Cussen ready to grasp opportunity

Amid the mix of those who played last year and the new faces aiming to impress manager Brian Cuthbert, the Cork side which beat Mary Immaculate College on Sunday had one notable returnee.

Michael Cussen, a member of the Rebels’ football panel from 2007 until the end of 2009 before a stint on the hurling squad, lined out at midfield in the facile 7-20 to 0-4 victory. He admitted that lining out for the county in 2015 wasn’t something which he had expected.

“I was surprised to get the call from Brian,” he said.

“I thought my time was up to be fair, but hopefully, I can grab the opportunity.

“I’ll be 31 in April, so the legs are getting that bit older. I thought about it for a while and I spoke to Brian about it. He didn’t guarantee me the sun, moon and the stars either. He just said, ‘Come back, work hard, we’ll give you a shot,’ and I know what I have to do.”

The Glanmire man was glad of the opportunity to ease himself back into inter-county action, with the Limerick college no match for the hosts.

“It was good to get a football game at this level, not having played since the 2009 All-Ireland final,” he said, “and it was great to be out on a pitch playing after the last month’s training.

“Obviously, you’d have to factor in the opposition and with all due respect to Mary I we were a step above them. It was an easy game for the likes of myself to get back into.”

Next up for Cork is a quarter-final against Tipperary next Sunday, and Cussen is expecting a far stiffer test.

“I’ve no doubt it will be a lot different against Tipperary next week,” he said.

“They were very unlucky not to beat Cork in the championship last year and it’s going to be a tough game for the time of year, coming towards the start of the league.

“I had a setback about a month ago, when I tore my hamstring which kept me out for a couple of weeks, but I’m back training hard again. There’s a long road ahead before league and championship, especially if I’m to play midfield at inter-county level.”

Meanwhile Liam Lawlor will return to training with the Waterford footballers this week after a six-year absence.

The 29-year-old has made 18 championship appearances for the senior hurlers and won a Munster championship in 2010 but was left out of the panel for this season. He played a key role up front in The Nire’s journey to the Munster club final before Christmas and committed to Tom McGlinchey’s squad for 2015.

He previously served under John Kiely between 2006 and 2009. His last championship start came against Meath in the All-Ireland qualifiers.

McGlinchey said: “Liam Lawlor is coming in this week and he is back training. He is a fantastic footballer. I was talking to Liam this morning and he is mad for action.”

He is hopeful that other experienced members of the 2014 panel will also make themselves available.