EXPERT VIEW: Eddie Brennan, All-Ireland winner with Kilkenny
Both free-takers, Colin Ryan and Patrick Horgan, have been unbelievable and if you have one who has around a 90% conversion rate, you’re in business.
You look at the teams who have been beaten in the championship this year, free-taking has let them down, without a doubt, and contributed to them losing games. In contrast, it has been a strength for both Cork and Clare.
I feel the Cork backs have been very organised, and very meticulous in their defending. The example I would use would be Conor O’Sullivan against Paul Ryan in the semi-final — he stalked him wherever he went. He wasn’t afraid to go out the field and none of the others were either.
I remember Shane O’Neill and Stephen McDonnell both made a blockdown on the 45m line under the Cusack Stand, so mobility is not an issue and they have been quite disciplined in their defence.
I definitely think that Cork and Clare have been the two best teams in the championship, they have played the best hurling and they have gone about it a manly way, nothing stupid. Fair enough, people might say, ‘Look at what Shane O’Neill did against Kilkenny’, but I’ve seen an awful lot worse. A yellow card was the right call, when I was playing you never minded a lad wearing a hurl off you, I took it as part and parcel of what to expect.
You don’t want to see a person getting badly injured, some fellas who mightn’t have played hurling wouldn’t understand that a wild pull can look a lot worse than it really is.
