THE DEBATE USUALLY flares up after a club team claims provincial glory as to how their schedule will unfold over the festive season.
Nemo Rangers are accustomed to winter wins in Munster finals and then trying to manage the awkward task of staying fresh as a long gap stretches out ahead of them until the All-Ireland semi-final.
This time will be different. The shifting in the calendar sees them with just five weeks from Sunday’s success over Clonmel Commercials to prepare for a shot at national heavyweights Corofin.
It’s a welcome reason to park any December seasonal celebrations. The memories are still vivid of the 15-point beating they suffered on St Patrick’s Day in 2018 at the hands of the Galway club. That will focus their minds for the preparation that lies ahead.
“Unfortunately Christmas is kind of cancelled but it’s a good complaint to have,” says captain Barry O’Driscoll.
“I’d rather win and have to put the head down for Christmas than any other way. Look we just have to take that as it comes. Sure they’re the best and they’ve shown that. If you’re going to win, you got to beat the best. So that’s what we’ve got to do.”
O’Driscoll is one of the longer-serving campaigners in the Nemo ranks. He was a teenager in the 2008 run to an All-Ireland final loss to St Vincent’s. There’s been a couple of other forays into the national arena with a 2011 semi-final loss to St Brigid’s and that tough day at the office in March last year.
Picking up his fourth Munster medal on Sunday was important, evidence that they are upholding the club’s rich tradition. Being captain added another layer of personal significance.
“It’s one of those ones where the medals you’ve won doesn’t matter, you’ve got to win another one. Otherwise why are you playing? You play because you want to win. When you’re representing a group like all the lads from Nemo and fellas that have gone before you, you see the effort that they put in when they’ve played and the effort they put in when they’re not playing, so it’s not hard to put effort in yourself.
“It’s unbelievably cool. I can’t really believe it because I look at the list of captains and even to have someone like (Paul) Kerrigan there, it’s just great. I was thinking to keep it cool when you collect the cup and you’re speaking, I thought I was just going to be gibberish coming out of my mouth and it probably is now! But I’m just over the moon about it all.”
Aside from the Corofin defeat, 2018 also brought about a local exit on a low note. They were emphatically beaten in a Cork quarter-final against Castlehaven, only mustering four points on the scoreboard. This year has been a fine rebound effort. They are up and running again.
“The loss last year was just a flatness that I haven’t experienced to that degree before. You’ve lost games but not like that. We knew that can never happen again so the marker was set down, training has been brilliant all year and the commitment of our management and everything has been brilliant. Personally and as part of this team I think everyone is just over the moon that we’re lifting that cup as champions for Nemo.”
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