Coming to the end of the line

Brian Whelahan's Diary: reflects on his future, the Leinster final, his flirtations with hairdressing and harsh lessons on the road

DEFINITELY MAYBE

Four years ago, after being beaten by Kilkenny in a Leinster final, you never thought it was going to take so long to get back. I was a lot more aware of the situation because of the strong possibility that that's it: there's not going to be another appearance in a Leinster final.

I can't see myself giving the time over again with my own interests outside of hurling now. Then again you wouldn't know. There's always a doubt. I'll make up my mind definitely over the winter months and there won't be any doubt then. When you're in the middle of the championship and enjoying it, it's hard to say that you won't play on.

I'd never say "never" in the middle of a championship. God knows what the rest of the year will bring.

I know the prospects don't look great but then again at the start of the year no one was giving anyone outside of Kilkenny a chance of winning Leinster and since last Sunday no one's giving anyone outside of Kilkenny or Waterford a chance of winning the All-Ireland this September.

The summer has a funny way of turning things on their head.

FINAL ANALYSIS

I'm not sure if I'm travelling with the team on Saturday. It's an eerie feeling when you're injured and can't play. I might just drive to Limerick but if the management asks me to come with the team, I'll do that. The injury's going to keep me out for four to six weeks.

The Leinster final was one of the most disappointing days I've had over the last few years because even with the missed chances we were still in the game.

It was a great opportunity for Offaly, particularly for the younger lads who hadn't got a Leinster medal. That opportunity is gone now for at least another 12 months and possibly a good bit longer. It would have brought them on in leaps and bounds.

The match was going well for me until the injury. It wasn't that I wasn't going to go after Eoin Quigley. He got some very good points but the last one I think I'd just cleared the ball on the other side of the field. It came back down to him within about 20 seconds and he put it over the bar.

We had a plan early on that I'd sit back a bit in front of the full-back line but you can't really do that in championship hurling anymore because you're letting your marker dictate the play. If he gets on the ball, he can get a few scores like Eoin did. I didn't want to cross our 65 at any stage because I felt it was too far to be dragged, especially for a centre back.

In the first half we were going farther and farther down the field and that was something I was very aware of - leaving so much room for their full-forward line. It might have looked as if I was playing a holding role but it was just that I didn't want to wander too far. I wanted to keep some sort of shape in the back line.

FOR PUCK'S SAKE

The one team that came up with a plan to play Kilkenny was Wexford. I couldn't believe it watching Galway. They mustn't have looked at the video of the Wexford game or they wouldn't have been pucking ball down on top of Peter Barry.

Some keepers are very, very good at directing the puck-out. Brendan Cummins, Damien Fitzhenry and Davy Fitzgerald. They're good because they practise. It probably takes more time than anything else in training. It's something I've been trying to drive home any time I'm coaching a team or giving a talk.

Donal Óg Cusack's another. Cork won a championship in 1999 directing puck-outs to Fergal McCormack on the wings. Look at the statistics after any match. You win puck-outs, you win matches.

It's the one ball in the game that a guy is allowed to hold in his hand and dictate where the ball's going to go under no pressure.

If you asked DJ Carey or Henry Shefflin, with time on the ball, - no one trying to hook or block them or challenge them at all - could they put the ball in someone's hands nine times out of 10 from 50 or 60 yards, they would tell you yes.

It shouldn't be different for the goalkeeper. It's practice.

CAREERING OFF COURSE

A lot of kids are just after finishing exams. When I was doing exams I was hurling minor with Offaly and to be honest that was more worrying to me than any exam. I had no idea what career I was going to choose. Some fellas do but the majority of friends I knew who went to college have ended up in different careers to what they set out to do.

I think it's crazy to be asking anyone at the age of 17 or even 16 sometimes, because some aren't doing transition year, to be making decisions on what college they want to attend and what choices they make for the rest of their lives because in two or three years they could have a completely different outlook.

The mother's a hairdresser and when I was young I used to help out in the salon. Pádraig Horan was my careers master and he calls me in one day to talk careers. I hadn't a clue so he says: "Would you be interested in becoming a hairdresser? There's great opportunities for you there with your mother owning one and that."

I was about 16 and said: "ah maybe I will, so." A couple of weeks later he meets my mother and says: "I see Brian's going to go into the hairdressing business."

That was the first she knew about it, which was a fair surprise for her.

THE ROAD WARRIOR

If I hadn't been hurling with the Offaly minors I wouldn't have got a job with Tullamore Frozen Foods. I was delighted to stay there until 1998 or '99, nearly 10 years including some of the time when I had the pub.

I enjoyed bring a rep on the road. If you have to sell whatever product on the road, you meet people and learn a lot of lessons, including some harsh ones. When I was first on the road I was very quiet. We did business down around Kilkenny and Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir.

I met John Leahy in Clonmel one lunchtime and he said to me, "come on up here to this restaurant and I'll introduce you and maybe he'll do business with you." So in fairness he did, introduced me and said I was working for Tullamore Frozen Foods.

It was probably my first time to be introduced to someone cold like that. John went off and left me, having done his work. If I was anyway bright at all I'd have got an order but when your man says: "what price are you for chicken?" He wanted the price per pound but I hadn't a clue. I just knew the price of a chicken because I had it written down but I couldn't work out what he wanted.

So he says: "Listen, come back to me in a couple of months when you know more about your products."

Then, on another occasion, we had an exhibition down at the Newpark. This fella was opening up a restaurant in Clonmel and he came in to see what products we had and look at the displays. He then says: "Are those burgers 100 per cent beef?" I couldn't answer. I had to turn around to one of the other lads and get them to throw the box up and read off it that they were 100 per cent.

Your man was giving me loads of hassle and I said: "Jesus, will you give me a break. I'm only after starting with these fellas."

So he says: "If it was me you'd be finishing right now."