St Finbarr's manager Paudie Murray: Environment is expectation 

It’s more than a decade since Paudie Murray took on the role of Cork camogie manager.

In his time in charge, the county won the All-Ireland senior title four times, while he was also the intermediate boss in 2018, when a double was achieved.

After that era came to an end, he had a stint as Cork minor hurling manager in 2022 and the time since then has been spent in under-age roles with St Finbarr’s, including victory in last year’s Premier 2 minor hurling.

On Sunday, he will take charge of the Barrs senior team when they clash with Glen Rovers in the Co-op SuperStores Premier SHC final at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh (4pm). In what way is he a better manager now than the one starting off?

“I suppose, tactically, you've got more knowledge and you're probably a bit more calmer on the line, more composed,” he says.

“You're more experienced in dealing with players and less things probably get to you than what they would get to you a number of years ago.

“Probably from a club point of view, certain things go on that, probably at an inter-county set-up, you'd be scratching your head but this is an amateur set-up.

“I think that's important. There has to be give and take between players and management and club and things like that.

“Everyone is doing their best, that's the way I look at it, whereas probably from an inter-county point of view, you can be a little bit more ruthless.

“Your budget is totally different. I think this club has done incredibly well, our budget is no different to other clubs that are only fighting on one front.

“We as a club are fighting on three fronts, people must remember that. We're trying to make the best out of that same budget. that other teams are using, into three different sections.

“You've got to be a bit shrewder than in an inter-county set-up.”

Especially when the job is not one where coasting is accepted.

“Funnily enough, I was listening to a podcast recently and they were saying that the environment always trumps your will,” Murray says.

“So, no matter what will I had, if you come in here, the environment is expectation. There's always an expectation here to win something.

“I call it the red zone: you're put into the red zone, you've got to learn and I think it's a great environment to be in.”

Murray and his brother Kevin, who is the team’s coach, transferred from the Barrs to Cloughduv as players a quarter-century ago.

While the first championship game in charge ended in defeat to Midleton, a lack of preparation time was a big factor in that and they have improved since.

Dealing with the dual nature of the Barrs means that every hour together is previous.

“We get our players and we’ve one session, really, to get ready for the county final,” Murray says, “we've got to deliver a real training session that night, that players are crystal clear on the way we want played.

“You've got to get everything spot-on, whereas if you're non-dual, you've got four or five training sessions to get your points across.

“Maybe it's a small reason why we've been in and out of it match-wise at the moment, because we've had little time with the team.

“I'd probably say that we're ahead of schedule in relation to where we wanted to be. If you asked us in June this year would we get to a final, the answer probably would have been no, so I think we're ahead of where we expected to be.

“I know for people outside they'll say we have many talented players et cetera and all that, but talent doesn't guarantee you success. We've seen it with many a team down through the years that there's more to winning than talent.”