By Cian O’Connell

“I think only for Teddy I probably wouldn't be doing this job to be honest with you,” Sarsfields manager John Crowley says as the Cork SHC Final edges closer.

Sunday’s eagerly anticipated encounter at Páirc Uí Chaoimh against Midleton is capturing the imagination Leeside. Teddy McCarthy’s greatness and influence will never be forgotten by Crowley.

“He is a legend,” Crowley responds. “When you look back at his career, what he did, and at the end of the day, to be fair to Teddy, his first love was always Sars and Glanmire.

“No matter what he achieved nationally, Sars and Glanmire were his bread and butter. What he did for the club is enormous. It is fitting that we got to the final this year, in the year that is in it. As proud as we are of Teddy, I think Teddy would be as proud of this group as players too.”

Crowley has been a significant figure in the Sarsfields story. Successful at Féile, minor, and U21 level, Crowley subsequently guided Sarsfields to Cork senior glory in 2010. In the intervening years Crowley has made an impact with Ballinhassig, Ballymartle, and Castleylons too.

So to guide his own club, Sars, to a Cork decider again brings plenty of satisfaction. “When you go back you could nearly call it a golden era for Sars from '08-15 we were in seven finals in eight years, which was fantastic,” he recalls.

“They were a special bunch of players. Getting back there now with a different crop and a different group is pretty special. A lot of these lads would have been playing in the half-time games in '13, '14, and '15. For them now to be togging out in the real deal is great.”

Following his stints with clubs elsewhere, has Crowley’s perspective altered? “Yeah, absolutely, I had a bit of success with outside clubs and I loved that,” he replies.

“It is all about broadening your knowledge, and my big thing is the circle of friends. The people you meet in the GAA, the people you associate with is fantastic. Coming back to the club I didn't really have any ambitions.

“After the heartbreak with Castlelyons, the great man, Teddy, himself, only for him I wouldn't be here. It was Teddy who rang me after that championship had finished, he asked me to go back. So after a small bit of frustration, I was delighted to do it.”

Crowley started training underage teams in his 20s with Sarsfields. It was something to be embraced. “I played with Sars and Glanmire, I had a very bad kidney, I had a kidney taken out at 18 or 19, and I didn't play much after that,” Crowley explains.

“Probably I did what most 20 to 25 year olds do, but then I got back into it. There was a very good underage structure in Sars, James Barry asked me would I get involved at U13 or U12, I loved it.

“I loved the craic and the buzz. I loved the idea of coaching, it just went from there really. I never had ambitions to train senior or get as deep as I got, but I do love it.”

Aspects of the game have altered dramatically, but being able to adapt is crucial according to the highly regarded Crowley. “You have to change with the times and systems and technology, I suppose,” Crowley says.

“When I spoke with Teddy and Keith (Mulcahy) back in November or December last year, my first reaction was that I was going to coach the team like 2010 and manage the team.

“Then I spent a lot of nights at home thinking about it, I took a helicopter view of everything, the more I looked at it, the more I realised for me to do justice to the team, there was no way I could do both. So it was at that point then that we freshened it up a small bit.”

A number of former Sars players and the totemic Diarmuid O’Sullivan form Crowley’s backroom team. “I got really good men around me,” he adds.

“The panel I have around me in the management is superb. It is great to give different jobs to different lads, knowing they are going to give it 100 per cent, and it is high quality.

“When you look at 2010 you didn't have GPSs, you didn't have video analysis, and these stats figures. Definitely, that has changed dramatically. You are always questioning yourself - what is the opposition doing?

“If they get an advantage over you, so whatever is out there you have to embrace that. I think you can have the dinosaur attitude, that it is old style hurling, lump it as long as you can, but you will get found out in the end.”

The standard of the club game is increasing, hurlers simply want to learn. “At the end of the day it is driven by the players,” Crowley says. “You walk into any dressing room in the country, you look around at the circle you are in - there could be anything up to 30 or 35 professionals.

“You are talking to highly educated young lads, who have third level education, they have been trained at a very high standard within colleges, Harty, or whatever respective colleges within their own clubs. If you stand in front of them and you're not tuned in and aligned to what they are doing, you will get found out immediately.

“I think it is very important to embrace all of that. Obviously you have your own stamp, your own methods, and your own ways, but everybody is human.

“At the end of the day we all want to smile and to have a bit of craic with it. There is a fine balance between pushing as far as you can, but also making it a very happy environment.”

Undoubtedly County Final week brings excitement and nerves in equal measures. That is part of the adventure. “We haven't been involved for a while, it is probably a stand alone for us in that we haven't been involved in the last nine years,” Crowley remarks.

“So it is after captivating the community in the locality, there is a great old buzz around the place. That is what it is all about - the next generation again. The young lads - to see them jumping, shouting, and roaring at training, it is great to see.”

Sarsfields are still benefiting from Crowley’s purpose and passion.