'I was barred from the pitch' - How Cork star Patrick Horgan learned that less is more
The result of Sunday's All-Ireland final will be irrelevant to whether Horgan plays for what would be an 18th season in 2025.
There's a famous quip from the 1990 Munster football final that has passed into Cork GAA folklore. As Billy Morgan’s side inflicted a record defeat on Kerry, at whose hands they had suffered so much, the shout went up: “Lock the gates and make them watch.”
But, when it comes to Patrick Horgan, it was a case of locking the gates of Páirc Uí Chaoimh to keep him out. It was the same with the club pitch in Glen Rovers too for a spell. Horgan just didn’t know how much was enough.
“Definitely early on, when I started playing,” he admits. “My touch just seemed perfect. I was on the pitch at five, we were training at seven. Then we'd have a two-hour session, we're going to be on the field for four hours and I’d be worn out.
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“There's so much more goes on in a game and when you realise that, your training routine changes. So definitely early on, I definitely did too much.
“I was barred from the pitch and everything for a while. Remember the old Páirc, the two big red gates? They were just closed, not a hope. Barred out of the Glen field as well.
“So then the game started to change and then different things, and we started thinking differently about the matches. The training routine then changed. So it's not all about the time you put in, it's the quality time.”
But, still, old habits die hard.
“I'd be annoyed if I couldn't do something or try to do something. When we train, we'd see a lot of players doing a certain move or strike or whatever, and then every fella is over trying to do it and you'll be freaking out if you can't do it.
“I think it's just the hunger to be better is just really strong.”
He adds: “Visualising things that could happen or things that will happen. How to get better. Anything. Technique, stuff if I'm walking down the street, if I'm with a buddy, I'll walk away from them and think about something.
“But they know at this stage. If I go quiet or anything, they know what I'm doing.”
There is a narrative that is built around Horgan for this Sunday’s All-Ireland final, how apt it would be for the 36-year-old to finally win an All-Ireland in his 17th season, but he insists he’s not seduced by any of the romance.
“I'm not aiming 17 years towards a day. That doesn't mean I haven't had good times, do you know what I mean?
“I’ve had good days down through the years and the amount of stories you have from match days going down through the years and training and 17 years of my life has been coming here, hanging out with the boys, new fellas coming in, getting to know them, becoming great friends with them. That means a lot to me.
“Obviously, it'd be unbelievable if we could get across the line, but it can't be just about that. You know what I mean? In your hurling career, it's lovely to get it and everybody wants to have it and I’m no different.
“But I'd look over a long time and (ask) did I enjoy it or didn't I enjoy it, and I did.”
Whether he plays for an 18th season or not, the result on Sunday won’t be a factor.
“It actually wouldn't have an impact, no. Because if I were to say it would have an impact, I would have just lied in the last question.
“Obviously, if I see myself falling off like a performance or speed-wise, and you can see that easily. And if I feel like I don't have the hunger to train and put in the amount of effort that the players we have put in, then I wouldn't.
“It's a very simple thing to say, I'm not going to do it because if you don't have it, you don't have it.”
But even he acknowledges that, whenever the time comes to retire, it’s not terribly far away. And given how obsessive he is about the game, you’d wonder how he’d cope without it.
“Obviously, it's a really hard thing for anyone to do. It's going to be really hard for me. Seventeen years is a long time and before that, even before the 17 years, you're still nearly putting in as much time for the previous six or seven because you're trying to get to here. That probably takes more effort than actually being here.
“But it's obviously really hard for every player. When it does come time where I need to stop playing, I was so lucky.
“So it should be easy for me to give it up, have a few pucks around. But let's see.”
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