The hours and minutes ticking down all week until the team assemble on the Saturday, the wait of anticipation until Sunday afternoon throw-in.
A year of hurling comes down to one game.
Between them Seanie McGrath and Kieran Fraggy Murphy were involved as players in Cork’s five All-Ireland senior hurling final appearances across 1999-2006. McGrath was a selector when Cork lost the 2013 decider, Murphy a selector when Cork lost out on contesting the 2018 decider.
They began their hurling lives as Cork supporters and will slip into those roles again in Croke Park tomorrow.
On Tuesday morning they gathered in the Silversprings Hotel to recall memories of final experiences in the stand, along the sideline and on the pitch, while trading tales that capture the Cork-Tipperary rivalry.
*****
The build-up for a player…
Seanie McGrath: “It’s the same as every other year, manic stuff. Everyone wants to go to the final.
You think you’ve the tickets boxed off and you get a call at the last minute from a very distant relation that says they’re badly stuck and you end having to do your best for them.”
Kieran Murphy: “You feel you need to look after everyone, whereas in reality you can’t. I was a sub in ’03 for my first one, I was definitely more worried about looking after people.
I learned quickly. I used to sit down with my Dad on a Wednesday night, write down the ticket list and then let him deal with it after that. All that stress, get rid of it.”
SM: “There’s a balance between being courteous and nice because it is a massive occasion, people get a huge kick out of it.
You’d be surprised someone might say something to you that might just affect you a small bit. Something about your game. It’s funny with the small things that can go through players’ heads.
Anything you can do to conserve energy is a good thing.”
Cork hurler Sean McGrath. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
****
First All-Ireland final memory….
KM: “My first was the football, Cork and Derry in ’93, my dad brought me. In hurling I went to the ’95 All-Ireland. I was on the Hill because Cork minors were playing that day and my father was great friends with Christy Kidney who recently passed away. (His son) Brian was playing full-back, so we went up.
I remember in ’99, the semi-final against Offaly watching ye’re game, I was 16, a lot younger than Seanie now!
Sitting in the Upper Hogan and looking out and the roar when the team came out. Unbelievable. That Offaly team, Brian Whelahan I loved watching him. I was sitting there thinking I would love to be playing here now and then a year later we were in the minor final.”
SM: “I go a bit further back, ’83 against Kilkenny.”
KM: “That was the year I was born! Make sure you put that in!”
SM: “Fraggy was in nappies and I was up at the All-Ireland final! I was in the Hogan Stand with my father and the camera panned to the crowd at half-time, and I got caught waving a flag. Years later a pal of mine from Kilkenny, Donie Dowling, he was dead sharp, he’s Glenmore and he said, ‘I recognised you Seanie the first time I met you in college.’
We weren’t long in college, we got to know each other and he brought in a video, he still had it from the ’83 half-time, and I had a blue jacket on and I was waving the flag.
It was a family occasion, my dad, my uncles, all brought me up. We ended up getting two nights in the Clarence Hotel. Cork beaten by two points, but a lifelong memory. Magical, jaw dropping stuff.”
*****
First All-Ireland as a player…
SM: “The final in ’99 was on a wet and cold day. We’d had a warm summer, in Thurles for the Munster final against Clare it was scalding hot.
But then the September final, I just remember coming out of the tunnel and kind of going, ‘Jeez this is cold.’
It was a weird sensation and even in the warm-up, I felt I needed to get warmed up here.
My Mam and Dad came into my head, shouldn’t because you should be focused on the game, but just for a split second saying, ‘God they must be delighted’.
Without sounding too corny, the build-up is about your uncles, your aunts, your cousins, lifelong friends that are on to you.
An old friend of mine Eamonn Murphy writing to me before the All-Ireland final from America.
There was very little texting that time, none of us had an email address, and I got a letter the week of the game from him. I remember thinking on the pitch about Eamonn, that he was in America tuning in.
It’s mili-second stuff. So just thinking of them all and then focus on the game.”
Cork's Sean McGrath and Willie O'Connor of Kilkenny in the 1999 All-Ireland final. Patrick Bolger / INPHO
Patrick Bolger / INPHO / INPHO
KM: “The ‘99 scoreline (0-13 to 0-12) is nuts to think of like and even in ‘04 (0-17 to 0-9). Obviously the style of play is different and stuff, but the big thing at the time was the sliotars. We used to use the All-Stars, but when you got to Croke Park, they used to throw in these O’Neill sliotars and the ridges on them were terrible. Such an inconsistent strike on them, whereas the All-Stars was such a sweet strike.
