Rebels need to walk the walk

THOSE who suggest that Cork can get to an All-Ireland SFC final with another average performance to go with those they’ve produced since the start of championship, just as Kerry did last year, are ignoring one very important fact: Kerry were an experienced team with a stockpile of medals to back up the attitude.

Cork are an experienced team with nothing but a series of ransackings to show for all their efforts these last few seasons. Whatever about the loose talk of following the Kingdom template of getting to the finals and peaking therein, Cork players and management are bound to be nervous about the Dubs.

Ahead of last year’s All-Ireland final, Jimmy Barry-Murphy said that he was more nervous as an older player going into deciders than he had been as a teenager in 1973. This is entirely understandable and Dublin manager, Pat Gilroy’s mischievous claim that his team are now in bonus territory after the taking of Tyrone has had a liberating effect on players and supporters.