Forward momentum
One or two old, embittered die-hards are out there secretly hoping the hurlers will disintegrate in the June heat.
That will show them for having ideas above their station, for having a ridiculous belief that inter-county players should be afforded a little respect in the pursuit of their county's dreams, a square meal and not just a clap on the back. One thing is for certain, the mumbling grumblers will attest, they have no more excuses. This will be the fourth summer since those young Leeside whipper-snappers arrived in Croke Park and stunned the hurling world. To use a worn-out cliche, this year will make or break this team, whether they are bring treated right or not.
"Every summer is about going out there and doing the best you can possibly do, I don't know how useful a phrase make-or-break is," says the Cork captain Alan Browne. However, sports journalism specialises in things that aren't useful, like dredging up the recent past. A few Cork players said after the winter of discontent that the best way to bury things was to play games. A full league campaign now completed, the team are enjoying their brave new world under Donal O'Grady. The games mixed the good and bad with the indifferent for sure, but Browne believes there was a general improvement in standard with each game. And the latest starlet in the Ó hAlipín lineage was showed to be suited to senior slog.
"It was important to get playing competitive matches as a team after what went on. Things are going well. There is a bit of harmony there now, fellas aren't looking for trouble. If there is a problem, we can talk about it now whereas before that mightn't have been the case.
"There have been a lot of changes put in place. We are disappointed to miss out on the league final, but we are at about 85 to 90%."
Still, doubts linger. The recent collapse against Galway in the league, the defeats from winning positions, the injuries to key players. As captain, it is hardly strange that Browne would be assuaging such fears but some, including their own selector Seanie O'Leary, believe drastic improvement is needed within the next five weeks or the winner of the Thurles fire-works display will chew them up.
"People do have concerns, but there was some tough games in the league for us and we have had trouble. A few important lads for our team, like Mickey O'Connell, Timmy McCarthy and Diarmuid O'Sullivan, they have all had injuries.
"But, there is a great bond in the team, everyone has worked very, very hard. We will have a lot more quality training sessions where we will do more pure hurling. That will help the lads who wouldn't be natural hurlers. Some lads can go out and hurl in the middle of winter or summer, but some, like myself, need the hurling work in training."
Browne may be being a little hard on himself. Since being nominated by Blackrock as the man to lead the Rebels this summer, his form has been steady, if not quite sparkling. While their attack has been circled as an area that needs tinkering, Browne has been one of the few forwards to score with any regularity, as he scored in every league game.
What has been wrinkling foreheads down by the Lee has been the lack of killer instinct in this set of players. Opportunities to bury teams just haven't been taken. In Cork, there's a flood of theories.
"You hear what people say about the team, that we can't finish teams off. A lot has been said about this team in the past few years, like we were too young to win an All-Ireland or somehow won it too early," Browne breaks into a smile. "I like that one. I don't know how any time is a bad time to win an All-Ireland. But people were asking were we just a flash in the pan.
"Maybe, people have questioned this team because we didn't go on from that, win another one. It surprised everyone that we fell off the map to a certain extent, that we haven't done much since winning the Munster championship in 2000, but hurling is very competitive at the moment. Everyone is talking about Kilkenny and Tipp, everyone will be gauged against them naturally, but there will be a lot more teams challenging for the All-Ireland."
Whatever happens in the weeks and months ahead, Browne doesn't want a repeat of the past two summers. The feeling when he traipsed off the pitch in June, head bowed and sickness in the stomach. Last summer was the worst. A Cork public watched in disbelief as their hurlers, the blood and bandage who never said die, crumbled to Galway.
"The worst thing about last year, after beating Limerick giving ourselves a second go, was the humiliating way we lost to Galway. Heads dropped, fellas just seemed to give up halfway through the game. Okay, there had been a bit of friction up to that. But that shouldn't have come out on the pitch. Players let themselves down. The last three years, though, they are gone. It is all in the past. We are looking forward now. It is a new start."
When he speaks about the forthcoming summer, Browne does give you a sense of a new era. "There seems to be a totally different attitude this year. Fellas are way more focused. There has been two years, as far as I am concerned, wasted. Training from December and January and you come to the middle of June and you are out of the championship. Your summer is over after one or two games. It is grand losing a match if you have been beaten by the better team, or you feel you have given it your all. But in the past couple of years, Cork didn't actually perform in the games where they were beaten."
It's no easy way for Donal O'Grady to test the championship waters, though. Whether it is Clare or Tipperary, there will be no restful spell where players can dip their toes in and acclimatise. The one advantage Cork have is the recuperation period. After the league final on Monday, Tipperary have 13 days to untangle the knots in their joints and rest their weary bones before colliding with their most bitter of rivals. Cork have five weeks.
"We are fortunate in that we have a few weeks to recuperate. I feel sorry for Tipp, that they have the league final and then are expected to go out against Clare two weeks after that. It can affect the championship preparation, which is the main thing after all."
Browne dismisses the idea that Waterford or Limerick would have guaranteed safer passage. "There is no tougher side of the draw in the Munster championship. People are writing off Waterford and Limerick already, which I just can't believe. All you have to do is look at the scoring they did towards the tail-end of the league on hard ground. And people seem to have completely forgotten that Waterford are Munster champions. It is going to be tough whoever you play in the Munster championship."
Ask him what his ambition for the next few months and Browne doesn't hesitate. He points to the Hogan Stand ground and says to be back in Croke Park in August. Cork hurling people have yet to sit in the new stand and cheer on the blood and bandage. However, a few months in the role has developed the captainspeak he uses. "Getting back up here, that's in the future. In the short-term, we want to win a game, the Munster semi-final. Second of all, improve with every game we play, like we did in the league. If we do that, we are on the right road."
And the surface will be smooth. Something it hasn't been for Cork hurlers in the past couple of years. People will be watching Cork a little more carefully this year, just to see has fighting for their rights made any difference. For that alone, they deserve good wishes.
