Sean Finn uses a 36″ hurl when he’s playing corner back for Limerick but changes to a 33″ when he’s centre back for his club.
The Bruff defender previously used a 37″ hurl during the 2019 inter-county season, which would be unusually long for a man who’s 5 ft 10″ tall, but Finn feels that a using a longer hurl is a key part of his game in the last line of defence.
Finn, who looks nailed on to win his fifth All-Star award in a row later this month, says that the extra couple of inches is vital in blocking the ball as well as connecting with last ditch hooks and blocks.
“I used a 37 in 2019,” says the 26-year-old at the launch of the Plant For The Planet Games.
“I’ve taken an inch off that and went down to a 36. So I’ve used a 36 for a number of years now. But to be honest, it’s position-specific,” he adds.
“If I was playing out the field, I might use that bit smaller of a hurley. But it’s considering where I’m playing, just the role that I’ve to do, I just find the longer hurley has been hugely valuable to me over the last couple of years.”
“For Blocking in particular,” he adds.
“I’ve always thought that I was always too short by an inch when I block a player. You don’t have to strike the ball too much when you play corner back, so a lot of it is stopping a player hurling. I just found it position-specific really. It was a decision I made a number of years ago, and it’s done me well.”
“I play out at number six with the club, and I use a 33 inch, so there’s a big difference there.”
Meanwhile, on another interesting point of note, Finn says that, in order to keep the mind fresh, when he’s not playing hurling, he doesn’t watch it.
“I don’t. I keep an eye on results on Twitter but I don’t go to a lot of games. I watch a lot of Arsenal, keen Arsenal follower at the moment. I am getting carried away following them. I haven’t got an opportunity yet to go away or to go to games.
“I find when I am not playing hurling, I think it is important to switch off because you are doing it 11 months of the year. When I am not playing games I tend to try go away with my girlfriend for a night, just spend time away from hurling as much as possible.
“I was busy with work and exams this year which probably took my attention after the All-Ireland, I had to focus on that a lot. I enjoy going out with a couple of the lads, like all of us. I do, as much as I can, try to get away, but the club scene goes on so long now until the October hopefully, that there are only a couple of weeks to get an opportunity to go away foreign for a week.
“That is a consequence of maybe going so far with Limerick, that your club scene or campaign goes on that bit longer than other counties, but I’m not complaining.”
Elsewhere, on the subject of the controversial Limerick training top which was designed to raise funds for a team holiday, Finn admits that those in charge got the price wrong.
“To be honest it is not something I was involved in thankfully, but I think admittedly they got it wrong at the time. They brought it down to a monetary amount that is reasonable for the jerseys they are getting and the name. I wasn’t involved in it, but I think they did get it wrong at the time.
“You do, you have the lads slagging from home, but the success of it so far I’m not quite sure. You do get stick along the way, but that is part and parcel of it.”
Limerick Hurler, Seán Finn, has teamed up with Warriors For Humanity, Self Help Africa and the GPA for the launch of the Plant For The Planet Games. Taking place in Kenya from the 19th to 27th November, the historic games are the brainchild of Warriors for Humanity founder and former Galway dual player Alan Kerins and will feature 50 male and female Inter-County Gaelic Games players from all four codes. The aim is to highlight the impact of climate change and raise sufficient funds to plant one million trees in Africa.
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