Donal O'Grady: Suffering Cork need calm minds and cold analysis

“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs

These are the opening lines from the famous poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling.

Cork’s hurling management would have done well to recall these lines as they went about their rehabilitation work this past week.

The word crisis loomed large in many media headlines in reference to Cork’s current standing. There was also massive negativity from members of the public.

This can heap huge pressure on both players and management — if they succumb to it. Reacting in a kneejerk fashion with major surgery would not be the way to go. Calm minds and cold analysis from players and management is needed. Protecting the players at all costs and looking for positives and credible explanations is most important.

Pointing the finger of blame at players carries no long term value. Overdoing physical work in the two weeks prior to their last game followed by a lengthy bus trip to Dublin could be a contributing factor to the below par performance. Pinpointing reasons for this comprehensive defeat and analysing what can be controlled and improved upon is the required response. Filing the poor experience away for later in the season and moving on is the only way forward for Cork.

However the one team you wouldn’t want coming to Páirc Uí Rinn the week after such a defeat is Kilkenny.

To win tonight the Rebels will have to perform at a much higher level than they have shown this season.

If Cork are looking for a transformation, Operation TJ Reid will have to kick in. Before the season began I wrote that Kilkenny’s year may depend on the health of Reid. He has been phenomenal in this league. If Cork have any designs on winning this game, shackling Reid is paramount. Denying him possession from puck-outs and from the air in general is a basic requirement tonight.

Keeping the ball out of his hand must be central to the plan. Looking at the Cork defence no one is tailor-made to man-mark Reid as they have no out and out man-marker since the excellent Brian Murphy retired.

Stephen McDonnell may be the best choice but some specialised coaching and practice to prevent Reid catching the ball would have been necessary to equip the Cork captain for this highly important assignment.

A viewing of the tactic employed by former Kilkenny maestros JJ Delaney or Tommy Walsh,who prevented opponents from getting off the ground under high balls,would be educational. McDonnell’s assignment would free him from all other responsibilities and his sole task would be to limit Reid as far as that is possible.

Kilkenny manager Brian Cody can afford some selection experimentation.

They will play as they normally do basing their game on solid workrate. Once the ball is lost their half forwards will drop deep protecting the defence while ‘corner forward’ Walter Walsh will roam, dragging his marker out of his comfort zone.

I am still bewildered as to how midfielder Conor Fogarty has been overlooked for an All Star award. He is Mr Consistency in the centrefield/defensive role that Cody demands of his midfielders.

Tonight Diarmaid Cody and Fogarty bring a physical presence to this area that only Waterford have matched so far. Cork will need physically big players - like Bill Cooper and Pa Cronin- to battle hard, particularly in the ground rucks.

Last year, in the corresponding fixture, Richie Hogan and a weakened Kilkenny team played Cork off the park.

With that in mind the local support will surely see a different Cork outfit take the field tonight - and I just don’t mean the change of jerseys.

Patience from fans and small forward steps by the squad are required of Cork. Attempting to solve all the problems in the two training sessions this week would have been futile.

In a way the result is immaterial. Cork,most likely,are destined for the relegation play-off.

If I was Cork manager Kieran Kingston I would have arranged with Setanta to have footage made available of tonight’s game, not just from the side cameras but from those behind the goals.

These can be most educational for team development and you always learn valuable lessons when you play Kilkenny.

Kingston will demand a full blown effort. Cork should concentrate on marking tightly and see how far it brings them. Good discipline leading to the non concession of silly frees would be another plus, always crucial if you hope to compete with Kilkenny. Tonight is all about guts, effort, being highly competitive and learning for future battles.