Simon McCrory manages to separate work and play regarding Antrim hurling – but he can't still help himself helping others.
As a Games Promotion Officer for his county, one of his colleagues is Dominic 'Woody' McKinley, who also happens to be part of the four-man Saffron senior hurling management team.
The St John's clubman is happy to slip into the junior role when it comes to the inter-county scene but also alternates as an elder statesman with younger players on the panel.
There's a laugh when asked if he has any difficulty in making the switch between 'day job' McKinley and training with 'Woody': "We put aside our work relationship in the senior hurling set-up, where it's a manager-player relationship and it seems to work quite well – we haven't had any run-ins."
McCrory's nature probably plays a part in that: "I'm always very open to criticism and 'Woody', as you know, is an honest man, so you know when he's telling you something, he's telling you for a reason.
"When he's giving you feedback, it's honest, and that's what you need as a player – no beating about the bush, he gives it to you straight."
The 29-year-old is rather more 'arm around the shoulder' when it comes to his inter-actions with younger playing colleagues, having learned from his own experiences:
"This is actually going to be my 11th year on the senior panel, I started in 2007, and I've had a few different management teams since then.
"You learn a lot over the years. You go in when you're 18 and you think you've made it, you've nothing else to do – but it's a steep learning curve, it's tough.
"It probably took me about five or six years to bed down a place in the team, where I felt that I was physically able to cope with senior hurling, and mentally able to cope with it.
"Now, if there are any young players on the panel, I don't go preaching to them but I'll have a quiet word with them, tell them that it does take time, sometimes you need to be patient.
"Some players can come in at 18 or 19 and they're ready for it, whereas others, it just takes them a few years to mature. There are a few players like that on the panel at the moment and I would just be trying to keep them at it, keep them positive.
"If they're not getting a run on the team I'd encourage them to stick at it, because you can only get better with the training you're given. If you do get any game-time there's an awful lot that you can bring back to your club game.
"I wouldn't be barking out orders, just having quiet words with young players, trying to keep them motivated, keep them focussed on Antrim – that's where you want them."
The Saffrons' blend of youth and experience will be expected to do well in the new second tier Joe McDonagh Cup, starting this weekend away to Meath, before taking on Carlow, Westmeath, and Kerry.
However, McCrory has been around long enough to insist: "We can't take any of the teams for granted: we've beat all these teams, but all these teams have beat us, at some point in time.
"You could turn round and say 'Meath look like the weakest team', but we know from playing them in the Christy Ring two years ago that they're not a weak team. Their League performances maybe don't reflect what they'll be like in the Championship because some teams can just turn up on the day and everything will click.
"There is literally nothing between these teams, it is 50-50. We would be confident that, if we perform, we can win every game. But, that said, all the other teams will be equally as confident because they've beat us in the past."
Some might prefer an easier opportunity to progress but McCrory is relishing a series of tight tussles in the McDonagh Cup:
"It makes for a really exciting Championship. Of all the hurling Championships, this is going to be one of the most exciting and closest.
"I know from inside the camp that we're really looking to getting the games because that's what players want. I know it comes four or five weeks back-to-back but you just have to get on with it, it's the same for all the teams. Really looking forward to it."
The prospect of going even further, into the Liam MacCarthy Cup itself along with hurling's top teams, is also enticing to McCrory:
"The GAA is getting it right in terms of the hurling championship and the way it is tiered because everybody's at their level now. Every team playing in every championship has an incentive.
"For us, the incentive is that you can get to Croke Park and play a curtain-raiser to the Leinster Final – and then push on again. There's a carrot that every team will be eager to get towards."
