At 31, Brian Corcoran is already a Cork hurling folk-hero. So what tempted him back for another swing on the merry-go-round? Michael Moynihan finds out.

BRIAN CORCORAN can remember the aftermath of last year's All-Ireland final very clearly.

"I was at the dinner in the team hotel on the Sunday night of the final and there was a Cork guy, based in Dublin, following me around. He was a couple of hours trying to talk me into coming back but I was having none of it. It was definitely not in my mind and at that stage I'd have bet my house on my not coming back. It's strange how things work out."

Not as strange as Corcoran's retirement, however. The news stunned hurling fans but the Erin's Own man had straightforward reasons for opting out. "I gave up because I wasn't enjoying it," he says. "The training had become a slog. I'd get up for work and I'd nearly dread training that night.

"The style of hurling had changed as well. Playing centre-back you'd feel someone was marking you rather than you marking them. At club and inter-county level I was chasing a guy all day, coming in after 70 minutes without pucking a ball. It was frustrating, and that was the reason I didn't enjoy it."

The change in tactics was obvious to others as well; Erin's Own chairman Eoin O'Connor first noted Corcoran as an enthusiastic eight-year-old holding his own with 13-year-old opponents and saw what his club-mate was dealing with at first hand: "Brian was so dominant from 1997 to 2000 that teams were simply trying to keep him out of the game."

It wore away at Corcoran, who says he knew something was wrong when he nearly preferred golf to training: "There's no point in going out to play half-hearted when you'll be marking some hungry 19-year-old out to make a name for himself. If you're not hungry yourself you're wasting your time."

He was happy with his decision to retire until geography intervened. After five years away Corcoran moved house, back into the Erin's Own club catchment area, and found it harder to stay out of the club scene.

"Initially, I decided to come back with the club," he recalls, "I hadn't togged off once in the two-and-a-half years, so physically I wasn't in great shape. I started back officially with the club in February, but having made my mind up earlier I'd been going to the gym since the previous September."

Erins Own welcomed him back with open arms, unsurprisingly. Eoin O'Connor points out that Corcoran was an icon to younger players who never dreamed they'd share a dressing room with their idol: "His return was a huge boost to the club and you couldn't buy his experience."

It wasn't the first time Corcoran had been a catalyst for the club's ambition. O'Connor can recall a time when Erin's Own entered teams in the 'B' grade of juvenile competitions, but Corcoran's talent demanded the 'A' canvas. The club lifted its sights accordingly and in 1992 won the county senior hurling championship on the back of Corcoran's 10 points from centre-forward. At that stage he was an inter-county star, but in defence.

O'Connor points out that in his early days Corcoran was shuttled around the back-line to snuff out the opposition's most potent weapon, but he ended the 1990s as a regal centre-back. He'd have a new posting on his return. "I made the decision to play up front for the club," Corcoran says.

"I didn't think I'd be fit enough to chase young fellas around the place. Being on the edge of the square meant I wouldn't have to be as fit as in previous years."

It wasn't the first time the issue had arisen. Those with longer memories may remember that his legendary performance in the 1992 county final gave the Cork selectors food for thought. Some years ago one of those selectors, Monsignor Michael O'Brien, outlined the rationale behind putting Corcoran into the defence: "We considered playing him in the forwards. Club hurling is different to county hurling and though I knew he could play forward for his club, I tried to put him in the least pressurised situation ... Brian had the enthusiasm, know-how and hurling skill to take a number of backs out of trouble."

Msgr O'Brien sees the logic behind Corcoran's switch up front this season: "Brian's was obviously a great defender, a great central player to win dropping ball. I'd wonder, though, if he'd be better suited to corner-forward rather than full-forward he'd have a bit of room to see the ball coming, a bit of space in which to turn. It just strikes me that a full-back would be happy if he stayed in around the square."

The speculation about Corcoran's return to the inter-county arena began as soon as he pulled on the red and blue of Erins Own, with local media trumpeting his involvement in club games. However, as he points out, "There was no point in wanting to come back if the selectors didn't want me."

Donal O'Grady met him in April. "When Donal approached me I said the spirit was willing," recalls Corcoran. "He said I wouldn't know unless I gave it a try. I'd had a few club games and felt I had nothing to lose, so I gave it a shot, I said I'd try it for a month anyway and see how it went. That was a Saturday night and by Tuesday I was back."

Happy with O'Grady's intention to play him up front, Corcoran noticed some differences immediately: "Training's changed a lot. In my last couple of years we were doing a lot of running in the tunnels in Páirc Úi Chaoimh during the winter but now the training is more focused on the position you play in. It's horses for courses there was a time when everyone did the same training but now the full forward line, for example, would be picked out for a certain type of training. Also, there are two masseurs and a physio at every session; small things like that make a big difference."

SOME less official training practices have also changed dramatically: "Traditionally, you'd have needed a big excuse not to train, but nowadays you nearly need an excuse to train!" laughs Corcoran. "The management team encourages you to check with the physio any night you might have a slight niggle. If there's any doubt you're not allowed to train, which is a big change from the 'no pain no gain' days, when you'd be run into the ground."

The fruits of that training are visible in teams which are faster, fitter and stronger, but a change to surprise the traditionalists is the apparent change in Cork's tactics, which now owe something to Newtownshandrum's running style: "Ben and Jerry are a big influence on the team's style," he agrees, "If you have their speed and fitness you'll run at a defence, and as a defender in the past I found that awkward to deal with. You probably don't see as much of the ball at full forward as a result but it doesn't matter who scores as long as we win."

Relishing his involvement "They're a great bunch of lads and I'm enjoying it, but I've no regrets about retiring, if I hadn't I wouldn't be playing now" Corcoran talks freely about the watershed game in his first season since 2001: "The key match this year was against Tipperary. We regrouped after the disappointment of the Waterford game and though we didn't play well in the first-half we got a couple of goals after the break. That result turned the season around for us. If we'd lost to Tipp it could have affected Cork teams for a couple of years, so it was a huge game for us."

He knows next Sunday is a another huge obstacle, as is the man he's marking, Dunamaggin's Noel Hickey: "Noel's a super full-back, man of the match in last year's final, but then there's no bad player on the Kilkenny team. No matter who you're marking you'll have a tough time. It's a big challenge but hopefully it'll go well. I'm looking forward to the day, but the enjoyment is in winning it."

It's a far cry from 12 months ago. "Last year I was happy with my decision. I'd had a long summer with my family and played a lot of golf. I was at last year's game and I was probably more nervous before that than any game I played in. When you know the lads, and you know how much they've put in, you'd give anything for them to win it. Meeting them that Sunday night you could feel their pain, which helped generate a bit of fire in myself."

Maybe that Corkman who was following him around last September was onto something.

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