But I remember being at ’99 and it was a great game to be at, because it was close. The tension of it was phenomenal, whereas now if you showed people a 13-12 game, they’d be saying this is absolutely diabolical.”
SM: “I think the comparison can be unfair maybe. Fellas in the ’70s and the ’80s, we were reared on a diet of unbelievable games in my mindset, glued to the telly.
Compare them to nowadays stuff, they can look poles apart, but everything is relative. The players in that era were the best in class. If they were in the environment that’s available now, they would have been well equipped to handle it.
Now, I would make the point though, it was an extremely low-scoring game! Not to get away from that!”
KM: “’04 was big for me, knowing that I was going to be starting. Seanie mentioned the whole build up, it’s amazing then you get on the train and you’re with all the lads and you’re having the craic.
Kieran Murphy celebrates victory after the 2004 All-Ireland final. INPHO
INPHO
Fellas used to always have their different Saturday evening routines. ’04 I was rooming with Brian Corcoran, every year on I was rooming with Joe (Deane).
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I used to go to the cinema on the Saturday night, myself, Gardiner, Sully, and a few more. We’d have the meal when you go up, sometimes there’d be Mass and then you’re checking to see what’s in the cinema.
One year we went to see The Simpsons Movie the before one of the games and we had such a laugh, I thought Sully was going to have a heart attack, he was laughing so much. It was just our way of kind de-stressing from the situation. Rocking up in our Cork tracksuits to the cinema at the top of O’Connell Street and back into the hotel then, get the tea and sandwiches at eleven o’clock.”
SM: “We went to a play before the ’99 final, ‘The Plough and The Stars’ or something. Fraggy makes a really good point, there’s a comfort in being in the group.
Being on your own you’re overthinking, whereas when we were in the group, it was easier. We were calmer. That’s why you miss your teammates, because they’re all in it together, they’re all suffering the same way.
Even in management I always loved the bus just when it got quiet from the hotel, from Dundrum House to Thurles or from the Burlington to Croke Park. A magical arena in your own zone.
Jimmy (Barry-Murphy) was a master of that. He used to play the Wolfe Tones or something and then the tension lifted a bit. Some days he liked the quiet as well and he liked fellas to go into their own mind.
I found it hard to find something in life that replicated it after playing. I just thought it was a hard stress, but in a weird way, a beautiful stress. I loved that tension.”
KM: “It’d be amazing what would be going through your head on the bus. On the back roads from Dundrum into Thurles, turn a corner and all of a sudden you see this wall of fecking cars parked. To Croke Park you’re flying through Dublin City with the escort and the boys on the bike.
“I remember sitting on the bus in ‘04 coming up towards Croke Park thinking about family, how proud they must feel and how proud you were, of everything that your parents, brothers and sisters, have done for you. Thinking of my uncles involved with Tracton and my godfather up in Wexford.
“In those moments, you’d think it might be a tactical thing you’re thinking about, but it’s not like. It’s family and pure emotion. It’s a special feeling sitting on that bus.”
*****
Cork-Tipperary rivalry…
SM: “I only played once against them in championship and it was in 2000.”
KM: “That all, once? You serious?”
SM: “Yeah, just one time. My memories as a player aren’t vast, even though it was special in 2000 because Jimmy was on the line for Cork and Nicky (English) on the line for Tipp.
Sean McGrath of Cork gets to the ball before Michael Ryan of Tipperary in the 2000 Munster final. Tom Honan / INPHO
Tom Honan / INPHO / INPHO
We felt that we had to prolong Jimmy’s unbelievable record because he never lost a championship game against Tipp.
As a young fella we were reared on a diet of Cork and Tipp, my earliest memory is Nicky’s kicked goal in ’87 in Thurles after he lost the hurley. I got the train to the ’91 replay with John Caulfield, an old friend of mine from Mayfield, and we got the wrong train back, we ended up getting off in Portlaoise, we’d got the Dublin train.
I was 16 and John was meant to be my mentor. Ringing my Dad on an old payphone and saying, ‘I’m in Portlaoise, Dad.’ He couldn’t understand how we missed the train.”
KM: “We were beaten in the Munster minor final in 2001 by Tipp on a roasting hot day down the Páirc. Gardiner had a broken hand, he missed it, but we went on to win the All-Ireland. We lost a good few U21s against them, Eoin Kelly was brilliant and I went on to play in college with Eoin and was great friends with him ever since.
My starting senior debut was against Tipp down in Killarney in ’04. I was hoping to break onto the team in ’04 and I got injured playing football with Glanmire and I remember having to ring Donal O’Grady to tell him I got injured playing football, which was a pleasant conversation to have!
