IT WAS NO surprise when Christopher Joyce became the latest half-back to roll off the Na Piarsaigh production line and become a fixture in the Cork defence.
Hailing from the same city club as Seán Óg Ó hAilpín and John Gardiner, Joyce didn’t have to look far for inspiration as a youngster.
Ó hAilpín and Gardiner flanked Ronan Curran in a legendary Cork half-back line that delivered All-Ireland titles in 2004 and 2005.
Joyce is hoping to emulate his idols and bring the Liam MacCarthy Cup back to Leeside for the first time in 13 years.
“Growing up as a young fella, I wanted to be a half-back like my club-men,” he says. “In Na Piarsaigh, every underage team had decent half-backs – they all wanted to be like them!
“I went to every Cork game as a young fella with my father. Of course, you had two Na Piarsaigh men on the team. You had more, you had Setanta who was in there. But every game I went to, I would keep an eye on the two lads obviously.
“I was very lucky to come into the panel when they were still on the Cork panel, I played senior championship with them in the club. That was great. From watching them growing up as a kid and then playing alongside them then. To see how professional they were. Huge bonus for me seeing what to do to get to that required level.
He continues: “My senior championship debut with the club, I was centre-back and the two lads were wing-back. They were looking after me. It was the same even when I made my championship debut against Offaly, I got great advice from the lads. Even at half-time, John Gardiner came in and gave me a pat on the back and said, “You’re doing great, keep going.’
“Just to have John Gardiner coming in and saying that. You felt like you could take on anyone at that stage! So they were a massive help to me, and you still see them up at the club. You still see Seán Óg, and he’s training the senior panel at the moment, so he’s never too far away either still for an old helpful word either.”
Joyce made his senior bow for Cork in 2012 and played in the drawn All-Ireland final and replay defeat to Clare the following season.
His career hit a speed bump in 2015 when he suffered a torn cruciate during a league game against Dublin at Croke Park. It was 11 months before he played again and Joyce wouldn’t rediscover his best form until 2017.
“Look I had a year out, I’d done a lot in the gym, I probably bulked up too much and I was carrying too much in 2016. But since then I’ve stayed out of the gym and I’ve just trying to get fit and nimble and quick, so I definitely think it was up to last year before I feel myself again.
“It’s now (all about) pace, it’s now (about) speed. The half-forwards are going to come down the pitch non-stop, and I suppose you going up and down after them. The game has changed now it’s really moving quick now and you need to be super fit.
“The speed of the game and fitness levels have gone up. It is the same. It’s, ‘Get that ball into the forward line as quick as you can and get the dangerous guys on the ball and they’ll put the ball over the bar.’
“Crowd the defence, stop the other team from scoring, it hasn’t changed a whole pile while the fitness levels and the gym has risen. The game is much more physical. It’s about putting that ball over the bar and getting quick ball into the forwards.”
The 26-year-old has delivered some strong performances in the provincial campaign and puts his good run of form down to self-belief which he built up through playing well at training.
“You need to believe in yourself. If you’re going for a ball, and you know there’s a guy on your back, you need to have the confidence number one, to want it and two, to take the man on.
“It’s coming from training, it’s coming from in-house matches, it’s coming from League, as you say getting your confidence up, pulling yourself out of pressure in training is the main thing. We do a lot of in-house games. They are very competitive, guys are trying to get back in the team.
“We built a good squad over the league. A lot of guys have got game-time. I suppose it’s about putting yourself under pressure in training because at the end of the day, you’ll play how you train.
“It’s very important that you get to those levels in the training field.”
Cork are Munster champions for the second year in succession, having gone unbeaten so far this summer. Spirits are high in the Rebels camp they can go one better than last year and bring their provincial form into the last four meeting with Limerick on Sunday.
Like his own form, Joyce says Limerick’s biggest improvement is their growing “confidence in themselves.”
“I think they were more than capable of putting the game up to Kilkenny last year in Nowlan Park,” he explains. “They didn’t do it. That showed a lack of confidence.
“Obviously then they came back this year and said they were going to give it a real go this year. John Kiely has really brought confidence into them. They beat Galway in the League. Again, that was the first step in them believing in themselves. They played their first championship game, got a great win the first day out.
“Right, they lost to Clare, that could have been a bit of a knock for them. But it was the third week out in a row. I think most teams struggled to get the form three weeks in a row, but look I think it probably suited them to the ground to get that extra game, play Kilkenny, who they lost to last year. Kilkenny came back at them, they could have easily dropped the head.
“They kept the head up, they got the win. So look, this team – we’ve always known Limerick have had brilliant hurlers. But now they have the confidence as well. There’s no doubt about it, they’ll be coming to Croke Park and they’ll firmly believe that they’re going to beat us up there.
“It’s up to us to put in a performance that will stop them from bringing their performance. So that’s definitely the main thing for me – their confidence, their belief in themselves. You need that to win games.”
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