Jimmy Barry-Murphy: Cork 'justifiably hot favourites' for All-Ireland hurling title
Jimmy Barry-Murphy was "very encouraged" by the Cork footballers' display against Kerry in the Munster semi-final. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Jimmy Barry-Murphy believes that Cork will win the Liam MacCarthy Cup this season, which would be their first All-Ireland hurling title in 20 years.
“I think they will, I think they will,” the Cork legend told BBC’s The GAA Social podcast when asked if the Rebels will be victorious.
“It's not hype, it's not putting pressure on them. All-Irelands are hard to win. People might say they fall your way an odd time. I've never seen them fall too easily.
“Limerick will be a huge threat still but I think if Cork reproduce the form they're capable of, then they're justifiably hot favourites to win it. With the tag of favourites goes the pressure that goes with it.
“So unlucky last year but a great All-Ireland final with Clare. It was a fabulous occasion. On the day, I would honestly say we just probably didn't do enough to win it.”
Barry-Murphy knows Cork manager Pat Ryan well. The Sarsfields man won an All-Ireland title in 1999 when Barry-Murphy as manager.
“Pat is a very sound person, a fabulous guy,” he said.
“The players love him because he's straight, he's honest, there's no airs and graces about him and he's got a great backroom team. Another lad, Wayne Sherlock, who was with me in '99 (is in the backroom team). All good people and I think that's very important.
“Players respond to that and I think they have great respect for Pat. It would be great for Cork but we've no divine right but they are justifiably favourites on form to win it.
“I'm only an observer on the outside now, but I know from watching the players - I know a lot of people involved - that they absolutely idolise Pat. It's about respect and I know he has that and I know morale in the camp is extremely high.
“Cork are feeling the hurt from last year's final, losing in extra-time is hard to take, but you've got to get up and get on with it. I hate this thing going around and people down the ground crying on the field after the match. It’s rubbish, I think; get up, if you're man enough to get on with it, you go again next year. You're lucky enough to be part of a great county, so if you lose one, so what, be man enough to bounce back and win the next one and if you're not good enough at the end of the day, you're not good enough.”
Barry-Murphy, who won All-Ireland titles as a player with Cork in hurling and football, was “very encouraged” by the Rebels’ performance in the Munster semi-final against Kerry.
“John Cleary has done a good job,” he said.
“It's a very difficult in Cork at the moment. The hurling is on such a high. The interest in Cork hurling has always been the bigger picture anyway.
“I thought our performance against Kerry was really good. We should have won the match. It's a bit unlucky, the sending off was harsh, but that happens.
“I think it showed that certainly Kerry are not that far ahead of us. We saw the story with Meath (on Sunday) beating Dublin. Things are changing a bit, I think. Cork have potential, definitely. I think that we could be a dangerous team in the rest of the Championship.”
Barry-Murphy believes the disparity in support between the Cork footballers and hurlers is due to people feeling success is around the corner for Pat Ryan’s team.
“We all like to back a winner,” he said.
“Cork played Kerry in Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Saturday week, 14,000 people were there. If you could have got 30,000 Cork people into Ennis the following day for the hurling game, they'd have been there.
"Those Cork people are like everybody else, they sniff success. Hurling has always had a special place in Cork anyway, over a hundred years with Christy Ring and famous names like that. It's just harder for the footballers to generate the warmth and support, they need to really earn it doubly.
“I was talking to Larry Tompkins actually a couple of months ago about that. We had a chat. Larry mentioned that, and he agreed with me, that it's success. He said, 'If Cork get to the football final, don't worry, tickets will be as scarce as hens' teeth.' That's what Cork people are like, like everybody else they're selfish and they like to support the winner. I suppose years of being beaten by Kerry don't help.”
Meanwhile, Cork football Seán Brady has failed to have his Munster semi-final red card overturned and so will miss Cork's opening game of the All-Ireland SFC series away to the beaten Munster finalists.
Corner-back Brady was sent off five minutes into the first period of extra-time in the Munster semi-final for a high challenge on Kerry midfielder Joe O'Connor.
Manager John Cleary said after the game that Brady's challenge was definitely not a sending-off offence.
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