Anthony Nash: Full-back must be an all-rounder

Cork hurling captain Anthony Nash has made little of the team’s full-back problem by claiming “there is no such thing as a full-back anymore”.

Nash believes the game’s evolution has all but ended the existence of the traditional full-back, insisting defenders must now be comfortable operating in the corner, wing and centre.

The Cork hurling management failed to nail down the full-back berth during their eight league outings with four different players handed the number three jersey — Christopher Joyce, Stephen McDonnell, Damien Cahalane and Aidan Ryan — the latter a surprise inclusion in the team that fell to Waterford in last month’s decider.

“The one thing I would say is that the way hurling has gone, there is no such thing as a full-back anymore. There is a player that stands in front of you for five minutes and who could be out wing-back for the next 10 minutes and who then could go into the corner for five minutes,” replied Nash when quizzed on Cork’s full-back difficulties.

“Any defender that plays in any position has to be able to move around wherever their forward takes them, unless you are holding one spot for the entire game. The way hurling has gone, the movement has become so fast. Fellas are zipping around the place.

“I am very happy with the defenders I play behind. Full-back is a position which people label if the number 14 gets a lot of scores. People have to understand, number 14 is isolated in 45-yards of space. You see the best players in the country over the last number of years have tried to be isolated there. It is a very tough position to play in, but the way defending has gone, there are no set positions anymore.

“You might have a centre-back that holds, but most of the time the full-back line are constantly chasing after their men and constantly switching positions. Who will be full-back [against Waterford], I don’t know.”

Nash wasn’t overly taken by the tactics employed by either Clare or Limerick in the Munster quarter-final and says teams’ insistence on crowding the middle third has exiled the short puck-out strategy.

“Teams don’t want you going short anymore. People were saying the first half of Clare and Limerick was very dull. Teams want you going long and then everyone fighting for it. That is the way hurling has gone and I think that is unfortunately the way hurling is going to go, that fellas are going to crowd the middle of the field and try and isolate your forwards inside. It is going to lead to a schmozzle. Hopefully, teams will start playing free hurling. You do whatever you do to win, though.”

On the challenge of Waterford next Sunday, the goalkeeper added: “I think they are underrated. I think people aren’t giving them enough credit. People can say this, that or whatever about 1B, but they beat ourselves and Tipperary and drew with Limerick.

“We have a very difficult game and we just have to turn up. Our intensity has to be far superior to where it was the last day.”