BACK IN MARCH the task of penning Lar Corbett’s autobiography appeared straightforward.

In the wake of his retirement from the inter-county game, the book was set to take the form of a reflection of the attacker’s inter-county Tipperary senior hurling career which had began in 2001.

But then the story twisted notably when Corbett went back to the pitch in May and was immersed once more in the Premier squad.

And then it swerved sharply in August when Tipperary crashed to a heavy All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Kilkenny and Corbett was central to the controversial tactic employed by Tipperary to thwart the influence of Tommy Walsh.

For Damian Lawlor, the Sunday Independent GAA writer who worked with Corbett on his book, it made for a challenging experience and particularly in finishing the narrative at a time when vitriol was being heaped upon Corbett and his teammates by Tipperary supporters.

“From a writers point of view, it was a huge challenge,” admits Lawlor. “We’d a very intense schedule at the start, meeting each other twice a week. I was contacted back in March after Lar had retired.

“He’d been approached by certain publishers about telling his life story. He decided he would and then he ended up at my door. Myself and Lar would know each other, so I’d no hesitation in agreeing to do it.

“From the start I just wanted complete honesty and that we’d leave the reader with a really good book. There was a definite narrative trend at the start and you could see where the book was going.”

Then came the comeback of Lar.

“In May, my brother’s daughter got christened and I got a call from Larry to say he was thinking of going back. The next day then he texted me to say he was coming back and it broke on the six o’clock news. To be totally honest from a selfish point of view, it did definitely change the structure of the book.

“The prologue and narrative was changed. It took me a few days to get my head around it. Then we ploughed on again and were going great until the Tommy Walsh episode in August. which changed the whole thing again.”

Tipperary’s Lar Corbett follows Tommy Walsh of Kilkenny during the game. Pic: INPHO/Cathal Noonan

The fallout from Tipperary’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat was remarkable. Just under two years after lifting the Liam McCarthy Cup – a game where Corbett was the hat-trick hero – the Tipperary squad found criticism raining down upon them and the Thurles Sarsfields attacker was in the firing line after a game where he had employed the unique ploy of shadowing the Kilkenny defensive star.

“I knew what Larry’s mindset was,” says Lawlor. “He felt before that meeting Kilkenny, he wouldn’t be let hurl and he needed to do something different. The reaction around the place was toxic though.

“I went back to Nenagh that Sunday night, there was a huge crowd there and Larry got hung, drawn and quartered that night. People very close to me said how was I going to do a book now and the publishers were very concerned as well. The reaction was unbelievably hostile.

“Larry got villified on all sorts of media like TV, radio, Facebook, Twitter. He’s only an amateur hurler and people forgot the good days very quickly. It did test both of us but we worked through it.”

Honesty

From the start Lawlor and Corbett had agreed to tell his story honestly and that trait was maintained. It was representative of a now established trend in GAA autobiographies.

“You look at GAA autobiographies which started off with Liam Hayes and then there was a long gap,” states Lawlor. “I worked with Liam Dunne in 2004 and he was very frank about certain issues in his life. After that you’d Dessie Farrell, Oisin McConville, Donal Óg Cusack and Michael Duignan who have also been very frank about their lives.

“I firmly believe that the quality of Irish sportswriting is exceptionally high and sits very well with standards in Europe. That is reflected in the likes of those books which have come out.

“Larry read it a couple of times, confided in people he trusted and was happy to sign off on it. Not once since then in interviews has he tried to disown it, he’s stuck to his guns. I’d have huge admiration for that.

“For instance Tadgh Kennelly came in for huge criticism with his autobiography about the incident with Nicholas Murphy in the 2009 All-Ireland final. He completely rowed back after that and said it was the expression of the ghostwriter.”

In the book Corbett speaks reverentially of Brian Cody’s Kilkenny team and recalls enjoyable moments on All-Star trips with Cats players. His good relationships with players from other counties was reflected in the likes of Donal Óg Cusack, Eoin Cadogan and Dan Shanahan attending the official launch of the book in Thurles.

The Tipperary town is where Corbett is born and bred. He continues to live his life there as a publican and has found the local club as a sanctuary after the difficulties of last August. In November he was part of the Thurles Sarsfields team that won the club’s first ever Munster club title.

A tough year ended on a warm note. Corbett produced persuasive evidence that he is starting to tap into his form in recent games. He now has an All-Ireland club campaign to look forward to in the New Year and after that will be back working with new Tipperary manager Eamonn O’Shea.

“I told Larry the wheel would turn and it is turning favorably,” says Lawlor. “He’s only 31 and you see the goal he scored for Thurles Sarsfields in the Munster club championship this year, that he hasn’t lost his speed. I think he’s a few more years left in him.”

*Damian Lawlor worked with Lar Corbett on his autobiography ‘All In My Head’  which is available nationwide*