Cuthbert happy to go in under radar

He’s been thinking of them and little else for a week now, so it’s no surprise Brian Cuthbert has a good deal to say about tomorrow’s opponents.

“Both teams know each other quite well,” he says. “Mayo have been in the last two All-Ireland finals, they’re a very seasoned team and they’re raging favourites for the game, not too many people are giving us much of a chance, which suits us fine, to be honest.

“For us, it’s going to be a big, big ask in terms of where we’re at and where Mayo are at.

“At the same time, it’s a game, it’s a contest, if we go right then we’re in with a chance. If we perform like we did in the Munster final, we’ll only get much the same.”

It’s a clean slate in Croke Park, but will they be able to play the same system there that they employed against Sligo last weekend?

“I suppose I’d prefer to look at us as an attacking team rather than a defensive team,” he says.

“I’d like to think that the two times we’ve been in Croke Park this year we’ve scored freely. We’ve let scores happen as well but, at the same time, I think Croke Park as a pitch suits us, it suits our players.

“We have a lot of guys with good character who love the big stage, they like getting the opportunity to play there and the big thing for us is that, if we get our hands on enough ball, we have players who will cause problems.

“In the Munster final, we had huge difficulties getting the ball, last weekend was a bit better, our intensity and desire were better.

“Mayo will cause huge problems in terms of winning the ball given the size of their team and we’ll have to think our way around that.”

They’ll have to involve Brian Hurley a bit more as well, you’d imagine.

“In the first two games, Tipperary had four players around him every time he got the ball and against Kerry we only got the ball to him in the corners, there was a mass of bodies in front of him.

“You look at Donegal and Monaghan, Conor McManus didn’t score from play. In the league, there’s a lot more space than in championship and the marquee players are closed down.

“He’s being denied space but he’s only 21, he’s a super, super talent and that talent will bubble up at some stage in the championship.”

Getting the balance right is the challenge for management, clearly.

“At the moment, it’s a case of finding and pinpointing exactly what we want to do and getting the players that suit that.

“It’s a huge call to make. At the same time, you need to go with what you think is going to work.

“When Sligo got their goal and a point after that, we brought Fintan (Goold) in and he won five or six kickouts in a row and turned the game back our way again.

“Having that opportunity is a huge plus. I’d like to think we have a strong panel and it’s up to the management to utilise the strengths we have at the right time.”

Does the fact that many commentators are looking ahead to a Mayo-Dublin final impinge on his thinking? “That’s the game we’re all at, looking forward,” says Cuthbert.

“At the moment Dublin have no equal, which is fine, and Mayo are probably second in the pecking order. Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, to wonder who’ll be in the final.

“For us it’s a case of minding our own house, getting our own business right and letting the Mayos, Dublins, Donegals and Kerrys to mind themselves.

“Our team has a lot of new players, it’ll take time for them to get settled, to reach the level they need, and we’re facing a team which probably has 12 or 13 guys who’ve played in two All-Ireland finals.

“There’s a huge difference there but on a one-off day that’s not insurmountable.”

Mayo haven’t been emphatic against Roscommon and Galway this year in the championship.

“I’d say they felt they had the Galway game after going six points up, and there was a strong wind as well. Galway came at them for the first 10 of the second half and then it was game over.

“Against Roscommon there were 15 men behind the ball, a difficult day for football, and the fact that Roscommon broke out and got a goal... Mayo still got three points in the last four minutes.”

That’s a mark of a side’s experience, being able to kill an opponent off.

“I’m here to talk about Cork, we’ve had a lot of stuff said about us this year and those in glasshouses shouldn’t throw stones.

“But I’m happy after last Saturday, with the new players and with the experienced lads.

“This is a one-off game against a very good team, a very experienced team, and a physically imposing team.

“We’ve had difficulty getting our hands on the ball because we’ve lost seven or eight guys who are very, very big, very good players, leaders, and I’d be confident if we have enough of the ball that we’ll cause them problems.”