Eamonn Corcoran and Diarmaid Fitzgerald of Tipperary tackle Kieran Murphy of Cork in Killarney in 2004. INPHO
INPHO
I missed the Munster final, but I started down in Killarney. The traffic was bananas, we had to get a Garda escort in from miles outside the town. An unbelievable occasion, big massive fight before half-time. Tipp went 7-2 up, but we came back. Timmy Mac came on and got the goal and Niall Mac got a goal as well too.
The ’05 Munster final down the Páirc against Tipp was special. It was absolutely jammers. I was playing wing forward and I mis-hit a shot out by the wing and the ball went all the way through to the net. Deano went to double on it, missed it, but tried to claim the goal afterwards!
So I was celebrating outside and Joe was buzzing inside, he was doing that little jump of his. There was a big debate afterwards in the dressing room, who got the goal.
Playing against Tipp in ’08, I came on and there was a mix up in the Blackrock Terrace, so the crowd ended up on the pitch.
We’d a ’65, so I went onto the endline. I had to ask a fella to push back.
He looked at me, ‘Come on Fraggy, will you get a goal boy?’
I turned around, ‘I’m only just on, give me a chance!”’
We’d ferocious games against Tipp, I’m amazed you only had one Seanie. They’d great players like Philly Maher at full-back, Corcoran wing-back, what an unbelievably nice fella. Same with the Kellys, Eoin and Paul, Diarmuid Fitzgerald, the same age as me and marking him all the way up. It’s class.”
*****
Close calls with Cork…
With playing days behind them, both slipped into management roles, assisting the main man. McGrath was a selector alongside Jimmy Barry-Murphy for the 2013 replay heartbreak against Clare.
‘The one I really do regret is 2013, I wake up every morning and think about that,” Barry-Murphy told The Irish Times last year.
Cork's Seanie McGrath and Jimmy Barry-Murphy. Cathal Noonan / INPHO
Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO
Murphy coached the Cork side in 2018 under John Meyler that were reeled in and overtaken by Limerick in a Croke Park extra-time epic.
“My pain will never fade, no . . . I’ll take it to the grave with me,” reflected Meyler, when on Off The Ball this summer.
They are a defeats that have become more agonising for Cork the longer the county’s yearning has extended for an All-Ireland title.
SM: “’13 had been a monumental effort, beaten in Munster and then we had a brilliant route in the back door. They were a desperate honest team.
There was a great buzz there. Killian Murphy from Erin’s Own was an unbelievable character, he used to do the mimicking and he could do voiceovers. So we’d good characters in that setup.”
KM: “Limerick in ‘18 is definitely one that you think back to, six points up with eight minutes to go. We had a couple of opportunities. Obviously you’d Nickie Quaid’s flick, but we also had a ball that came off the post.
You’d always tell people to, as the shots going in, run in and expect the ball off the post. I remember Mark Ellis doing everything right.
He ran in, the ball bounced off the post, but it came back out about 20 yards behind him, whereas on another day it would have just fallen to him.
I was bitterly disappointed after it, but I felt we gave it our best shot and fellas played really well on the day. There’s some little bit of comfort in that. But it’s a tough one, it hurts.”
Kieran Murphy, as Cork selector in 2018. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
SM: “I just found the management stuff so dissimilar because the bloody thing is so out of your control. When they cross the line that’s it. It’s a cauldron in there.”
KM: “We were in the warm up before Limerick in ’18. All the crowd was in at that time and you literally couldn’t talk to a fella five yards away, even if you were roaring, they couldn’t hear you like, so it was all hand signals.
Management is kind of funny because you have so much responsibility but it’s more so in the weeks beforehand. Once the game starts, you’re relying on the prep that you’ve done and the messaging that you’ve given.”
*****
Pat Ryan…
They are both well-acquainted with the current Cork manager. McGrath soldiered with him in county colours, Murphy a lifelong club-mate with Sarsfields.
The universal respect and admiration he commands is no surprise.
Pat Ryan, in action for Sarsfields. Neil Danton / INPHO
Neil Danton / INPHO / INPHO
KM: “Pat was one of the best club hurlers in the county for 10 years. I remember in ’97 going to watch the county semi-final against Blackrock.
We were playing the Tony Forristal (All Ireland U14) the same day. Myself and Dave Cashman from Blackrock, who I was great friends with, we came back to watch the game, it was a Saturday night down the Páirc, and Pat was immense.
