Blackrock must manage their own dual load

DUAL DEMANDS: Robbie Cotter of Blackrock in action against Colm Coakley of Erin's Own during the Cork County Premier Senior Club Hurling Championship Semi-Final match between Erin's Own and Blackrock at Páirc Ui Chaoimh in Cork. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

You know it’s not just St Finbarr’s who are hoping to complete leg one of a Cork double this Sunday.

Their opponents in the county hurling decider are not without their own dual players, players who will return to Páirc Uí Chaoimh later this month in the colours of Blackrock’s sister club, St Michael’s, for the Senior A football decider.

A quick scan of the Blackrock and Michael’s teams shows three dual starters on both. And all three play in roughly the same position for both; Alan O’Callaghan operates from the half-back line, Daniel Meaney is at midfield, and Robbie Cotter is positioned at corner-forward.

Football first-team regulars Joe Golden and Andrew Murphy are subs on the hurling side, while Rockies midfielder Mark O’Keeffe was introduced as a second half sub in the footballers’ semi-final win over Skibbereen.

O’Callaghan and Cotter’s dual form is noteworthy for the fact that neither played football last year but have absolutely thrived with Michael’s in recent weeks. O’Callaghan started and finished their four games en route to this latest football final appearance, while Cotter has top-scored with 1-16 (0-8 frees).

The same as they cooperate out in Togher to facilitate the Barrs dual cohort, there is give and take between the Rockies and Michael’s management teams. But as much as the respective sidelines monitor the workload of O’Callaghan, Meaney, and Cotter, Blackrock selector Jamie Harrington says the dual player is ultimately responsible for themselves.

And in this respect, the aforementioned trio have played a meticulous blinder.

“It really becomes the player’s own personal thing to make sure it is managed properly,” Harrington began.

“I am not saying we have pushed it back on the players, but if you play one code on Saturday or Sunday and you’re playing with the other code the weekend after, it is very much your own personal thing that you need to be prepared to give what is required.

“You must be prepared to do stretching sessions on your own. You must be prepared to do core activation sessions on your own. You must be prepared to recover pretty much on your own because the team you are going to play for, they are going to be doing a strong hurling or strong football session on the Tuesday before a weekend game and you’re not a part of that a lot of the time as you’ll have been playing the weekend previous.

“It is not an easy thing to manage when you have players going from week to week to week. At times, fractious. Of course, it will be. We all want to win and we all want the players every day.

“But the players themselves have been really good. They’ve been very professional in what they have done.

“If you were to look at the performances of the three, you’d say they should all be playing both codes. If they did, we wouldn’t possibly be here. The Michael’s thing hasn’t held us back at all.” 

On top of his 1-16 for the footballers, Cotter has contributed 2-15 in the Rockies’ run to Sunday’s hurling final. Easily his most important score was the goal he hopped into the Blackrock End net at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in second-half injury-time of their quarter-final against Imokilly.

Trailing by three, Blackrock were gone but for Cotter’s green flag.

Their injury-time heroics that day were in keeping with the late, late acts they produced across the group phase. They trailed Sars by four after 60 minutes in Round 1, yet ended up winning by the minimum, while they did not lead Charleville in Round 3 until the 59th minute.

“That resolve is not something that has come from management. That is the players. They don’t know when they are beaten. When we have been in those situations, there is no game where they haven’t responded.

“Even when the Barrs beat us in the group, we were five down with time up. We got 1-1 and nearly scraped a draw. They really have no idea when time is up.

“It is reassuring for us and possibly unnerving for opponents. They must be considering what kind of a lead is required for us.

“Shane O’Keeffe came back on against Imokilly. He hadn’t won a ball the entire game before that, but he came back on and was roaring for ball. He won two or three balls and got a great goal. Robbie’s goal against Imokilly, I think he caught one ball all year up to that. It is just these moments where leadership comes out in the players, and they don’t even know themselves that they are doing it. But it is in them.”