'19 years without Liam MacCarthy just doesn’t feel right': Seán Óg urges Cork hurlers to bring home the silverware

'When you grew up in Cork in the 1980s or 1990s, Cork were winning All Ireland’s every few years'

Thu, 18 Jul, 2024 - 19:36

Eoin English

Hurling legend Seán Óg Ó hAilpín has urged the Cork hurlers to seize their moment on Sunday, show stomach for battle, and restore balance to the universe by bringing the Liam MacCarthy cup back to Leeside for the first time in almost two decades.

The last Cork hurling captain to lift the famous trophy back in 2005 and who is widely remembered for his emotional acceptance speech in Irish, he said he never thought then that it wouldn’t be back in the rebel county for 19-years.

“When you grew up in Cork in the 1980s or 1990s, Cork were winning All Ireland’s every few years,” he said.

“So when I lifted the Liam MacCarthy cup in 2005, it was just a natural feeling, being a Corkonian, that within a few years we were going to do it again. This is a famine really – 19 years without Liam MacCarthy just doesn’t feel right. It’s like the universe is out of sync.

"Hopefully this Sunday will put that right again, please God. There is no better time than now. Next Sunday has to be the time.”

The Na Piarsaigh clubman joined the Cork senior hurling squad in 1996 and between then and 2012, he won three All-Ireland medals, five Munster medals and one National Hurling League medal, and in 2004 was named Texaco Player of the Year, the Gaelic Players Association Player of the Year, and the Vodafone Player of the Year.

He said at his peak, Cork, Kilkenny and Tipperary were the dominant teams, but that monopoly has been broken up for the better, with Clare, Limerick, Waterford and Galway now always in the mix.

“Chances like this don't come around too often. But there is no sentiment in sport, there is no emotion in sport. Just because you played a great semi-final doesn't mean you deserve to win an All Ireland final. You absolutely don’t. You deserve what you put in to the game, not what you get from it.

Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, holding the Liam McCarthy Cup with Andrew Rea and Conor Mullane in 2024. The Na Piarsaigh clubman joined the Cork senior hurling squad in 1996 and between then and 2012, he won three All-Ireland medals, five Munster medals and one National Hurling League medal. Picture: Jim Coughlan

“They need to grab that opportunity on Sunday and I think they realise that, especially the well-established experienced players. There aren’t many years left for some of them, and they see from their playing careers, a lot of them are going into 15, 16 years of playing senior hurling for their county, and for some, it’s their third All Ireland outing, so they know that getting to a final is as rare as hen’s teeth.”

He recalled the words of his former manager, Donal O’Grady, uttered in the dressing room before they took to the field.

“He would say: ‘look around at the group — this day will never come again for this group. Once today is over, that’s it. This time next year, you might not be here, I mightn’t be here, the backroom team mightn’t be there, so you need to make this count’.

And so they need to make this count on Sunday. They need to strike when the iron is hot. I think they will but it won’t be without its challenges.

Expectations on Leeside have been heightened given the manner of Cork’s semi-final victory over Limerick but Seán Óg has urged caution.

"This is where Pat Ryan and the backroom team earn their stripes — bringing the team down from the highs after the semi-final

and re-iterating to the group that there is no trophy given after a semi final, that they need to go again and reproduce it for the final," he said.

“I don’t expect Cork to get the same amount of breaks as they did against Limerick.

“But the behaviour and attitude they showed against Limerick needs to be reproduced — working hard, on and off the ball, showing the stomach for the battle, are you willing to put yourself on the line for your teammate, for your team.

“If they can bring that next Sunday, they will be close.

Seán Óg will be among the 1999 Cork team who will be honoured in Croke Park on Sunday to mark the silver jubilee of their All Ireland win.

“Mentally, I’m still young, but we still think we are the players from 1999, although our waistlines are evidence that we’re not." he quipped.

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