Numbers paint a picture of Brian Hayes as hurling's most rounded forward

Irish Examiner

a day ago

The one-year anniversary approaches. His coming-of-age performance. His announcement. His authority and sheer awesomeness ever since.
On the eve of last year's All-Ireland semi-finals weekend, Seánie McGrath wrote on these pages that the Cork-Limerick fixture would be decided, in large part, by the forward that goes beyond, the forward that goes 'ballistic and catches fire'.
Brian Hayes was that bolter.
Hayes was coming from so far back the field that the 1-4 he hit Limerick for moved him only to sixth on Cork's from-play scorers chart going into the decider. The 1-4 he took Limerick for also moved him from way back the field and into All-Star contention.
Up to that semi-final, Hayes had been learning, growing, and attempting to acclimatise to life as a first-teamer in Pat Ryan's dressing room. On-field contributions would eventually click and come, or so was the hope of Ryan and the Barrs youngster who swapped Cork football for the Cork hurling dressing-room ahead of the 2023 season.
Twelve months later and on the first anniversary of his breakout album, Hayes heads back to Croke Park as Cork's top scorer from play and a near certainty for his first All-Star gong. The contributions are now relentless.
Late in the first half of the Munster rout of Tipp, Michael Duignan, on RTÉ co-commentary duty, broke out into spontaneous eulogising.
'In the air, on the ground, every way; he's just so good. A powerful man, but a beautiful hurler. Unmarkable, the way he's hurling,' Duignan said of the 6'4 corner-forward.
Whether accurate or not, the argument is easily scripted that Hayes is hurling's most-rounded forward at present. The argument is his numbers. His numbers are awesome.
Before we ever got to championship, he had signalled a second album worth the Spotify subscription. 5-8 on the road to League ribbons.
Patrick Collins' first puckout of the 2025 championship was directed down on top of Hayes. He won it too. The offload to clubmate Ethan Twomey failed to yield an assisted point, accuracy betraying the latest Barrs newcomer.
Along with Séamus Harnedy, Hayes is Collins' favourite puckout target. A minimum of five restarts per game are posted to the corner-forward's Eircode. In the second half of Munster final extra-time alone, and with Harnedy substituted, four restarts were aimed at him.
Aerially so strong. Equally so on the ground.
The first delivery of the 2025 championship into Hayes fell at his feet. His back faced to goal, the 24-year-old snapped up possession, turned and took on Darragh Lohan in an attempt to deliver a sixth goal of the year. The hurley pulled from his hand, Patrick Horgan converted the resulting free.
That strength and green flag mindset roared again 10 minutes later. His massively improved skillset also rose to the surface here. Charged in past Lohan along the end-line. The angle so tight, Hayes improvised to bat the sliotar past Eibhear Quilligan.
He left Ennis with 2-2, was responsible for another 0-1, and provided confirmation that League form had been successfully carried through.
Tipperary at home a week later showcased his vision. A finisher and finder. His floated, inside-the-cover pass for Tim O'Mahony's fifth-minute goal was superbly clever. He had the secondary assist for another 1-1, caught a pair of puckouts and clipped a pair of points.
Hayes is one-third of the Cork inside line. Unlike Limerick and Kilkenny, Cork keep three inside always. Sharing the stage with two other headline acts demands patience. It won't always be your turn at the mic.
'At the end of the day, we are doing a role for the team, and that is staying in as close to goal as possible. If you are coming out [looking for ball], you are blocking up the space. If we come out, we try to get ourselves to snap back in quickly,' Hayes said after the championship-extending win over Waterford. It was a game where that patience was severely tested. Maturity and temperament were required and located.
Conor Prunty was wedded tighter than a rash. Hayes didn't have a first clean possession until the 31st minute. Come his fifth possession 15 minutes into the second half, the No.15 had struck 1-1, assisted Patrick Horgan's goal, and won the free for a white flag. 2-2 off him in five possessions.
Next came leadership. Just past the hour-mark and Waterford were back within three. Momentum and possession were shifting towards the City End. Hayes rose and fetched a Collins restart. Stepping forward to do his piece, even if the quick handpass to Shane Barrett ended with a wide.
The assist to Barrett in the Munster final stuck. Selfless and supreme vision. In that Munster final first half, he attempted to manufacture green with each of his four possessions. The first was saved by Quaid, the second was Barrett's successful ground stroke, the third was a handpass to Connolly that spilled loose under pressure, while the fourth was a ground pull of his own that flashed across the face of goal.
His ground pull to Hoggie in second-half injury-time was an equalising assist. He assisted 1-2 in total.
'My hurling has come on loads since I came into the panel. I wouldn't have been anywhere near a hurler in comparison to what I am now in terms of just my hurling, my skill level,' said Hayes at the end of May.
'Brian has blossomed into a fantastic hurler for us,' said Pat Ryan of the 3-7 championship contributor this week. His numbers tell a story of far more than blossoming. His bolting days are behind him. He's top of the charts and on the road, as Seánie McGrath predicted earlier this year, to becoming Cork hurling's next 'cult figure'.