Cadogan: 'Every team is on a different journey and at a different stage'

Former Cork hurler Eoin Cadogan speaks on his brother Alan and the year ahead for Cork GAA.

Sat, 30 Dec, 2023 - 07:34

Paul Keane

For the last 17 seasons, whether it was Eoin, Alan or both of them, a Cadogan was always there for Cork.

That's senior inter-county hurling and football, for the record. If you want to include underage activity then the top line figure for the Cadogan's stands at well over 20 straight seasons, stretching back to Eoin's minor days in 2003.

The defender, who made his senior Championship debut for the Cork footballers in 2007, and for the hurlers in 2008, pulled the plug after the 2021 All-Ireland final defeat to Limerick.

Younger brother Alan, who operated as a score-poacher at the opposite end of the pitch, departed more recently in October.

Unlike Eoin, who started that 2021 final at Croke Park when he was almost 35, Alan quit at just 30 having spent the last two Championship campaigns battling for mere minutes in a Cork jersey following an injury plagued few years.

"When Alan was injury free, he was electric," said Eoin, whose interest in the inter-county game in 2024 will be as a GAAGO analyst. "Unfortunately for him, he picked up a good few knocks and niggles along the way and that impacted his playing time. That's through no fault of anyone, he just got a little bit unlucky.

"The standout for me was when he came in against Galway last year, 2022, after a good while out and played, what, for 18 minutes? He got three points and could have got four. Again, this year, he struggled a bit with injury and he ultimately felt the time was right himself to go.

"I couldn't think of anyone who poured as much time and energy into trying to get the absolute best out of himself for the time he was there. You talk about being diligent, Alan epitomised that."

Cadogan, the younger, is in the minority when it comes to departing the squad. The real intrigue around the Rebels right now is how manager Pat Ryan is going to accommodate all of the young players who have made such pressing cases to come into the group. Cork have won three of the last four All-Ireland U-20 championships and appeared in five of the last six finals. There is a minor All-Ireland in there too, from 2021.

The reality is that for anyone who steps away, there will probably be two or three more capable of stepping in.

All of which guarantees Cork absolutely nothing, of course.

"I was talking to Michael Murphy about this recently," said Cadogan, referencing the Donegal football great and fellow GAAGO pundit. "He said young guys come into a senior squad and it takes two to three years to actually fully develop, to get up to the pace of it. Now you're obviously going to have your standout guys who just fit in seamlessly, like your Ciaran Joyce's or your Darragh Fitzgibbons, but there's a bedding-in period for most of these guys.

"Can Cork build and bring those guys through? Can those U-20s progress again next year? Can our minors improve as well and how do we transition that to adult level? Because that's what you're judged on, winning All-Irelands at senior level."

As if to underline just how brutal top-level hurling can be, Cork played relatively well last summer and still didn't get out of Munster. That could easily happen again in 2024.

"It could," agreed Cadogan. "But that's the same for Limerick, it's the same for Waterford, the same for Tipperary, that's the challenge that is Munster hurling. There's no great claps on the back unless you get out of Munster. I saw Pat Ryan reference that in one of his interviews there recently, he said claps on the back are great but we still didn't get the job done this year.

"But they're doing their best to create success, the best people are in charge of underage and at adult level. There's been a huge amount of restructuring in terms of our minor squads, our U-15s, our U-16s, and we're doing all the right things. It's just a case now of can we bring that work ethic, that hunger, that nearly 'hurt' I would say, and turn it into success?"

The Munster Hurling League, which begins for Cork at home to Limerick on Sunday week, will be an opportunity to assess talent. So will the National League with Cork handing game time to 38 different players in the 2023 league, the most of any Division 1 county.

The upcoming league has to be taken seriously though with 2024 final places determining what counties make it into the new seven-team top-flight group in 2025.

"That might make it a very different league with that jeopardy involved," said Cadogan. "Really, I think timing will be everything really when teams hit the Championship. Like, what's their overall goal? Every team is on a different journey and at a different stage.

"Limerick's stage and timing is very different to a Waterford, a Tipperary or a Cork who are in year two in terms of management. Limerick have the consistency, they have the core group, they know exactly what their players are, who they have, who can fit in if X player isn't unavailable whereas other teams are probably still trying to find their feet in terms of, okay, if we lose Patrick Horgan, who is going to come in at full-forward straight away? That's a challenge for all the other teams."