You’re talking about leadership, like Pat, he’d call you out on the pitch or he would demand the ball. When Pat was speaking in the huddle, you just stopped and listened and took it on board. When you were struggling in a game, you were turning around to Pat to try and drag you through. Obviously Ray used to be centre-back and they had that special connection.”
SM: “That natural leadership seems to come with Pat. Nothing is false. With Cork, he was an excellent player. He was on the ’99 panel and he was outstanding in the 2000 Munster final when he came on. Steadied the ship, got a score and even gave a big fist pump.”
KM: “That’s right, I remember that.”
SM: “Pat was very confident on the field. He always seemed to get on the ball without having to cover huge ground. A great reader and a marvelous long distance striker.
Everyone can strike the ball long now. At that time it was a good achievement to put a ’65 over. Pat always seemed to have that strong skillset. That’s another form of leadership because long distance scores are getting fellas up off their feet.”
KM: “He’s tough, he’s hard, he’s cranky, but he’s a very nice fella. It makes a recipe for a good manager. Pat loves hurling and he loves talking hurling.
It’s so easy to talk hurling to him. If you were a player and you’re going to him with a query, he’d be very good at communicating to the player.
If you’re not doing something, he’ll tell you straight, but he’s not telling you in a nasty way.
The one thing when you are in management with Cork, you are getting challenged by fellas because every fella wants to play. If you’re giving fellas honest straight feedback in a respectful manner, fellas mightn’t agree with you, but they’ll accept it.
If you’re getting half answers, you’re not buying it. Pat would be very clear, but he’d be very respectful because that’s his personality.”
*****
Horgan, Harnedy, Lehane…
Patrick Horgan made his senior championship debut for Cork in 2008, Conor Lehane took his first steps in 2011. Murphy’s career over-lapped with both.
Seamus Harnedy broke through to the Cork setup in 2013, McGrath part of the management team that entrusted him with a starting jersey.
The trio have persevered through a cycle of setbacks and heartbreaks, still chasing that elusive prize.
KM: “Harnedy, what a player he’s been for Cork with the ball-winning ability. It’s hard to imagine that the players of that calibre are still searching for the first medal, but that’s where we find ourselves.
In the game now, if you’re not making an impact in your early twenties, mid-twenties, you’re going to struggle.
It’s incredible they’re still going. It’s a testament to the lads.”
Cork’s Séamus Harnedy, Robbie O'Flynn and Patrick Horgan celebrate their win over Tipperary earlier this year. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
SM: “Hoggy made his debut for us in the Glen in 2005, we played Bride Rovers in championship, he was only just 17. There’s been plenty underage players over the years that have shown that capability and haven’t transferred it to senior. It doesn’t come easy either. Hoggy has natural ability, but he works his socks off.
They all deserve immense credit for their longevity. You can still be hanging in there, but they’re contributing. You look at Tipp and how McGraths and Jason Forde have had this renaissance. The easy thing really for a manager with the older fellas is to maybe do a chop. No one will give you major flak for it. Bu both Pat and Cahill have shown immense faith in these brilliant players.”
KM: “Conor Lehane has never been fitter or trimmer. He deserves massive credit because another fella could have said, ‘What age am I? Not getting gametime, I’m going to leave it.’
He stuck at it and when he came on in the Munster final just shows the quality of guy and player he is.
My experience of him in ’18 and ’19, Conor wouldn’t be roaring and shouting at all. Conor always wants the ball and he’s always willing to take the shot and he gets criticised for that.
I see that as a good thing and I suffered for that, like he got 2-10 against us in the county final in 2013. His leadership style is give me the ball and I will take on the shot and I’ll take responsibility for it.”
Cork's Conor Lehane. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
SM: ”Tommy Walsh did a podcast lately and referenced him. He felt that his own game with Kilkenny was up and he was going to be a periphery player, he didn’t have the mentality to hang on. So it’s testament to Conor’s mentality he has.
He’s always been talented. We had him as a minor in ’10, Considine was managing, and we actually said one night he didn’t do too bad, we played Tipp in a game in the Páirc
We didn’t realise he was after getting seven points, all from play. He’s a scoring machine.”
*****
Sunday’s key factors…
Time to call it. Who will be crowned 2025 champions and what will swing it their way?
SM: “The Tipp lads, their key players have that kind of real Tipp-esque ability, it’s a very natural ability. The wristiness of Jason Forde, John McGrath and Ronan Maher, Eoghan Connolly’s long distance striking is unmatched. They have fierce ability and they have more medals banked than the Cork players.”
KM: “Tipp have brought a few extra young fellas who are playing with a freedom and that lack of fear. They’re a different team to what Cork played before, because they have the confidence and the momentum.”
