LAR CORBETT HAS admitted the news of Liam Sheedy’s departure as Tipperary manager following their All-Ireland win of 2010 left him in tears.
Corbett scored a hat-trick in the September final as the Premier halted Kilkenny’s five-in-a-row bid, but he was rocked by Sheedy’s decision to step down as Premier boss the following month.
In his Laochra Gael programme which airs on TG4 tomorrow night, Corbett opens up about his emotional reaction when his team-mate Eoin Kelly informed him of the news.
“That was a hard one to take,” he says. “Because for the first time I’d say nearly in my life – well, in a number of years – I was after buying into every single thing that the management was after saying.
“We really believed in it and we really believed that we were on mission. This was our time.
“I remember Eoin Kelly ringing me and he said, ‘Larry, they’re gone.’ I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it. I know now it sounds sad, but I remember starting crying.
“I know people won’t believe this, but I remember being at home with Elaine and I actually started crying.”
As well as lifting the Liam MacCarthy Cup in 2010, Corbett won man-of-the-match in that final and later picked up All-Star and Hurler of the Year awards.
But 2010 was a difficult year for him off the field as the recession hit and he spent over a year unemployed.
“Halfway through 2009, things started to slow up. At the end of 2009/start of 2010 it was week-on, week-off on a regular basis.
“Just as the third goal was hitting the net (in the final), the IMF were dropping into Dublin airport, the wheels were just hitting off the runway. And they were telling lads, ‘You’ll have to close up shop here for a few years and get your house in order.’
“So I scored the three goals at the right time for Tipperary and the wrong time for myself.”
Lar Corbett’s Laochra Gael airs Wednesday night on TG4 at 9.30pm.
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