Tommy Corbett: 'They have this bomb squad of speed that they can bring in'

“Any team that's going to beat Cork is going to have to be at the top of their game for 75-80 minutes."

Mon, 15 Jul, 2024 - 06:34

Stephen Barry

Tommy Corbett says Clare must be ready for Cork’s “bomb squad” of impact subs in Sunday’s All-Ireland hurling final.

The Ennis native was added to Brian Lohan’s backroom team in a reshuffle at the outset of an impressive season for the Bannermen.

But their final step towards Liam MacCarthy will require them to defuse an in-form Rebel attack and their bench ammunition.

“They've so many options on the field and then on top of that they have this bomb squad of speed that they can bring in after 40, 45, 50 minutes,” says Corbett.

“Any team that's going to beat Cork is going to have to be at the top of their game for 75-80 minutes.

“We're very lucky in Clare in that we've got a strong bench. We got the impact last Saturday and probably didn't in previous games. Maybe that's down to management as well, maybe not bringing them on in time.

“But definitely Cork have that X-factor on the sideline as well. They have four, five, six players that would make any county team and we're acutely aware of that.” Another challenge will be shackling the powerful scoring duo of Brian Hayes and Alan Connolly, who excelled against Limerick.

“It's something that we haven't actually sat down and talked about yet but it's going to be very difficult,” added Corbett, speaking last week at Clare's All-Ireland final press night.

“They bring huge physicality and aerial threat. On top of that, they have massive athleticism and speed as well as the undoubted hurling that they have.

“The first thing we do is try to limit the supply of ball and you try to ensure that the supply of ball going into them isn't the one that they want.

“That's easier said than done but it's something we're acutely aware of, the threat Cork have all over the field, not just those two lads.

“Darragh Fitzgibbon around the centre of the field has been phenomenal. The two Downeys at 3 and 6 have been really pivotal to their structure at the back.

“That running game through midfield with probably Tim O'Mahony allows them to do that. Ciarán Joyce has been very flexible for them, whether it's in midfield or doing a man-marking job there on Gearóid Hegarty the last day.” Corbett reckons both Cork and Clare will have to balance the excitement building among fans with the necessity to approach the final as just another game.

“When an All-Ireland comes around, you have to embrace it. You can't shy away and hide in the corner without getting caught up in it as well.

“There's a fine balance. The weight of expectation and that type of thing, I'm not sure. It's a different All-Ireland in that there's two new teams in it this year.

“I know we met 11 years ago but apart from Kilkenny, Galway, Tipp, and Limerick, we're two new teams. We've both had a bit of a famine so this will bring something different but we're going to approach it like any other game.

“It's four white lines and two goalposts. It's still a grass pitch at the end of the day.” Clare have put in flat performances against Limerick in the Munster final and in the first half of the All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny but Corbett insists their confidence was never shaken.

“These guys are around long enough. They have belief in their own abilities.

“We were beaten in a Munster final and it was very disappointing but you can only get up on the horse and go again. That was the attitude from the off so I didn't think they needed an injection of belief outside of that.

“We believe in them. They believe in themselves. Listen, some days you perform and you don't get the result. Some days you don't perform and you do get the result. For half the game last Saturday, we didn't perform but we were lucky to come out on the right side of the result.

“Over the last couple of years, we performed in two really, really tough Munster finals and came out on the wrong end of it. We didn't perform this year.

“I don't think belief is an issue. As someone said, a thousand mad things happen and then someone wins and someone loses. You have to play in the moment and our lads tend to do that.”