SM: “If our inside three get going, they’re unstoppable but you’re only as good as the ball you get. If Tipp get on top around midfield, I’d be a little bit worried. There’s just something about Tipp and they have a knack of being out of games and still being able to come good.”
KM: “I just think that it’s Cork time. If they play to their potential and get their running game going, Brian Hayes and Ciaran Joyce, same with Shane Barrett who was quiet the last day. If they bring that movement and that freedom, that’ll be enough.”
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'Magical, jaw-dropping stuff': All-Ireland final days with Cork on the pitch, sideline and stand
TICKETS. PRESSURE. EXCITEMENT.
The hours and minutes ticking down all week until the team assemble on the Saturday, the wait of anticipation until Sunday afternoon throw-in.
A year of hurling comes down to one game.
Between them Seanie McGrath and Kieran Fraggy Murphy were involved as players in Cork’s five All-Ireland senior hurling final appearances across 1999-2006. McGrath was a selector when Cork lost the 2013 decider, Murphy a selector when Cork lost out on contesting the 2018 decider.
They began their hurling lives as Cork supporters and will slip into those roles again in Croke Park tomorrow.
On Tuesday morning they gathered in the Silversprings Hotel to recall memories of final experiences in the stand, along the sideline and on the pitch, while trading tales that capture the Cork-Tipperary rivalry.
*****
The build-up for a player…
Seanie McGrath: “It’s the same as every other year, manic stuff. Everyone wants to go to the final.
You think you’ve the tickets boxed off and you get a call at the last minute from a very distant relation that says they’re badly stuck and you end having to do your best for them.”
Kieran Murphy: “You feel you need to look after everyone, whereas in reality you can’t. I was a sub in ’03 for my first one, I was definitely more worried about looking after people.
I learned quickly. I used to sit down with my Dad on a Wednesday night, write down the ticket list and then let him deal with it after that. All that stress, get rid of it.”
SM: “There’s a balance between being courteous and nice because it is a massive occasion, people get a huge kick out of it.
You’d be surprised someone might say something to you that might just affect you a small bit. Something about your game. It’s funny with the small things that can go through players’ heads.
Anything you can do to conserve energy is a good thing.”
****
First All-Ireland final memory….
KM: “My first was the football, Cork and Derry in ’93, my dad brought me. In hurling I went to the ’95 All-Ireland. I was on the Hill because Cork minors were playing that day and my father was great friends with Christy Kidney who recently passed away. (His son) Brian was playing full-back, so we went up.
I remember in ’99, the semi-final against Offaly watching ye’re game, I was 16, a lot younger than Seanie now!
Sitting in the Upper Hogan and looking out and the roar when the team came out. Unbelievable. That Offaly team, Brian Whelahan I loved watching him. I was sitting there thinking I would love to be playing here now and then a year later we were in the minor final.”
SM: “I go a bit further back, ’83 against Kilkenny.”
KM: “That was the year I was born! Make sure you put that in!”
SM: “Fraggy was in nappies and I was up at the All-Ireland final! I was in the Hogan Stand with my father and the camera panned to the crowd at half-time, and I got caught waving a flag. Years later a pal of mine from Kilkenny, Donie Dowling, he was dead sharp, he’s Glenmore and he said, ‘I recognised you Seanie the first time I met you in college.’
We weren’t long in college, we got to know each other and he brought in a video, he still had it from the ’83 half-time, and I had a blue jacket on and I was waving the flag.
It was a family occasion, my dad, my uncles, all brought me up. We ended up getting two nights in the Clarence Hotel. Cork beaten by two points, but a lifelong memory. Magical, jaw dropping stuff.”
*****
First All-Ireland as a player…
SM: “The final in ’99 was on a wet and cold day. We’d had a warm summer, in Thurles for the Munster final against Clare it was scalding hot.
But then the September final, I just remember coming out of the tunnel and kind of going, ‘Jeez this is cold.’
It was a weird sensation and even in the warm-up, I felt I needed to get warmed up here.
My Mam and Dad came into my head, shouldn’t because you should be focused on the game, but just for a split second saying, ‘God they must be delighted’.
Without sounding too corny, the build-up is about your uncles, your aunts, your cousins, lifelong friends that are on to you.
An old friend of mine Eamonn Murphy writing to me before the All-Ireland final from America.
There was very little texting that time, none of us had an email address, and I got a letter the week of the game from him. I remember thinking on the pitch about Eamonn, that he was in America tuning in.
It’s mili-second stuff. So just thinking of them all and then focus on the game.”
