Still answering the call of duty
He thinks back to the inter-county world he entered in Fraher Field, compares and contrasts the modern game and concludes that they’re two polarised sports. Miskella started off being exposed to penal regimes as a Cork footballer, enduring the torturous ascents of the hill in Macroom or the slog through the sand dunes in Inchydoney. Those memories make him wince, as do the nights when he pounded the roads on his own to get fit. Wisdom joined him along the road.
“We were dogged back then because we had to be. There was nothing wrong with it as it got us extremely fit but you wouldn’t dream of that now. For me, personally, the road running was the ruin of my body. The difference now is I’d spend an hour in the gym rather than on the road.
“Myself and the other older fellas from that time — Quirky, Anthony, Nicholas and Canty — would say it’s unreal how much it’s changed. It’s mad how different the emphasis on diet is. We were fed the right stuff back then but you were never told what not to eat whereas now it’s all mapped out.”
Away from the field, there is also a noticeable shift. Miskella can remember the days when the national league slipped into gear before Christmas and the session in the pub after the game was as staple a part of the diet as training sessions during the week. Now spare hours are whiled away on gym benches not barstools.
“Going out was a big part of it. After a championship match, you’d be guaranteed to go out and after plenty of league games as well. But things were more relaxed with the league being played before Christmas. It’s exaggerated about the drink culture back in the day but there was one to a certain extent. It’s absolutely gone now.
“I can only speak for myself but I haven’t taken a drink or been out since our team holiday last January. And I’d say a lot of the Cork lads are in the same boat. If we all want to go out, it’s an agreed thing that we all go out. Maybe after a specific game we might but there’d want to be a fair break until our next match. That’s even just for a few pints. You have to be serious now. It’s never fun, and it gets more and more professional with each year. The aim is to win and the enjoyment comes when you achieve that.”
His honesty is stark but Miskella insists it is not all a chore. All those seasons of sacrifice paid off last September when he cradled the All-Ireland medal he craved. The sense of relief at finally crossing that threshold was palpable, the joy multiplied with another Ballincollig man, Patrick Kelly, in the trenches with him.
Defensive compatriots like Ciaran O’Sullivan and Owen Sexton soldiered for years without reward, while he watched his clubmate Podsie O’Mahony put in similar toil. There were plenty times Miskella believed he would be part of that club. He came on as a substitute during Cork’s qualifier meltdown against Roscommon in 2003 and did not play senior championship again until the 2007 Munster semi-final against Tipperary. A ruinous streak of injuries exiled him in the wilderness.
“I never even thought about going back. I was never a mad man going to watch games and I find it’s too negative, and all you hear is abuse. I can take it or leave it. The few Cork matches I did go to, I thought ‘not a hope in hell could I play at that level’. Then out of nowhere halfway through the 2007 league, Billy (Morgan) rang me and asked me to go down to Waterford to play in a challenge game.
“I didn’t expect anything and just went out to enjoy the ride. I certainly didn’t expect to be playing now at 33 and have an All-Ireland medal. Above everything else, I’m a lucky and privileged fella.”
It’s not easy. With his wife Claire and two kids, Danny (4) and Joe (2), at home, the decision on whether to answer the county call is one he parses every winter. Juggling family life in Ballincollig, shift work as a garda in Clonakilty and the role of a Cork footballer is a delicate balancing act.
“Myself and Claire have that discussion every winter, and it’s something I question more after every season. The unfortunate thing is playing at inter-county level, it comes first. You have to work your family and work life around football. Claire is big into football which helps but that wears off. The kids are getting older and that brings pressures. The commitment is unreal and I don’t know how much longer I’ll go on.”
Days like last September’s All-Ireland final are special though. Danny is old enough to start savouring big-game atmospheres and appreciate his dad was one of the main men in Croke Park. Joe was more concerned with finding out when he could go watching cartoons afterwards. The Cork team holiday to South Africa after Christmas was the first trip abroad the family had taken and provided nothing but happy memories with Miskella.
