O’Leary: We need more effort from Cork hurlers

WHATEVER happened to the baby-faced all-conquering Cork team of 1999, the one that swept all before them as they powered their way to a most unlikely All-Ireland title, the one that was supposed to dominate hurling for several years?

They did manage to retain their Munster title the following year, then fell to a fired-up Offaly in the All-Ireland semi-final. Since then they have stumbled from pillar to post, a shadow of that driven side, a mystery not just to their own fans but to hurling people in general. What has changed? Where did it go wrong?

Seanie O’Leary, a selector on that 99 side, and now a selector again, is as puzzled as anyone else. “I don’t know what’s happened”, he said, after yet another less-than-convincing performance on Sunday against Galway, when qualification for the league final was still a real possibility.