Deane began his hurling career at club level with Killeagh. He broke onto the club's top adult team as a 16-year-old in 1994 and enjoyed his first success the following year when the club won the 1995 Cork Junior Championship title. He later won a Cork Intermediate Championship title in 2001 and promotion to the top flight of Cork hurling. Deane made 68 championship appearances in three different grades of hurling for the club, while his early prowess also saw him selected for University College Cork, with whom he won three successive Fitzgibbon Cup titles, and the Imokilly divisional team.