All-Ireland ambition consumes Murphy

HOW much pain does a player have to endure to win an All-Ireland these days?

Cork’s Nicholas Murphy, 24, isn’t quite sure about that one, but he believes passionately the sacrifices can bear fruit.

Since January, he’s been out socially only a handful of times because his life has been consumed by the football championship.

“It’s all your life. If you’re not training, then you’re trying to get some rest, or get a day’s work done. I hope it will be worth it,” Murphy said.

After a tiring training session in Pairc Ui Rinn, he hit off Conrad Murphy in a running exercise. He spent the next half-hour on the treatment table where lashings of Tiger Balm, an organic substance containing eucalyptus and cinnamon, was pasted to his neck.

“It’s a little bit sore but I’m fine. This stuff burns you a bit but it’s very good,” he said.

It’s the kind of transient pain he has experienced thousands of times since joining the Cork team five years ago.

A burning neck doesn’t worry Murphy at this stage of the championship, the only one thing that can hurt him now is losing to Kerry on Sunday.

“It’s a tough road, especially with such good teams coming through the back door. But I don’t mind playing Kerry again, it’s something that has to be done, and having to meet them in Croke Park will be something special. It will be a totally different game to the other two,” he said.

“It’s going to be an interesting battle all right. Myself and Graham (Canty) will be up against the best midfielder in the country in Darragh Ó Sé.”

These are changed times in the championship and Cork and Kerry players can take the unprecedented step of looking at this year’s form guide when assessing their chances.

Looking specifically at the joust in centre field, Murphy believes neither side has come away with scalps yet.

“I thought we did reasonably well the first day. Maybe in the last 20 minutes we got caught and faded out of it. The second night in the park was pretty even, I think.

“They have some class players like Moynihan, and the forwards are flying at the moment. The two games won’t have much of a bearing now because that was six to eight weeks ago.

“They’ve had four games under their belt since then, and that’s built up their confidence a lot since we played them. It’s a new game and it’s Kerry, so we know this will be a battle right until the end.”

The improvements that have marked Kerry’s smooth journey through the backdoor qualifiers don’t unsettle Murphy.

“Every team is going to have a dominant period in games. We are prepared for that, it’s just a matter of how you contain them when they are on top.

“It’s about work off the ball and trying to cut off their attacks. If we can do that consistently against Kerry, then hopefully it will go well for us.”

He prefers to talk about the evolution of his own team, who could be on the brink of delivering, at last, on the promise that bloomed in 1999.

Murphy knows a stellar performance from Canty and himself at midfield is essential to keep his championship dreams in flower past August.

“Some balls are going astray and we’re lucky to have Colin there because he wins so much. I think our distribution to the forwards this year has been reasonable, but like everything, it can be improved.

“Generally, Graham and myself have a good understanding with the forwards, and most of this team feels very settled now, because some of us have been here four or five years.”

Some things are less easily explained, however, like the Munster Final when Tipperary grounded a high-flying Cork in Thurles.

“It’s hard to pinpoint it. Tipperary came out firing on all cylinders. All you can really do is look at the second game when we played so well. The performance was the complete opposite to the first day.

“While it was very good, I don’t think you could call it a perfect performance either. We’re hoping that this team’s best day still has to come.”