither Erin’s Own or Fr O’Neill’s had much joy with that approach.

Particularly because Cillian Roche and Craig Leahy have been so exceptional in the first two rounds.

With the wind at their backs in the second half against O’Neill’s, Sars only had seven restarts but Graham was immaculate: two short, four long, one mid-range. Even when he rained ball in around the 20-metre line, Sars were patient. No forcing of goals, no rash decisions.

If the shot was there, they clipped it. If it wasn’t, they recycled to a man in a better position. That, in part, explains the 28 and 30-point returns across their first two outings.

Fr O’Neill’s and Erin’s Own are not bad teams. Sars are just that good.

The second half against Erin’s Own was the exception, a contest lit up by three goals from a side stung and desperate to make amends for an abysmal opening period. Erin’s Own were sharp off puckouts down the right flank, winning six of eight. Down the left, though, they found nothing. Late on they tried short, more out of necessity than design.

Sars have been very diverse in their puckouts, but wing-play has been a constant. Short puckouts to Conor O’Sullivan or Cathal McCarthy invariably turn into a runner breaking down the flank. If that option is closed, Killian Murphy or Daniel Hogan appear in pockets through the middle. 

Add James Sweeney’s aerial presence, and Sars can go direct without breaking stride.

It is the sheer range that unsettles opponents. Stick passes, handpasses, running the flanks, or simply a ball dropping from the clouds – every road leads to the same conclusion. They will take you point for point, and over 60 minutes, they will beat you.

The team to beat, for good reason.