'Another test for this group' - Mark Cronin aiming to end years of hurt for Cork in Kerry

Speaking last week, Rebels boss John Cleary ruled out the possibility of Mattie Taylor making his return to the side shortly after he suggested Dara Sheedy could still recover in time to feature while he also confirmed Brian Hurley will almost definitely miss out.

Maybe the Cork medical department can work their magic on the latter duo (extremely unlikely in Hurley’s case) but for Cronin, who works as a physio, his only focus is on filling the void in his role as forward rather than assisting elsewhere.

“In fairness we have a great medical team here now, between Aidan Kelleher, our doctor, and Clíona and Brian, and Adam Doyle, our strength and conditioning, they’ve it all sewn up,” laughs Cronin, who scored a point in Cork’s convincing Munster semi-final victory over Tipperary.

“It's more I'm learning off them than anything else, which is nice, it's great, and to be in an environment like this and see how it works is definitely good for my own learning.

“Funny enough actually I would have had a lot of injuries when I was younger. My physio would have been Eddie Harnett who would’ve been the Kerry senior football physio for years, so I got into it because of him.

“Now I don't think he'd be chatting to me before Sunday week but no, in fairness to him, he was very good and I saw how good he was, and it made me interested in the role.”

Back to this weekend when he is sure to take part in his first Munster Senior final and the physio is focused on ending years of hurt on the pitch for the blood and bandage.

The Nemo Rangers man made his Rebels debut in 2022, but he was part of the extended panel for their last provincial decider back in 2021.

That’s five years since Cork last appeared in this showpiece occasion but it’s 14 years since they last lifted the title and it’s 31 years since they emerged victorious at Fitzgerald’s Stadium against the Kingdom in a championship clash, although they did beat their arch-rivals there in the McGrath Cup final in January.

“It's really exciting,” adds Cronin, who has won a Munster title with Nemo.

“The old narrative is that every game is the same, it's not, it's a final and you want to go out and win it, and that's what we're really looking to do.

“We know the task that's ahead of us, they're All-Ireland and Munster champions, and they're that for a reason.

“But it's just really looking forward to the opportunity ahead of us and another test for this group.

“If you can't enjoy the build-up to a Munster final, you're in the wrong old sport to be honest.

“A big theme of this year is we're consistently building all the time. I think the graph has been going up from probably the first game against Cavan. We've felt that we've been building every week.

“I don't think we've really hit our top levels yet. It's probably that 70-minute performance that we're hoping for now.

“You're not going to win every day you go out, but it's just being that competitive and always being at the top table is where you want to be, so hopefully Sunday is just another stepping stone in that.”