Anthony Nash ‘rocket’ for Rebel bashers

Cork captain Anthony Nash has launched a thinly-veiled attack against Dónal Óg Cusack and other former team-mates who criticised them in the wake of their All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Tipperary last year.

On The Sunday Game, Cusack described the 10-point loss as the result of boys facing men before claiming there were “serious structural problems” in Cork hurling, and highlighting the lack of under-age success.

As well as Cusack, John Gardiner was another who questioned Cork’s tactics and stated they lost the physical battle that day.

Speaking at a private function in Croke Park last September, Nash stoutly defended both manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy and the team. At yesterday’s Allianz Hurling League conference, he reiterated his stance.

“A few lads we would have played with came out with comments I was disappointed with because I would have togged out beside them in the dressing room, and it’s easy to criticise. I hope when I retire that I won’t criticise players that have played.

“Look, Jimmy is fantastic and we wouldn’t be where we are only for him. We’ve made three All-Ireland semi-finals, one All-Ireland final in the last three years so obviously the talent is there. “Have we been successful underage? No, we haven’t. Would be like to be more successful? Of course we would. But have we a strong enough panel to a) challenge for a league and b) challenge for an All-Ireland? Yes I think we do. So something has to be working down there.

“Would we like to be winning an All-Ireland minor? But if you look at the minors they lost to Limerick by a point last year and Limerick played in an All-Ireland final. U21 hurlers went to extra-time against Tipperary a few years ago when Aidan Walsh and Lorcan McLoughlin from my own club were playing. I was at the game. If you’d have won one of those games, who’s to say they wouldn’t have gone on to win an All-Ireland?”

The 30-year-old also backed up his fellow clubman Walsh’s comments last month that there was criticism closer to home after the defeat last August.

“Even our own people in Kanturk, you got a few comments, Facebook and Twitter and things like that which isn’t nice to hear, and around the county. The true supporters would never do that, they know we’re always going out to put in 100%.

“It’s something in the game, it’s in every game. When we won Munster we were going to win an All-Ireland and when we lost to Tipperary, we were the worst team that Cork has ever seen. Next thing the county board were being picked apart, the players were being picked apart, that we haven’t won an under-age game in how long all of a sudden. And that’s after not winning one game, after we’d won Munster we were the best thing since sliced pan.”

The man who changed the face of penalty and 20 metre free taking, Nash isn’t certain the new one-versus-one proposal for penalties will work. It will form a motion at this month’s Congress but the trial period won’t be extended from last month’s pre-season competitions into the start of the league this weekend.

“If you look at one-on-one it probably favours an attacker a bit more and is that what they’re looking for? Maybe rightly so. A penalty’s a penalty but why didn’t they go for the 18-metre line (with three defenders on the line)? “Maybe it’s more administration in having to organise a line and make sure you don’t pass that line. But you still can’t pass the line at the 21 (yard) from a one-on-one so I just hope it works, whatever they decide.”

A motion that won’t be on the Clár of Congress is a proposal from Galway calling for oversized hurleys to be banned from scoring attempts, which was directed at Nash.

“I’ve played with fellas on teams who have had a bás bigger than myself. I’d look at this way: if it leads to more skilful players what’s wrong with it? If you’ve a fella with a bigger bás who can pull the ball down out of the sky, touch it into his hand and put it over the bar does it matter (what) the size of his bás is for free-taking, touch or anything like that?

“I played outfield, I couldn’t use a goalkeeper’s hurley because it would slow down your swing so it’s never going to happen where fellas will have goalkeeper hurleys out the field. They might have a bigger bás but what about it? The balls are travelling so fast nowadays; if you were to go back to a smaller bás what’s going to happen is more missed first touches, more missed strikes, lower scores.

“And what do we want in hurling only less scores for goalkeepers but more scores. Just leave it alone. I don’t see an issue. I don’t think anybody sees an issue.”