Stephen McDonnell: ‘We still feel the need to prove ourselves’

The usual opener doesn’t seem to work with Stephen McDonnell.

Sitting down with the Cork full-back, the obvious starting point is how restorative it is for a player to get back to club action after the defeat to Waterford in the Munster SHC semi-final.

Clear the head. Forget the day in Thurles. Regain the...

“I don’t think so,” says McDonnell. “You always remember your last game, so my last memory of playing for Cork is of playing against Waterford and of being beaten well by them.

“Going back to the clubs doesn’t necessarily help to get rid of that. I went back with the club (Glen Rovers) and we won, which might have helped a little, but in general, back with Cork we still feel the need to prove ourselves.

“We waited until after everybody came back after their round of club games before we had our debrief, statistically, but we also had a team meeting and we discussed the Waterford game fully — what went well for us, what didn’t go so well for us. Looking forward, then, we based our training on that.”

They’ve had to base their approach to this weekend on a few missing faces. Christopher Joyce is a long-term absentee, Lorcan McLoughlin a medium-term loss, and Shane O’Neill’s ankle issue means Cork are without half their first-choice defence.

Is there an onus on the likes of McDonnell to step up and offer leadership?

“That happens naturally, anyway. The onus is always on every player to step up.

“The level they step up to is up to them and down to the experience they have — some fellas are more natural leaders than others, some fellas are happier speaking in the dressing-room than others.

“It’s no good if a fella is trying to be something that he’s not, though. If it comes to him naturally, then that’s fine.

“The likes of myself and Mark (Ellis) have been around a good while, so it’s down to us to help out in any way we can.”

Wexford were given a double-digit hammering by Kilkenny in the Leinster championship, but that doesn’t mean a backlash can be expected, says McDonnell.

“We’re in a similar enough position ourselves. Both teams are going into the game on the back of a beating.

“I’ve seen bits of Wexford-Kilkenny, and despite the scoreline that day Wexford are a good team. That hasn’t changed because of one game.

“They made goal chances that day against Kilkenny, remember. You’d expect that. They’re a good team and they’ll create chances.”

Clare found out to their cost last summer that Wexford Park can be less than welcoming for visiting teams. McDonnell says Cork won’t be bothered by their surroundings.

“I can only speak for myself, but certainly playing in a hostile environment, or a stadium where there’s more Wexford supporters than Cork supporters... That’s not going to affect me, or us, I think. We have a lot of experience and we’ve played in a lot of similar situations, Munster finals and All-Ireland finals, where you’re under pressure.”

There’s been some discussion in Cork on the difficulty of getting to Wexford and then heading for Killarney tomorrow morning. Not an issue for the players, though.

“Whoever turns up, turns up,” says McDonnell. “That’s my take on it. If nobody at all turns up, fair enough. It doesn’t bother me at all. I’m out there playing with team-mates I respect completely, all of them, and that’s my job. To get the best out of myself in order to benefit the team and help us succeed. Whoever comes to the game, comes to the game. I know it’s not a great spin, from Cork to Wexford, but we’ll be focused on what’s happening out on the field.” It’s a chance for Cork to kickstart their season and create some momentum, though.

Isn’t it?

“Don’t forget, if we win on Saturday we’re out again the following weekend, so there isn’t a lot of time to dwell on momentum, it’s back into it.

“The focus is on this game. If we win this one, it’s the following weekend we have to worry about. The momentum will take care of itself.”