CORK’S BRIAN CUTHBERT is adamant that releasing players for club action will be a central plank of his managerial philosophy for the coming year.
Cuthbert revealed after yesterday’s league win over Kildare that he is keen to have his players in action as much as possible.
That includes permitting players who are not named in the starting team for a Cork match on a Sunday to line out the day before for their clubs in league games.
Cuthbert’s attitude is in marked contrast to some GAA managers in recent years with clubs growing frustrated with the lack of access to their inter-county players.
But Cork will not play any challenge games for the next two weekends before their March 1st tie against Dublin with players to return to line out for their clubs.
“The next two weekends on the calendar, they’re scheduled to play with their clubs, they need that and the clubs need them. We’re very cognisant of the fact that they’re club players we have a loan of.
“I’m very strong on that. I would be adamant that guys play with their clubs, I don’t see any reason why they can’t. Come the summer, if we have a game on a Sunday and a fella doesn’t make the first 15 and the club have a game on the Saturday, he should play that.
“For a long time, I’ve seen guys on squads not getting on the team and going three months without any match. They’ve no chance for improvement then. It’s vital, the way our training works, that everybody plays a game every weekend.”
Cuthbert also confirmed that a hamstring injury forced Tom Clancy off in the opening period of yesterday’s game and he has no plans to add further to his league panel.
“We’ve these 30 guys, then there’s eight of the U21′s and a few other guys like Rory O’Sullivan and Jamie Wall who are training away with us. We’ve a big panel there.”