Stakes high for old rivals

WELCOME to the Munster championship, and welcome to Thurles, the home of Cork hurling!

It’s only a first-round match tomorrow, the season opener in Munster, but this isn’t just an ordinary Cork/Tipp match — this one is massive, and for both counties, though for very different reasons.

I’ll start with Cork. Whatever these players have achieved in the past — and I’ve been looking at their record, so much won, both individually and collectively — will be diminished if they lose tomorrow, especially to that section of the Cork public still angry over what happened earlier this year.

From my information, a lot of those supporters will not be in Thurles on Sunday, for their own obvious reasons. Most supporters are selfish, let no-one ever say otherwise, interested in only one thing — winning.

If Cork lose tomorrow, the players who so recently were on strike — again — will suffer huge criticism; if Cork win, however, then almost everything will be forgiven.

Cork will want to win for the usual reasons, of course; they’ll want to take the shortest route to Croke Park in September, but they will also be conscious that they have to win back those supporters they lost through all the recent bitter period in Cork.

And it doesn’t matter how successful a team has been in the past either — they want success now, they want it this year. And as we all know, those supporters can be very, very cruel when things are going wrong, and nowhere more so than in the most successful counties.

How crucial also this match is for Tipperary, and here again we come to the supporters, where they can be equally as demanding as in Cork, and equally cruel.

A lot of those fans were on a bit of a high after the recent league final against Kilkenny, huge expectations for the championship, but talking to some of the older Tipp fans, to former players, there was a bit more realism. They were encouraged by the performance but they still looked at the result — another loss for Tipp. It was good to see, though, that the current Tipperary players themselves were bitterly disappointed — they had given this their best shot but had come up short, and that hurt. From an outside view, that was encouraging to see, they know they still have much to learn.

To the game. After winning the league title, Tipperary beat Cork last year in the Munster semi-final, went on to win the final; a repeat of last year, however, won’t be enough for Tipperary this year.

They went on to fail against Waterford in the All-Ireland semi-final, a poor end to the season — they must improve on that this year.

That puts pressure on them tomorrow, on the management team especially; adding to that pressure, the venue. Semple Stadium is Tipp’s home county ground, but as I pointed out above, it’s also home to Cork — they love going there.

And why not? Cork have won so many big games in Thurles over the years, why wouldn’t they love it?

If they were being beaten, might be a different story, but so far anyway, it’s not. Will the story change on Sunday?

Let’s look at Cork. Two big names missing tomorrow as they make that charge out the tunnel — Diarmuid O’Sullivan and Joe Deane. A huge loss to Cork, but a huge loss to hurling also, two outstanding characters.

The Rock, the big bould head of him at the edge of the square, then the sheer class of Joe Deane at the other end of the field — how can Cork replace that?

One advantage they have, they have massive leaders all over the field. The experience of O’Sullivan will be sorely missed, but here, the goalkeeper will have a huge job. Donal Óg Cusack has been an important part of the Cork setup for years, but his role on Sunday will be crucial. With two new faces in the full-back line, Donal Óg will have to be the new Rock for Cork. He will have to make sure those guys gel in immediately, he will have to do the organising, though in Shane O’Neill, in the other corner, Cork are very lucky.

Of course outside them, Cork have that wall, the half-back line, and in this area I think Cork have been very cute. Half-back, midfield, half-forward, it’s the same old faces — in the most critical area of the field, Cork have gone for experience, and that could be very important.

A lot of talk that the half-forward line is being given the last throw of the dice, but I saw a couple of them in a recent challenge match against Limerick, and I thought the two McCarthys, Niall and Timmy, were moving very well, very impressive.

The real question on Sunday, apart from the Cork full-back line, is midfield; Kenny and O’Connor have been great for Cork for years, can score, can make scores; they’re up against two very good lads in Shane McGrath and James Woodlock, four outstanding athletes, so this should be a great contest.

Coming to the Cork half-forward line again, I see Tipperary have named Conor O’Mahony at wing-back, to pick up Ben O’Connor — will that happen?

Ben is the real engine of that Cork forward line, he’s the main go-to man for Cork. Brave as a lion, if he’s stopped, will Cork be in trouble? I can see Pat Horgan taking some of that weight off Ben’s shoulders. He’s named in Joe Deane’s corner, though he can also play on the 40, but he could be the danger-man for Cork.

And then of course there’s Ó hAilpín, another Ó hAilpín, at full-forward — if Aisake can bring what his brother, Setanta, brought to that position, we could be in for something special.

Talk about Tipp for a minute; Pádraic Maher was very good at centre-back against Kilkenny, but this is championship, and this is Cork — will Pádraic start here, or will Conor O’Mahony, last year’s All-Star, shift to the centre, with Maher going to the wing?

Paddy Stapleton is also inexperienced, in the corner, so — like Cork — Tipp will have fingers crossed for two new guys in defence.

As usual, the critical battle will happen in the half-forward/half-back lines, and the battle between the Tipp trio against Gardiner/Curran/Ó hAilpín will have a huge bearing on the outcome.

When he puts his mind to it, I think Ronan Curran is the best centre-back in the country – when he puts his mind to itBe sure, his mind will be on this game.

Inside then, a huge plus for Tipperary, the return of Eoin Kelly. There’s never a question about Eoin’s ability, but there is now a question over his fitness — how fit is he? If he’s at 100%, that would be massive, for Tipperary. Then you look to the other corner, and another guy over whom there’s no question about ability, but in Noel McGrath’s case, it’s a question of experience. How will he stand up to this? I can see O’Neill picking up Kelly, which would leave McGrath up against another newcomer, Conor O’Sullivan, two good players. And of course — and a mystery for Cork — how will Eoin Cadogan handle the threat of Micheál Webster? A lot of questions, and so much to look forward to.

A winner? If Tipp continue where they left off against Kilkenny, we’re in for a great contest.

This Cork team has stood up to every challenge thrown their way, on and off the field; finally, however, the big question — will their hunger match that of Tipperary?

I think that could be the decisive question, and on that, while it’s going to be very close, I give Tipperary the nod. But you know, Cork and Tipp can make a fool of any man.