KM: “The ‘99 scoreline (0-13 to 0-12) is nuts to think of like and even in ‘04 (0-17 to 0-9). Obviously the style of play is different and stuff, but the big thing at the time was the sliotars. We used to use the All-Stars, but when you got to Croke Park, they used to throw in these O’Neill sliotars and the ridges on them were terrible. Such an inconsistent strike on them, whereas the All-Stars was such a sweet strike.
But I remember being at ’99 and it was a great game to be at, because it was close. The tension of it was phenomenal, whereas now if you showed people a 13-12 game, they’d be saying this is absolutely diabolical.”
SM: “I think the comparison can be unfair maybe. Fellas in the ’70s and the ’80s, we were reared on a diet of unbelievable games in my mindset, glued to the telly.
Compare them to nowadays stuff, they can look poles apart, but everything is relative. The players in that era were the best in class. If they were in the environment that’s available now, they would have been well equipped to handle it.
Now, I would make the point though, it was an extremely low-scoring game! Not to get away from that!”
KM: “’04 was big for me, knowing that I was going to be starting. Seanie mentioned the whole build up, it’s amazing then you get on the train and you’re with all the lads and you’re having the craic.
Fellas used to always have their different Saturday evening routines. ’04 I was rooming with Brian Corcoran, every year on I was rooming with Joe (Deane).
I used to go to the cinema on the Saturday night, myself, Gardiner, Sully, and a few more. We’d have the meal when you go up, sometimes there’d be Mass and then you’re checking to see what’s in the cinema.
One year we went to see The Simpsons Movie the before one of the games and we had such a laugh, I thought Sully was going to have a heart attack, he was laughing so much. It was just our way of kind de-stressing from the situation. Rocking up in our Cork tracksuits to the cinema at the top of O’Connell Street and back into the hotel then, get the tea and sandwiches at eleven o’clock.”
SM: “We went to a play before the ’99 final, ‘The Plough and The Stars’ or something. Fraggy makes a really good point, there’s a comfort in being in the group.
Being on your own you’re overthinking, whereas when we were in the group, it was easier. We were calmer. That’s why you miss your teammates, because they’re all in it together, they’re all suffering the same way.
Even in management I always loved the bus just when it got quiet from the hotel, from Dundrum House to Thurles or from the Burlington to Croke Park. A magical arena in your own zone.
Jimmy (Barry-Murphy) was a master of that. He used to play the Wolfe Tones or something and then the tension lifted a bit. Some days he liked the quiet as well and he liked fellas to go into their own mind.
I found it hard to find something in life that replicated it after playing. I just thought it was a hard stress, but in a weird way, a beautiful stress. I loved that tension.”
KM: “It’d be amazing what would be going through your head on the bus. On the back roads from Dundrum into Thurles, turn a corner and all of a sudden you see this wall of fecking cars parked. To Croke Park you’re flying through Dublin City with the escort and the boys on the bike.
“I remember sitting on the bus in ‘04 coming up towards Croke Park thinking about family, how proud they must feel and how proud you were, of everything that your parents, brothers and sisters, have done for you. Thinking of my uncles involved with Tracton and my godfather up in Wexford.
“In those moments, you’d think it might be a tactical thing you’re thinking about, but it’s not like. It’s family and pure emotion. It’s a special feeling sitting on that bus.”
*****
Cork-Tipperary rivalry…
SM: “I only played once against them in championship and it was in 2000.”
KM: “That all, once? You serious?”
SM: “Yeah, just one time. My memories as a player aren’t vast, even though it was special in 2000 because Jimmy was on the line for Cork and Nicky (English) on the line for Tipp.
We felt that we had to prolong Jimmy’s unbelievable record because he never lost a championship game against Tipp.
As a young fella we were reared on a diet of Cork and Tipp, my earliest memory is Nicky’s kicked goal in ’87 in Thurles after he lost the hurley. I got the train to the ’91 replay with John Caulfield, an old friend of mine from Mayfield, and we got the wrong train back, we ended up getting off in Portlaoise, we’d got the Dublin train.
I was 16 and John was meant to be my mentor. Ringing my Dad on an old payphone and saying, ‘I’m in Portlaoise, Dad.’ He couldn’t understand how we missed the train.”
KM: “We were beaten in the Munster minor final in 2001 by Tipp on a roasting hot day down the Páirc. Gardiner had a broken hand, he missed it, but we went on to win the All-Ireland. We lost a good few U21s against them, Eoin Kelly was brilliant and I went on to play in college with Eoin and was great friends with him ever since.
