Kerrigan happy with new regime

Cork take on Mayo tomorrow in the NFL, but they won’t have attacker Paul Kerrigan on board.

He’ll be missed: when the Nemo man was replaced against Derry due to cramp last weekend the northerners came into the game, no longer defending in depth against Kerrigan’s speed.

Mind you, even the quickest players can feel the pace.

“I was out of breath after six or seven minutes,” he says.

“We were three up — just like the Dublin game, there was huge pace involved. “We played some great attacking stuff and if they hadn’t scored two goals just before half-time it would have been different game. We’ve looked at them, they were sloppy goals to give away, basic errors.

“In the first-half we made them look bad but they showed what they were able to do in the second-half. And we were down to the bare bones, too — Kevin O’Driscoll’s a wing-forward, he was corner-back, Pa Kelly at centre-back.”

Still, another league win for Cork, which many wouldn’t have seen coming given the veterans who retired over the winter.

“We’ve lost a lot of big men, but we still have Shieldsy, Walshy, Cadogan, Daniel (Goulding), all through the spine of the team. Those are good players, as good as anyone out there. In terms of winning on the road, it’s always good, and in fairness, we were delighted to get the win up in Croke Park, but while you don’t want to lose the run of yourself, it’s important for the younger players in particular to keep calm. There’s a balancing act there, and we’d be telling them it’ll be a different kettle of fish come the championship.

“We play differently now to a few years ago: in 2009, 2010 we had a very powerful team, very big players, and a lot of opponents struggled to deal with that. Now we’re playing a bit quicker, a bit more ball-playing, but that’s all a matter for the new management to see how they want to play with what they have. It’s like any sport, freshness is always good. Look at Joe Schmidt with Ireland.

“So many lads went this year that there are a few players who are getting their chance a bit earlier than they thought, but they’re there on merit. I’m sure Conor (Counihan) was happy to go when he did, and there are other changes in the backroom, but they probably had to be, everything has to move on.”

Kerrigan’s happy with the new regime: “It’s good to have a change: that’s not to say the last six years weren’t brilliant under Conor, because they were, but a change for a player like me, 27-years-old with maybe three or four years left at it, is no harm.”

There’s also a significant change on the field this year, of course. He welcomes the black card. “I’ve noticed the difference, certainly, and it’d be something that you’d try to use to your advantage. Even against Derry last Sunday my man got booked, for instance, for pulling Brian Hurley back, and once a defender has a yellow card it’s a lot harder for him after that.

“From my point of view, it’s better giving and going for the return ball, because those runs can’t be blocked any more.

“If it gives you more encouragement to take a player on and forwards are probably taking that risk a bit more because defenders can’t take the chance of fouling. Maybe the physical element has gone back a bit — I thought the ref handled the Derry game quite well but against Dublin the ref had the hand up for the advantage a lot. But in general it’s working well, it’s encouraging for football.”

Tomorrow they’re meeting the All-Ireland finalists on their home patch.

“We’ve played Mayo a lot in the last few years, between league, championship and league finals.

“It’s a hostile crowd, a windy venue, and in my time we’ve won one game there and lost another one when physically they outmatched us, really.

“There’re a lot of changes on our team but you still have Cadogan, Walsh, Shields, Tom Clancy from Clon, Colm O’Neill . . . they’d be on most teams. It’s a tough challenge to keep the streak going.”

It’s helped by the last name he mentioned. Kerrigan and his teammates are full of admiration for Colm O’Neill’s return from a third cruciate ligament injury.

“Colm would have done his rehab with us every time he did his knee, we know the work he did.

“You can’t put a value on what he gives us when he’s right — take the year he got 1-3 against Donegal, despite their swarm defence. And it adds to competition within the forward line as well, obviously.”