Mike Quirke: Cork must banish crutches and excuses

Legendary American college football coach Nick Saban once said: “Championship teams have to be resilient. No matter what is thrown at them, no matter how deep the hole, they find a way to bounce back and overcome adversity”.

After Cork’s humbling at the hands of Kildare last Saturday night, I thought of just how suffocated by adversity they have become in the past two years. I even listened to Joe Brolly on Sunday night talk about the ‘catastrophic refereeing decision by wee Paudie’ that cost Cork a Munster title.

Did it really? Was there not time on the clock for Cork to deal with that hardship and bounce back? Was there not a replay? Was there not an opportunity against a Division Three team last weekend to take their frustration out on and get to Croke Park to have a crack off the Dubs?