Logic does not win All-Irelands
Logically speaking, Cork are better prepared at midfield for Sunday.
“That’s logic, that’s not football,” he says. “People would have said that too before the Munster final, but I had a stinker. I saw the stats after the game and (Darragh Ó Sé and Seamus Scanlon) cleaned me out. Every game is unique.”
This Cork side has grown up together, get on well together. This is your time.
“I’m sure Limerick felt that. And Waterford. And Dublin. There’s no such thing as deserving an All-Ireland. You either win it, or you don’t.”
Yeah, but your time will come.
“We might never get this chance again. 1993 (against Derry) and 1999 (v Meath) — it’s taken a long time to get back into a final for Cork, and a lot of fellas have ended their career in the meantime. I was at those two games. They were two games Cork could have won. The lads who were there in 1999, Anthony Lynch, Eoin Sexton, Nicholas Murphy, they’ve spoken about the pain of losing, and the thought that they might be back the following year. But that’s not the way it works out; most players only get one or two chances to win an All-Ireland and you’ve got to take them.”
Which Cork side is going to show up on Sunday?
“Against Louth we probably stumbled over the line, but people realise what a good side Louth were. We could have easily lost that game, we were five points down at one stage and it took a lot of guts and a lot of good play to get back into that game. Sligo were the same,” says the 26-year-old Nemo Rangers man. “Form is from game to game. Meath were walking on air after beating Tyrone and suddenly they were being talked about as All-Ireland champions. But that form doesn’t carry into the next game, as they found out. You can only prepare from game to game.”
Was it a help losing to Kerry in the Munster final?
“I didn’t come away that day from Killarney feeling too confident personally, because I had a stinker and I was absolutely distraught afterwards. But come Tuesday I couldn’t wait to get back in training and recognise we were still in there with as good a chance as anybody. We weren’t happy to lose, but within two or three days we were back focused on our goal again. I genuinely felt Kerry would beat Dublin, simply because their forwards are better than Dublin, and I knew they would score more.”
But you agree that midfield is pivotal on Sunday.
“It comes back to my earlier point: each game is unique, you can’t be looking at past performances, even for sides who know each other as well as Cork and Kerry do. Who knows, some guy no-one has mentioned beforehand pops up, has a stormer and turns the game for his team. The logic is we should be on top (at midfield), but that’s not the way it goes. I’m not sure if I’ve played on Seamus Scanlon at Under 21, but he had a blinder against Dublin, won an awful lot of ball.”
Better the devil you know in the final?
“Well it takes away the unknown factor certainly; we both know each other well, so perhaps you wouldn’t be as edgy as you might be if the final was against more of an unknown quantity like Dublin or Tyrone.
You’ve got some midfield partner.
“Nicholas is really quiet on and off the field. He’s scoring points in the last couple of games, he’s as strong as an ox now. He has it all really — fielding ability, kicking ability, strength. See the way he blew Darren Fay away for that point in the semi-final?”
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