My starting senior debut was against Tipp down in Killarney in ’04. I was hoping to break onto the team in ’04 and I got injured playing football with Glanmire and I remember having to ring Donal O’Grady to tell him I got injured playing football, which was a pleasant conversation to have!
I missed the Munster final, but I started down in Killarney. The traffic was bananas, we had to get a Garda escort in from miles outside the town. An unbelievable occasion, big massive fight before half-time. Tipp went 7-2 up, but we came back. Timmy Mac came on and got the goal and Niall Mac got a goal as well too.
The ’05 Munster final down the Páirc against Tipp was special. It was absolutely jammers. I was playing wing forward and I mis-hit a shot out by the wing and the ball went all the way through to the net. Deano went to double on it, missed it, but tried to claim the goal afterwards!
So I was celebrating outside and Joe was buzzing inside, he was doing that little jump of his. There was a big debate afterwards in the dressing room, who got the goal.
Playing against Tipp in ’08, I came on and there was a mix up in the Blackrock Terrace, so the crowd ended up on the pitch.
We’d a ’65, so I went onto the endline. I had to ask a fella to push back.
He looked at me, ‘Come on Fraggy, will you get a goal boy?’
I turned around, ‘I’m only just on, give me a chance!”’
We’d ferocious games against Tipp, I’m amazed you only had one Seanie. They’d great players like Philly Maher at full-back, Corcoran wing-back, what an unbelievably nice fella. Same with the Kellys, Eoin and Paul, Diarmuid Fitzgerald, the same age as me and marking him all the way up. It’s class.”
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Close calls with Cork…
With playing days behind them, both slipped into management roles, assisting the main man. McGrath was a selector alongside Jimmy Barry-Murphy for the 2013 replay heartbreak against Clare.
‘The one I really do regret is 2013, I wake up every morning and think about that,” Barry-Murphy told The Irish Times last year.
Murphy coached the Cork side in 2018 under John Meyler that were reeled in and overtaken by Limerick in a Croke Park extra-time epic.
“My pain will never fade, no . . . I’ll take it to the grave with me,” reflected Meyler, when on Off The Ball this summer.
They are a defeats that have become more agonising for Cork the longer the county’s yearning has extended for an All-Ireland title.
SM: “’13 had been a monumental effort, beaten in Munster and then we had a brilliant route in the back door. They were a desperate honest team.
There was a great buzz there. Killian Murphy from Erin’s Own was an unbelievable character, he used to do the mimicking and he could do voiceovers. So we’d good characters in that setup.”
KM: “Limerick in ‘18 is definitely one that you think back to, six points up with eight minutes to go. We had a couple of opportunities. Obviously you’d Nickie Quaid’s flick, but we also had a ball that came off the post.
You’d always tell people to, as the shots going in, run in and expect the ball off the post. I remember Mark Ellis doing everything right.
He ran in, the ball bounced off the post, but it came back out about 20 yards behind him, whereas on another day it would have just fallen to him.
I was bitterly disappointed after it, but I felt we gave it our best shot and fellas played really well on the day. There’s some little bit of comfort in that. But it’s a tough one, it hurts.”
SM: “I just found the management stuff so dissimilar because the bloody thing is so out of your control. When they cross the line that’s it. It’s a cauldron in there.”
KM: “We were in the warm up before Limerick in ’18. All the crowd was in at that time and you literally couldn’t talk to a fella five yards away, even if you were roaring, they couldn’t hear you like, so it was all hand signals.
Management is kind of funny because you have so much responsibility but it’s more so in the weeks beforehand. Once the game starts, you’re relying on the prep that you’ve done and the messaging that you’ve given.”
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Pat Ryan…
They are both well-acquainted with the current Cork manager. McGrath soldiered with him in county colours, Murphy a lifelong club-mate with Sarsfields.
The universal respect and admiration he commands is no surprise.
KM: “Pat was one of the best club hurlers in the county for 10 years. I remember in ’97 going to watch the county semi-final against Blackrock.
We were playing the Tony Forristal (All Ireland U14) the same day. Myself and Dave Cashman from Blackrock, who I was great friends with, we came back to watch the game, it was a Saturday night down the Páirc, and Pat was immense.
You’re talking about leadership, like Pat, he’d call you out on the pitch or he would demand the ball. When Pat was speaking in the huddle, you just stopped and listened and took it on board. When you were struggling in a game, you were turning around to Pat to try and drag you through. Obviously Ray used to be centre-back and they had that special connection.”
SM: “That natural leadership seems to come with Pat. Nothing is false. With Cork, he was an excellent player. He was on the ’99 panel and he was outstanding in the 2000 Munster final when he came on. Steadied the ship, got a score and even gave a big fist pump.”
