Squad depth key as Cork try to cope with injuries for Dublin clash
BY JOHNNY CAROLAN
WHILE the memory of the 16-point loss to the same opponents three weeks earlier was fresh in the memory, Cork’s underdog status for the Munster SHC final was franked by the fact that Niall O’Leary, captain Robert Downey and Declan Dalton were unable to start.
However, the Rebels were able to call upon Damien Cahalane, Cormac O’Brien and Diarmuid Healy as well as using seven subs over the course of the 90-minute battle before prevailing in a penalty shootout.
O’Leary and Downey were two of those brought on and are back fit for Saturday’s All-Ireland SHC semi-final against Dublin in Croke Park (5pm). Dalton is available too, though against that is the fact that a hamstring injury rules Séamus Harnedy out while O’Brien is a doubt with a quad problem and Ger Millerick’s broken finger is not yet fully healed.
There’s a lot for Cork manager Pat Ryan to take into account as he and his selectors choose a team and matchday squad, but he’s keen to ensure that those picked are fully ready.
‘I think you're kind of, you're looking at it all for the last two or three weeks,’ he says, ‘you're kind of looking at where you are because you're setting up match-ups in training and you're testing fellas against other fellas and see where fellas are going.
‘That's the kind of key and you kind of work your way through it and whoever's performing the best will get on. You're constantly testing fellas that you think are going well – whether it’s a fella goes in and has to mark Seán O’Donoghue or Eoin Downey or Mark Coleman and vice versa for back, having to go in and mark the best forwards like Brian Hayes or Hoggy [Patrick Horgan].
‘That's what you’re testing all the time and, from our point of view, we probably learned a bit of a lesson that day above against Limerick as well, we probably played a couple of fellas that probably hadn't an awful lot done.
‘It was probably advice I got previously that I probably didn't listen to that day because you're going up against Limerick and you want to kind of get as many of your best players on the field, or what you think are your best players, and you can't play inter-county hurling if you're not 100 percent ready.
‘Even from a physical point of view, but even more so from a mental point of view, any bit of doubt in your head will just kill you. And if there's any place where the roof will come in around you if you've any bit of doubts, it's Croke Park.
‘If you have any doubts in Croke Park about your team or players, you'll get found out and Croke Park will find you out fairly quickly.’
Prior to beating Kilkenny in 2021, Cork had a record of one win in their previous seven semi-final appearances, but they followed that up by beating Limerick last year. At the same time, it’s not something in which Ryan is placing too much significance.
‘Obviously, the lads have good feelings from 2021 and we’ve good feelings from last year, but it’s a totally new game now,’ he says.
‘Dublin have a nice advantage in being at home, as such, and in their own beds the night beforehand.
‘Ultimately, it’s about ourselves and what we want to get out of the year. Our job is to deliver and we’ll have massive support again. From our point of view, we’re in a really good place but we need to be in a really good place because this is a very strong Dublin team.’
In both 2021 and 2024, Cork won the semis after coming through an All-Ireland quarter-finals, whereas in 2014, 2017 and 2018 they lost as Munster champions. The four-week gap that provincial glory entails can mean a change in preparation but it’s not anything more than that.
‘There’s no excuses from our point of view about the four weeks, to be honest with you,’ Ryan says.
‘We think that the period has gone great for us. The few seasons that we had after the Munster final were good, we got fellas back into it, they were buzzing, in great form, and we were able to get a good bit of work in.
‘Then, in fairness, once you know your semi-final opponents, it makes a huge difference, because you have something to go after then and something to talk about.
‘You have a focus but, at the same time, our key thing is to focus on ourselves, that’s what we’ve been doing all year.
‘Fellas are in a good place and there won’t be any excuses about the four-week gap, anyway.’
