Well in the absence of memory let me tell you Brian Corcoran schooled the hurler of the year and was very much the reason Cork won as well as they did
No. Iâm saying that in 1992 there was a clear pecking order in hurling. Cork, Tipperary and Kilkenny were the top tier at that time. Wexford, Galway, Offaly and Limerick were in a second tier with little between those four. Dublin were tipping around this level too having reached two Leinster finals in a row though they were effectively done after 1991. Clare and Waterford were the whipping boys of the traditional counties and an argument can be made that they were below Antrim and maybe even Down at that time - in fact Waterford lost to Kerry in 1993.
Michael Breen was being called Michael Fennelly mark 2 after last years Munster championship⌠After two games in Croke park he was no longer even a starter for Tipp. Letâs judge Coleman in September, for now his report card reads excellent prospect
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Corcoranâs Cork career had a number of peaks and troughs .
1992 was a great year for him .
In 1993 he would a great League but they lost to Clare in Munster semi.
From 1994 to 1996 Cork were awful and he seemed to flatline .
In. 1997 the young side could have beaten Clare .
In 1998 they won the League and lost to Clare but he was very good.
In 1999 he was outstanding and won AI .
In 2000 he was outstanding in the classic semi v Biffos. .
In went down after that any he retired in 2002.
He came back in 2004 and won 2 AIs at full forward and was a wise head on that team
I read him book and he seemed a hard fella to make out .
Well it might be hyperbole to say he was by a mile the best hurler in the country but he did get hurler of the year
Is @Sidneyâs point not that Coleman has pretty much come out of nowhere with little hype to be to the manner born at inter county level at 19 rather than he is the best 19 year old ever to play.
Corcoran from what i recall played 3 or 4 years of minor for Cork before playing senior and had a big rep before pucking a ball at senior level. While i would doubt too many outside of Cork had heard much about Coleman this time six months ago.
Coleman has put together three top class performances this year in fairness to him.
Coleman is a phenomenal talent but he is still young .
He was fooling around with the big ball at this stage and Iâd say wasnât ideal
I saw him play minor in a game v Limerick in 2O15 and he was the best player on the field .
Anyone who saw Cork minors play in 2015 will have known he was a great prospect. Nearly beat Limerick on his own in the Gaelic Grounds. Best player on the pitch by a country mile that night.
Had a very decent league game this spring too.
Stupid for anyone to say âhe came from nowhere.â
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That was his original point but he also then said then that Corcoran wasnât better
It all depends on whether you are on good underage teams whether you are known as a great prospect or not. Cork have had good minor teams in recent years but havenât played on telly so lads wouldnât know much about them
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Coleman has been heralded a bit at underage. He was probably their best player at U-21 level last year and was very good at minor too.
The fact that Cork have done fuck all at underage for the past few years means he wasnât starring at the business end of the Championship but people would still have identified him as a good player. The way that Shanagher would have been despite being on poor enough minor teams success-wise.
EDIT- what @the_man_himself said above, basically.
Ita not. Its a great attribute.
You are making outrageous claims about a guy after 3 games.
He is good, very very good. But relax
Theyâre far from outrageous claims. I have not seen a 19 year old play with that sort of maturity before and heâs done it in all three games so far. Itâs his ability to read the game with the maturity of a player at least a decade older which really marks him out. The game generally is where he is and he always looks like he has time and space. Thatâs not luck. He seems to think about 2 or 3 seconds quicker than other players.
Nearly all the other players mentioned, with the exception of Noel McGrath, owed a large part of their success at the age of 19 to physical attributes. Coleman doesnât.
Tommy Walsh? DJ? Joe Deane?
It is spectacular. But i think its a bit much to compare him to Corcoran who was truly remarkable.
In terms of unknown, ya you could be right. He was seen actually as a ânice hurlerâ but probably not physical enough.
Amazing what a bit of empowerment does.
Steady on mate.
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None of those players made anything like the impact at 19 that Coleman has done this year.
What you say about Coleman being seen previously seen as a ânice hurlerâ but not physical enough is probably the kernel of my point.
He doesnât have any extraordinary physical attributes. Heâs not tall and he doesnât outwardly look to be hugely strong or anything like it. Heâs no slouch but but he doesnât look to be a greyhound either. The thing is that despite playing three full games, itâs still hard to judge how fast he really is as he hasnât had to demonstrate pace to any great extent - his exceptional positioning and anticipation means he hasnât had to.
Usually players who shine at senior inter-county level at 19 have exceptional physical attributes. I would put Corcoran in this category. Same with Joe Canning. Tony Kelly had greyhound-like pace. Austin Gleeson had exceptional pace and strength for a 19 year old.
Coleman has been able to star using his skill and his hurling brain. That he has been able to do so to such an extent without possessing any exceptional physical attributes makes his performances even more impressive.
In a sport where physicality is generally valued above all other qualities, he is that rarest of things - a truly cerebral hurler. Imagine what heâll be like when he gets another two or three years of top class C&S under his belt and heâs stronger and quicker and can match anybody in the physical stakes.
Actually donât know how I forgot him but Eoin Kelly(Tipp obviously) was another player who was outstanding at 19/20 and didnât rely on physicality