This year they have set out with the ambition to replicate those feats. The decision of Conor Counihan to remain at the helm was a positive step. When Counihan first got the top job three years ago, Miskella recalled how impressed he was with the Aghada man in his role of Cork defensive coach in 1999.
“I remember talking to Anthony Lynch when he (Counihan) took over and we were chatting about how good his defensive training used to be. He was a hardy buck in his day and you can see that in his management. But he’s very savvy, always has a cool head and I don’t think anything fazes him. He’s a great guy to encourage players.”
That management style has been successful again in 2011. In April they claimed the league title and the first two hurdles in Munster have been safely negotiated. Tomorrow in Killarney is the next test. Kerry in front of a packed Killarney still has an allure.
Some things haven’t changed over the years.
IT is an unusual situation to have two teams facing into a Munster final with similarly high levels of confidence. While last year’s exit disappointed the Kerry players, it will not have affected the confidence they have built up over the last decade. A positive league and the fact that training has been going well means their confidence is where it needs to be.
Winning an All-Ireland and experiencing a quantum boost in confidence levels go hand in hand. Cork have already shown the confidence they gleaned from last year. It was particularly evident in the tight league game in Tralee and in the league final against Dublin.
Both were games they would have lost in the past. They refused to panic and won by chipping away with points rather than scoring a game-breaking goal. They were confident enough to back themselves and their team-mates. They bring this new-found confidence to Killarney but face their first genuine examination since the All-Ireland. If Cork win their confidence bank receives another boost. However, if they are beaten and if these sides meet later in Croke Park they might just discover how fickle new-found confidence can be.
Interestingly, the litmus test for confidence is when a game is tight late on and correct decision making becomes paramount. This is where a confident player and team makes the right decisions with ball in hand and conversely where unforced errors sap a team’s morale. Watch out for this in the fourth quarter and we will get a real gauge of the respective confidence levels.
BOTH defences are being singled out as the vulnerable component of their teams. This will be music to their ears as a written off back, and more importantly a written off defence, can be very dangerous. There is nothing like being discounted to concentrate the mind.
The accusation being levelled at the Kerry backs is that they are old. They have too much mileage in their legs. Young, strong and fast Cork forwards will take them to the cleaners. Yes, four of the backs are on the wrong side of 30 but all of them are as fit and athletic as they were five years ago. Often at this stage of their careers they need an angle to get the juices flowing more than anything else. They will each break this down to an almost primeval level. They should relish the challenge.
The Cork backs are also under the microscope. Their was some alarming kamikaze-type defending in the league final. Dublin could and should have scored more. The full-back line will be well tested and Graham Canty has played very little football at full back since these teams met last summer. The Cork half-back line love to attack, particularly John Miskella and Paudie Kissane, but if they are put going the other way they can struggle. This is why the midfield battle is so important. Whichever forward line gets the better and more plentiful supply can seriously trouble their opposite numbers.
BOTH teams are sprinkled with matchwinners. Colm Cooper is hopping off the ground and is an extremely motivated captain. Declan O’Sullivan can swing a game on his own and Darran O’Sullivan is in the form of his life. Cork have Patrick Kelly, Ciarán Sheehan and Daniel Goulding, who have all continued their development and keep getting better and better. Interestingly, all of these game winners are forwards and for them to perform they need ball.
This is why tomorrow above any other day the game winner is going to come from the middle third. Cork have a powerful midfield of Aidan Walsh and Alan O’Connor and are aided by Alan Quirke’s accurate restarts. However, I think the much-maligned Kerry midfield of Anthony Maher and Bryan Sheehan can match them. It is a massive opportunity for both men to show what they are about and to end once and for all the lamenting and hankering for Darragh Ó Sé. It is also relevant to point out that in the modern game the amount of carpet ball picked up by both sets of half backs and half forwards is equally important in determining who gains the upper hand in the engine room. The battle between the likes of Donncha Walsh and Noel O’Leary will be critical here.
Finally, experienced players like Nicholas Murphy (remember his matchwinning cameo in the league final), Micheál Quirke and Seamus Scanlon could all have a major say also.
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