Family ties and schools hurling in Christians key to Downey development

EOIN DOWNEY’S pathway to becoming a Cork senior hurler began from the very first moment he picked up a hurley.

His unwavering dedication to the game from the start has accelerated his rise, and it’s why he’s already settling in at full-back – in his first year out of the U20s. He was a star in the making, and that was always clear to Glen Rovers’ chairman Liam Martin.

“There’s three boys in Eoin’s family,” Liam begins. “So we had Robert obviously before, then Tom who would be older, and then Eoin came. His two brothers were there, so he was always there as a very young boy in the background.

He was constantly in the field with a hurley in his hand. Wherever there was a puck around going, he was there.

“He has that confidence in himself, a little bit like Robert and Tom. They push each other too, even when they’re not training. I’d have seen them on the green outside their house and they’d be belting balls at each other. It was always part of that family growing up.

“I was with the team just ahead of him with his brother, and Eoin, as well as playing his own age group was playing the age grades above him on a constant basis as well, and was good enough for it.” 

ELITE MENTALITY

Eoin’s elite mentality stemmed from his environment, and it was a crucial part of his game that shone through from as young as 12 years old, placing him firmly on Liam Martin’s radar.

“He would have been U12 at the time and we had quite a good U13 team and he fell in there and I can always remember, we got to a national Féile final the following year against Faythe Harriers up in Tipperary, and Eoin was actually a year younger, he was 13.

“He had been significant part of that group coming through, and he actually had to miss the final.

“He was in absolute tears, it meant that much to him. But that passion he always had for hurling, it would appear even then, so it was no surprise to me.

“He always wanted to learn, and he was always a great listener. 

He was actually a very easy fella to deal with, even back then. There was no issue whatsoever with him, he was just mad keen to train and play.

“There’s no guarantee you’re going to see that potential coming through, but it seemed to be a ready-made deal with him, more than more than most.

“He was a very easy guy in the dressing room too. You won’t come across anyone that has a bad word to say about him.

“He ticked more boxes than a lot of fellas, not just on pure talent, but the way he went about it.” 

With a solid foundation, Eoin was only ever going to improve as a hurler – but his mental attributes have been crucial to his development. It’s what separates the best in sport.

“He actually did primary in Christians as well as secondary and it happened to coincide with the big emphasis on hurling that came in CBC at that stage. He blossomed in school’s hurling, he blossomed everywhere.

“You could see he was comfortable as he went up the grades, but he also brought that very competitive instinct that runs through the family. That was always there, and it was great to see from a young age.

“That’s not something you can teach or pick up. He had it, and he developed himself significantly as he got on. He captained the Cork minor team as well, showing that he is a leader.” 

VERSATILE

Cork certainly have a plethora of talented young hurlers right now, but what makes Eoin unique is his versatility, which has also been a constant from the start.

“Eoin was so good at his own age group that he tended to play everywhere,” Liam says. “Generally speaking, he would have been centre-back, but he was also thrown up in midfield. He was even put into the half-forwards and never had an issue with it either.

“Up the grade then he was usually in the half-back line, but sometimes he’d be corner-back. Even back then, going back into full-back wasn’t exactly strange to him, which he’s doing a bit more on the inter-county scene at the moment.

He developed a good grounding in terms of different positions, but he was always willing to learn and to step up. 

“It really stood out to me a few times, is if you were in trouble he put his hand up and said ‘I’ll do this. I’ll do that’.

“He was wanting to take responsibility all the time from a very young age,” Martin explains. “I’ve even seen that kind of thing as he’s come up into the adult grades as well, you could see he’s not going to shirk responsibility anywhere.

“He has a very, very good attitude and that’s going to take any player a long way, but particularly him.”