KM: “That’s right, I remember that.”
SM: “Pat was very confident on the field. He always seemed to get on the ball without having to cover huge ground. A great reader and a marvelous long distance striker.
Everyone can strike the ball long now. At that time it was a good achievement to put a ’65 over. Pat always seemed to have that strong skillset. That’s another form of leadership because long distance scores are getting fellas up off their feet.”
KM: “He’s tough, he’s hard, he’s cranky, but he’s a very nice fella. It makes a recipe for a good manager. Pat loves hurling and he loves talking hurling.
It’s so easy to talk hurling to him. If you were a player and you’re going to him with a query, he’d be very good at communicating to the player.
If you’re not doing something, he’ll tell you straight, but he’s not telling you in a nasty way.
The one thing when you are in management with Cork, you are getting challenged by fellas because every fella wants to play. If you’re giving fellas honest straight feedback in a respectful manner, fellas mightn’t agree with you, but they’ll accept it.
If you’re getting half answers, you’re not buying it. Pat would be very clear, but he’d be very respectful because that’s his personality.”
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Horgan, Harnedy, Lehane…
Patrick Horgan made his senior championship debut for Cork in 2008, Conor Lehane took his first steps in 2011. Murphy’s career over-lapped with both.
Seamus Harnedy broke through to the Cork setup in 2013, McGrath part of the management team that entrusted him with a starting jersey.
The trio have persevered through a cycle of setbacks and heartbreaks, still chasing that elusive prize.
KM: “Harnedy, what a player he’s been for Cork with the ball-winning ability. It’s hard to imagine that the players of that calibre are still searching for the first medal, but that’s where we find ourselves.
In the game now, if you’re not making an impact in your early twenties, mid-twenties, you’re going to struggle.
It’s incredible they’re still going. It’s a testament to the lads.”
SM: “Hoggy made his debut for us in the Glen in 2005, we played Bride Rovers in championship, he was only just 17. There’s been plenty underage players over the years that have shown that capability and haven’t transferred it to senior. It doesn’t come easy either. Hoggy has natural ability, but he works his socks off.
They all deserve immense credit for their longevity. You can still be hanging in there, but they’re contributing. You look at Tipp and how McGraths and Jason Forde have had this renaissance. The easy thing really for a manager with the older fellas is to maybe do a chop. No one will give you major flak for it. Bu both Pat and Cahill have shown immense faith in these brilliant players.”
KM: “Conor Lehane has never been fitter or trimmer. He deserves massive credit because another fella could have said, ‘What age am I? Not getting gametime, I’m going to leave it.’
He stuck at it and when he came on in the Munster final just shows the quality of guy and player he is.
My experience of him in ’18 and ’19, Conor wouldn’t be roaring and shouting at all. Conor always wants the ball and he’s always willing to take the shot and he gets criticised for that.
I see that as a good thing and I suffered for that, like he got 2-10 against us in the county final in 2013. His leadership style is give me the ball and I will take on the shot and I’ll take responsibility for it.”
SM: ”Tommy Walsh did a podcast lately and referenced him. He felt that his own game with Kilkenny was up and he was going to be a periphery player, he didn’t have the mentality to hang on. So it’s testament to Conor’s mentality he has.
He’s always been talented. We had him as a minor in ’10, Considine was managing, and we actually said one night he didn’t do too bad, we played Tipp in a game in the Páirc
We didn’t realise he was after getting seven points, all from play. He’s a scoring machine.”
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Sunday’s key factors…
Time to call it. Who will be crowned 2025 champions and what will swing it their way?
SM: “The Tipp lads, their key players have that kind of real Tipp-esque ability, it’s a very natural ability. The wristiness of Jason Forde, John McGrath and Ronan Maher, Eoghan Connolly’s long distance striking is unmatched. They have fierce ability and they have more medals banked than the Cork players.”
KM: “Tipp have brought a few extra young fellas who are playing with a freedom and that lack of fear. They’re a different team to what Cork played before, because they have the confidence and the momentum.”
SM: “If our inside three get going, they’re unstoppable but you’re only as good as the ball you get. If Tipp get on top around midfield, I’d be a little bit worried. There’s just something about Tipp and they have a knack of being out of games and still being able to come good.”
KM: “I just think that it’s Cork time. If they play to their potential and get their running game going, Brian Hayes and Ciaran Joyce, same with Shane Barrett who was quiet the last day. If they bring that movement and that freedom, that’ll be enough.”
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Cork GAA Hurling memory lane Rebels