Anthony Nash: 'We didn’t win an All-Ireland with Cork and people might see that as a regret. I don’t'
Former Cork goalkeeper Anthony Nash: Hurling has been very good to me and has opened doors and given me opportunities I wouldn’t have enjoyed otherwise.
After nearly two decades going up and down the road from Kanturk to Cork, Anthony Nash called it a day last month.
No more training with Cork. No more packing the boot of the car with hurleys. No more McFlurrys to shorten the spin home either (“Ben O’Connor used to get them,” he says).
“My time is going to be used differently,” says Nash.
“I’ve told Kanturk I won’t be playing for them either this year, so it’s going to be tough.
“I’ve had a hurley in my hand ever since I was a child, so it’ll be a big change.”
He can look back now and weigh his career: Munster titles and All-Stars sparkle on the CV but there’s one obvious gap.
“We didn’t win an All-Ireland with Cork and people might see that as a regret. I don’t. I wouldn't have regrets.
“Take 2012-2014, when we were challenging for high honours, and when Jimmy (Barry-Murphy) rang to offer me the captaincy of Cork that was a huge honour for me and my family.
“In 2011 and 2012 if someone had told me I’d be playing for Cork I wouldn’t have believed them, given how well Donal Óg (Cusack) was playing - if they’d said I’d captain Cork I’d have laughed at them.”
There were other highlights, like winning the All-Ireland intermediate club title with Kanturk in 2018.
"When I started off with Kanturk we hadn’t won a junior title in Duhallow for 40 years, so getting to senior, winning that All-Ireland - that was fantastic.
“It might make people cringe, but any time you get to wear the jersey of your club or county it’s an honour, particularly if people are watching - that’s what made the last season so difficult, with the absence of crowds.”
In 2013 Nash made headlines with his penalty- and free-taking technique, seen to good effect in the All-Ireland final against Clare. Controversy duly erupted, with the rules eventually altered by the GAA to rule out that free-taking method. It was a period when a lot of hot air was generated, but Nash stayed out of the storm.
“I was trying to keep my head down. My only disappointment was that the rules were changed in the middle of the season. We were fortunate at the time we had Patrick Horgan for penalties anyway.
“I’d always been doing it, messing around with rising the ball and throwing it forward, but it was only in 2012, before we played Wexford in a back door game, that the management asked me to start taking them that day.”
Cork won a penalty and Nash converted it. Nobody noticed. The following year was different.
“I loved it. Scoring a goal in an All-Ireland in 2013 was fantastic, but it was fantastic because I could see my teammates celebrate something I did - that’s not always the case for a ‘keeper.
“The controversy over the rule, though? I just got on with it. The timing was the only issue I had with it.”
His goal in the All-Ireland final replay, with all of Clare on the line, was a particular highlight.
“That one . . . I thought Jimmy was mad getting me to come up for that one.
“It was at an angle and as I came up the field it seemed to be at even further away from the goal, not dead centre like a penalty. I was looking over to the lads on the sideline to see would I put it over the bar.
“I was fortunate that the lift went off okay - I’ve had plenty of times when I made a hash of it - but it was a great buzz.
“What people didn’t realise is that it’s a long way to the other end of the field. I was conscious of taking my time on the way up because I didn’t want to be out of breath when I got up there.”
Nash is quick to pay tribute to other teammates: “Patrick Horgan just seems to be getting better and better all the time.
“But Cork have had some unbelievable defenders as well. Brian Murphy was at a different level. If a high ball dropped in you knew his man wasn’t getting anywhere near you, when he marked someone he just marked them out of the game.”
“Those are two players but I could name a lot more. I believe there are players on the current panel who’ll go on to become all-time greats too, but I’ve been lucky to play with outstanding players.”
And to meet outstanding people. Nash acknowledges performance consulant Gary Keegan, describing him as “one of the biggest influences on my career”.
“When Kieran (Kingston) brought Gary in, back in 2017, we all learned a huge amount from him. He’s just outstanding - he’s been with the Dublin footballers, Tipperary hurlers, the Irish rugby team.
“I met him at a time in my career when I needed to refocus, and he’s great at creating a high-performance environment.
“He made a big difference, himself and Pat Ryan, when they came in back in 2017, given how we’d gone in 2016. We lost him in 2018 and he went in with Tipperary. They became All-Ireland champions with him the following year. That’s no accident.”
Nash fell in with for the All-Ireland hurling final and enjoyed analysing the game: “It doesn’t suit me to be lazy. I’ll have to find something to occupy my time.”
And the team he leaves behind? Can they challenge for All-Ireland honours?
“I’m only just out of the circle, so obviously I’m going to say yes. People might call me mad but I look at that panel and think they’re contenders. Someone could read this and say ‘he’s only saying the because they’re his pals’, but there are class players on that Cork panel.
“The management and players would probably agree a couple of things have to be tweaked, and looking at Limerick in the All-Ireland final it might be difficult to see any team beat them, but Cork have been in All-Ireland semi-finals in the last few years. They’re close.
“Every time I went out in a Cork jersey I believed we were going to win, and though I didn’t leave with an All-Ireland medal, every year I went back training it was with the idea of winning an All-Ireland. If I was going back for 2021 I’d feel exactly the same."
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