McCarthy calls on younger Cork players to ‘set their own agenda’

CORK hurling legend Teddy McCarthy last night pleaded with younger members of the county’s striking players to “set their own agenda” and not be influenced by their colleagues.

McCarthy, one of Gerald McCarthy’s four Cork selectors this season, was honoured by his club, Sarsfields, last night and used the occasion to issue a plea to striking members of the 2008 panel.

In a thinly-veiled attack on the senior players he believes are preventing some members of the 2008 squad from returning to the fold, McCarthy said: “If it’s true that some of last year’s panel are attempting to dissuade young hurlers from playing for Cork, (then) I would be so disappointed. When I hear of the Cork panel being organised into “cells”, each chaired by a senior player, I say to myself how could we have allowed that kind of thing into Cork hurling, into what is meant to be a sport?”

McCarthy added: “I know the 2008 players; most of them are outstanding individuals. I know that deep down what’s going on doesn’t represent them or what they stand for. They are in a difficult and uncomfortable situation as a part of a group and they’ve been put in that position by people who should know better.”

He added: “Before this dispute goes on further, I would like to use this opportunity to appeal to each member of last year’s panel. Speak to your club mentors and trainers down through the years; those who encouraged you probably from the time you were six or seven, like I was myself. Ask them whether your best interests as players or indeed as people are served by being part of all of this mayhem. I have no doubt what their response will be.

“You have been blessed with great talent . Enjoy it. It will be over soon enough. Set your own agenda, remember that you are part of something great in Cork. Don’t throw it away.”

McCarthy said he was privileged to have been part of a Sars club that gave him the opportunities and the wonderful experiences he has enjoyed in both codes — the most recent being Sars county championship success last year. “It’s a bit ironic that I am being honoured at a time when I am in the middle of the Cork senior hurling crisis. It’s a very difficult time for everyone involved in this dispute. There is no joy for anyone.”