Shane Barrett profile: Flying forward has moved to a new level this season

AS a player who has always shown promise, seeing Shane Barrett pick up a lot of minutes for the Cork seniors isn’t much of a surprise. 

It was always going to come, it was just a matter of when. The Blarney man excelled last season with his club, and he’s carried that momentum into 2024, but it feels like he has made a real breakthrough this year.

Paul O’Leary, a current teammate of Shane and former manager of the Blarney hurlers has watched from the sideline and on the field as Shane has gone from strength to strength over the last five years.

“I was manager of the Premier Intermediate team in 2019 and he would have been 18 that year,” Paul begins. 

“The previous couple years had been kind of tough for us, we had skirted around relegation and just narrowly survived it in 2018 by beating Youghal below in Carrigtwohill.

“Then in 2019, with the injection of youth like Shane [Barrett], Paudie [Power] and a few more, we got to the county semi-final and were beaten by the eventual winners Fr O’Neill’s by a point.

“So even though he’d obviously shown huge potential with Christians and Blarney underage, that was his first year playing adult hurling and he made an impression,” O’Leary explains. 

“We played Ballinhassig, Valley Rovers, and Fr O’Neill’s that year, three top teams, but coming from where we were to get to a county semi-final was a ridiculous turn of fortune.

That was down to Shane and a couple of the other younger fellas coming in.

“He’s a natural leader around the place, he’s a very humble guy. Whether it’s on the pitch or off the pitch, in the dressing room, he’s well able to talk and interact and give his viewpoints, and it’s always constructive.

“Obviously, then as a hurler, he’s got unbelievable skill and last year we had a fantastic run getting to the final and narrowly losing out to Newcestown, and Shane was top scorer. 

“Last year was a disappointing year for Cork in that they were beaten early, and he went off to Boston and played a bit of hurling and came back so hungry.

“I think he took his game to a completely new level, and his scoring record last year just showed that.” 

We all wondered how big of a role he would play in 2024, and whether that would be the year he settled down as a sure starter or if it would have to wait.

With four starts in four championship games where Barrett has contributed effectively each time, it’s safe to say he’s done just that. A total of 1-7 from play is a solid return, and for Paul O’Leary it’s just the beginning of a young player with so much talent and desire.

FOUNDATION

“His work-rate is absolutely through the roof. You see that with the club but you also see it with Cork. 

“With some of the games he has played with Cork, maybe he hasn’t scored a lot, but he’ll always put in a huge shift in that half-forward role.

He does everything, so with Cork, if he can get the consistency of scoring and get that two or three points a game, that’s what will make him a nailed-on consistent starter.

“He has the foundation in work-rate and link play, and the scoring last year with Blarney is the evidence to show he can get those scores that every inter-county forward is expected to get.” 

Playing alongside the talented forward is always going to be of benefit, and Paul has enjoyed being able to do that over the last three years.

“You can see the quality. Even training with him when he comes back. He brings such energy, and that leadership, he’s straight back in driving standards,” Paul says. 

PRESENCE

“Even from a young age he has a massive presence around the place, and when he speaks everyone listens.

“Playing against him in training, I don’t like marking him! But playing with him you can see the quality, and it puts that extra pep in your step because you know the opposition have to worry about him.

“Especially when Mark was missing, himself and Paudie both went to Boston last year for eight weeks or whatever, but there was no question, they were back a couple of weeks before the club season.

“He’s still very, very young, and I think physically in the last two years, he’s really got on in that aspect as well and in the inter0county scene now you need that.

“A lot of young players are thrown in as starters but most of them don’t nail down a spot until they’re 23 or 24 because that physicality piece is so critical. 

“He definitely has all the ingredients now to nail that consistent starting spot.”