Liam Sheedy: If Cork can't block out the noise, use it as fuel
Okay, lads now let's get in formation: Cork manager Kieran Kingston speaks to members of the cork team as they assemble for the traditional pre match photograph before the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 3 match between Cork and Clare at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
We are hitting the death zone of the Munster and Leinster championships. Hopefully this weekend’s hurling will have us all gasping for air. Come Sunday evening things should have taken shape and there will be teams bouncing into training next Tuesday evening with Everest still in sight.
Clare’s trajectory is definitely upward. Two home games left and two impressive performances behind them, with spells of scintillating play. To deliver silverware, they will have to sustain their purple patches longer with the All-Ireland champions and league winners left to play. But Brian Lohan looks to be building something really solid.
Limerick are in the news but I don’t see that weighing them down for the climb ahead. As a management team they reacted swiftly and decisively this week. Distractions will happen in most groups but John Kiely has always spoken strongly about the need for a panel of players to mind each other and I’d expect them to focus on that now.
The crunch in Munster is in Walsh Park, with much at stake. Waterford should be fresh and ready for another push. The break since losing by three points to Limerick was timely. They have been formidable opponents under Liam Cahill, especially at home, and the prize for a victory is qualification and keeping alive their ambition to add a Munster trophy to their league victory.
Cork are labouring. They are an enigma that is hard to get a handle on. Full of talent and pace, they’ve qualified for the last two major finals but didn’t ignite on either day. And have struggled again in this championship.
Against Limerick at home there were glimpses of their potential at the start of both halves. But ultimately they were comprehensively beaten. In Thurles against Clare, the losing margin was flattering based on their overall performance.
Yet if they can eke out a win Sunday, it gives them a realistic chance of qualification and brings real meaning to the final round.
This is a final shot at redemption for Kieran Kingston and his men in this championship. So what Cork team needs to show up?
Kieran spoke after the loss to Clare about outside voices. He felt his team potentially felt the pressure in the first 20 minutes on the back of some severe criticism since the defeat by Limerick.
I understood where he was coming from. Earlier in my managerial career, I read things and took them personally. I was scarred by articles and commentary.
The way out of that was surrounding myself with people who had real influence on my belief systems. I quickly realised I was wasting a lot of good energy.
I shifted to a mindset of backing myself through bringing a huge energy and work ethic to the role. If you know you've done all you can, that gets you to a ‘No Regrets’ position irrespective of the outcome.
Cork must replace pressure with freedom and at least come and express themselves fully inside the white lines this weekend. It is a question of circling the wagons within the group as opposed to carrying excess baggage from outside.
The reality is it should make no difference what the outside world thinks but sometimes you can use it as fuel in terms of creating a ‘them against us’ mentality.
We consciously decided to block out 90% of what was written about us. They don’t know us, was the mantra. But at the same time, we regularly tapped into critical articles from people we felt should have known better.
I filled walls over the years with pieces that took a lesser view of our team and there is no doubt we drew fuel from it on many occasions.
The reality is that you can only turn a bad situation around with strong leadership throughout the field. In Cork’s two matches the only player I would call out as really leading is Sean O’Donoghue. He has always looked to impact the game and push forward.
Guys Like Tim O’Mahony, Darragh Fitzgibbon and Seamus Harnedy must stand up and be counted on Sunday. Cork have no shortage of pace and young talent to follow them.
Roll back to March 22, 2009 and the hammering Tipperary got in Nowlan Park from Kilkenny. I still remember the standing ovation their supporters gave them as we traipsed down the tunnel at half-time. ‘Keep going, the bus is running!” was one piece of advice.
5-9 to 4 points — 20 points down told its own story.
We won the second half (small wins) and went on to lose 5-17 to 1-12.
Roll it on 40 days and we meet again in the league final, one of the best games I’ve been involved in. We lost again, 4-17 to 2-26 after extra time, but the transformation was extraordinary, just a month after a complete collapse against the same opponents.
That was down to on-field leadership. Paudie Maher plucking balls out of the sky over Henry Shefflin, Seamie Callanan driving Brian Hogan back with a shoulder, Larry Corbett taking the game to them. All triggers that drove on a seriously driven group. Older guys standing up and younger lads coming of age. A defeat but one that served as a catalyst for victories that followed.
Now is the time for this group of Cork players to stand tall. Do they have the leaders to make that happen?
They say in life that you don’t lose you learn. Cork got plenty of educational material in the league final when they coughed up 4-20 and allowed Waterford in on goal way too easily.
The three things that they have got to sort are:
1. The puckouts: they allowed Waterford build momentum uncontested.
2. Their collective defending: They must make themselves more difficult to break down and have to protect their goal.
3. Nail the match-ups: Someone will have to close down Stephen Bennett, who scored 2-11 the last day with 2-2 from play. I would put Ger Millerick on the job but whoever does it will need to give it special care.
Waterford are raging hot favourites, their form has been strong and they have turned Walsh Park into a formidable home venue.
Yet in some ways this gives Cork a free shot and that can sometimes release the pressure that builds up around a team. We saw that with Tipp last week.
This is still the Cork team that qualified for the All-Ireland final last year. It’s still the team that put 2-13 past Limerick in 35 minutes at the end of February and only conceded five points in that time.
So while everything points to a Waterford victory and clarity around qualification come Sunday evening, I really expect the Rebels to bring the fight. If they do it should make for a hugely entertaining contest.
Across in Leinster, all eyes will be on the Dublin v Kilkenny clash at Parnell Park.
Dublin have put themselves in a really strong position with a win in Wexford. But their form has not been good against the Cats and you have to go back to 2013 for their last meaningful victory against them, after a replay.
They had them in their sights going down the home straight in the last round-robin game in 2018. Leading by five points with five minutes remaining they were beaten by two after Liam Blanchfield’s 71st-minute goal.
The league encounter in March resulted in a 13-point victory for Kilkenny so you would expect Mattie Kenny to have the Dubs well focussed for what is coming at them.
This is a chance to really lay down a marker and march on to a Leinster final while leaving Kilkenny and Wexford fighting out the final spot.
I expect they will be met with stern resistance from an incredibly hard-working Kilkenny team so Dublin will need to bring their best performance to date in Championship to get across the line. Parnell Park should be rocking with sparks flying inside the white lines.
