JEOPARDY, PERIL, CONSEQUENCE – whatever way you want to label it, the Munster championship has games that count this weekend.
One of the less satisfactory elements of inter-county discourse is the all-too regular chats about how much a game actually matters. All winter in the hurling leagues and now the same with the provincial football championships we’ve had it. Statements caveated: ‘It’s only February, but…” or “Mayo lost to Roscommon, yet this may yet work in their favour, because…”
I’ve documented my view here before: no game is a bad one to win, and never is there a good time to lose. Play to your best in that moment and see where it takes you.
In this moment, however, nobody could spin a defeat for Waterford or Cork, Clare or Limerick into a positive. It’s all on the line now.
If Waterford and Clare were to lose this weekend then they’d have one foot out of the championship before May has begun. And should Cork fall to Waterford then they are moving towards deep water – real quickly.
Cork’s situation is not quite do or die, but it’s a close neighbour of that. They’ve got two home fixtures first: Waterford in the Páirc tomorrow, then a resurgent Tipperary in the same ground six days later.
So were the Rebels to lose to Waterford, then they’ve really got to beat Tipp and either Clare in Ennis or Limerick on the Ennis Road to have a chance of making progress. You could make the fair point that any team with All-Ireland aspirations has to win games like these, yet the piranha tank that is Munster is a stark contrast to Leinster, where the big teams don’t have to be on their mettle in every game.
Not that I’m complaining; as a hurling fan this is what you want. The Munster championship is something to plan your weekends around – from months away. There’s no way you’re playing those 18 holes or flicking between the Premier League and the live coverage. We’ll all be glued to Clare and Limerick tonight, and as a Cork supporter, the only place I’ll be come early afternoon tomorrow is rolling along by the Lee in the tide of red and blue, full of excitement and trepidation.
There’s reason for both. Waterford took a chunk out of Limerick, despite some absolute nonsense talk that Davy Fitzgerald and his players would accept their beating and keep the muscles fresh for more winnable games ahead. What an insult to their competitive nature and integrity, not to mention hurling pedigree.
You wouldn’t go so far as to say there’s blood in the water with Limerick now, yet the feeling of inevitability many felt the championship had after the league final no longer applies.
John Kiely took umbrage at the media for praising his side, calling it a “softening up exercise”. As one of the many who extolled Limerick’s play, I certainly wasn’t trying to soften anybody up, just dispense due credit for what I’d seen with my own eyes, and played against in previous years.
I’m surprised Kiely was occupied by this. I know that sports psychologists, of which Caroline Currid is a renowned one, help squads to keep the inside in and the outside out. I also know that the Limerick players wouldn’t be concerned about what’s written.
They’ll know well that you’re never as good as the praise or as bad as the criticism they will inevitably get when they lose a game, be that tonight, later in the championship, or next year.
Cork are one of a number of teams who know that if they are to make the breakthrough, then they need to beat Limerick. For that to be a serious prospect, they have to show us something, starting tomorrow.
I think they can edge Waterford but they will have to equal or better the mileage and exertions of their opponents. It’s a lot easier to write that than to do it. But that is what Pat Ryan is about. He has made it clear that a certain workrate and attitude is required – and it has to be delivered consistently. After a promising winter, you could not say the requisite endeavour was there against Kilkenny in the league semi-final.
I don’t say that in judgement of the Cork players. This inconsistency has been evident for well over a decade, across all the years I played with Cork.
Even going back to Jimmy Barry-Murphy’s last term, he said to us that when our collective effort was where it needed to be, then we were one of the best teams in the country, but when it wasn’t, well, then we were a long way off the standard.
If Cork’s attitude is one per cent shy of Waterford’s then there’s only one winner here. Waterford will crowd the middle third, they will run hard and hit harder and use their considerable skill on the ball. If a Calum Lyons breaks forward and is not tracked every single time, then it’s over. If Waterford’s runners are tracked and the hooking and tackling is effective, then there can be gaps to exploit after turnovers – but you have to make it happen.
Luke Meade has been named in the full-forward line but I’d expect to see him play a deeper role. When I played, it was himself, Daniel Kearney and Bill Cooper who comprised the engine room; covering savage ground, making tackles and providing an option for the man in possession. Luke needs to be at his best, as does the likes of Brian Roche in centrefield.
Cork’s lack of big targets to win longer puckouts has been flagged in many places, but it is rare in the modern game to win clean possession overhead. Again it comes down to how willing you are to work for the breaks, how effective you are at getting the ball in your hand ahead of your opponent.
And in Seamus Harnedy and Declan Dalton, they do have a physical presence in the half-forward line. The likes of Robbie O’Flynn, if he doesn’t in fact start despite the team announcement, and Shane Kingston offer pace and scores off the bench.
But that only counts if the platform is right; if by the time they are introduced, Cork have taken the fight to a Davy Fitz side scraping for its championship life.
In calling it, I think Cork can do it, just.
I don’t think there will be much between Clare and Limerick either, but believe the All-Ireland champions will show us why they have that title – and in the process their manager will have to deal once more with that unwelcome imposter of praise.