Blurred Lines

A year ago, Cork’s league had been all but over for eight weeks. A three-point loss in Ennis that was followed by a one-point loss at home to Kilkenny had us scratching our heads. A less than impressive win over Waterford down the Páirc helped to allay fears of relegation before Cork, with no fear of accidently falling into a League Final, opened up their shoulders and annihilated both Wexford and Offaly away from home.

Those big wins, with the goal-scoring knack of Alan Connolly particularly pleasing, brought much of the head scratching to an end. Whatever about Limerick and Clare, Waterford in Walsh Park was an ideal leg-loosener. And they’d five weeks to prepare for it. Five weeks to give it their full and undiluted attention. Five weeks to check the long grass to make sure that there was nothing lurking in there, waiting to pounce.

As we all remember all too well, it didn’t quite turn out that way. Five weeks was not the ideal lead up to championship hurling after all. At some stage, those vicious afflictions of underperforming and overthinking combined, and once that was sprinkled with a pinch of hubris and bad luck, Cork was cooked.

This season, Cork find themselves in an antithetical situation. They’re in the League Final. This time, they will not have the luxury of a five-week run-in into that game in Ennis. The rational side of your brain will conclude that that is no bad thing after last year.

However, the nagging worry that Cork will be playing Tipperary at home in a full SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh just the two weeks before they walk into the lion’s den, just the two weeks before they tackle a team who have simply had their number in the last three seasons, just the two weeks before they take on the All-Ireland champions, is hard to shake.

It’s also hard to shake the bit of anxiety that comes with giving a young and improving Tipp team a dry run in our backyard three weeks before they come back for the real thing. Of course, it’s always hard to shake the anxiety. It never goes away. If Cork do happen to win on Sunday, the fear will be that we’ve left something behind us for Ennis. If Cork happens to lose on Sunday, we’ll be terrorized by doubt and despair. There’s only one thing that can neutralize our worst thoughts and fears. But we are a long, long way from Kansas.

The how of why they’ve ended up here lies somewhere between accident and design. Cork easily dispatched an understrength Wexford the first day out. There was that draw against Limerick that meant something that neither side can quite put their finger on. Then there was a disappointing night out in Thurles. Was it always going to be after what happened in Tom Semple’s Field last spring?

The Kilkenny game went much like last year, but this time, Cork took more of their chances. There may have been two points on offer for the win, but the only real takeaway from the evening was that Cork is blessed with a man of immeasurable courage, dignity, and class at the helm.  

And then there was Ennis. Perhaps this game best encapsulated what Cork was looking for from the league. The points are not the point at all, nor are the goals. As Pat Ryan has said, it’s all about a relentless commitment to a consistency that will hopefully drive them to excellence. However satisfying what Cork did with the ball was on the day, all that really mattered was what happened off of it.

Then, to conclude, was the Galway game. A game that left you thinking that Cork won well while playing well within themselves. A game that served as a reminder of how false things are at this time of year. A game that saw Brian Hayes scare the life out of us.

In the end, it may have been what happened on the day after our trip to Tipp that helped us on the road to the final. Limerick’s trip to Kilkenny fell foul of the weather, and when the time came to play it, Limerick knew exactly what they had to do not to reach the final. A Kilkenny team chastened by a capitulation at home to Tipp were the perfect opposition for them to get what they wanted out of it, maybe.

And what has Cork got out of it all? New players like Diarmuid Healy and Micheál Mullins have got a taste of the big time and have looked at home there. Players who had been in the background like Cormac O’Brien and Ger Millerick have shown what they’re capable of. The return to form of Brian Roche has opened up more options, and the likes of Hayes, O’Leary, O’Mahony and Barrett have found even more within themselves. The panel is strong. The injury list doesn’t seem to be what it was this time last year, but the loss of Pádraig Power is immense. Now it’s time for the curtain to fall on the opening act of the season.

Cork needs a win on Sunday. Of course, the fact that a piece of silverware is something tangible that should reaffirm the group’s belief in themselves is important. But so is our dismal record in finals. The National League Final losses of 2002, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2022 were all desperate for a myriad of different reasons. Throw in the All-Ireland Final losses of 2006, 2013, 2021 and 2024 and you’re looking at a long-term habit that just needs to be broken.

We’ll have to wait to see what it will all mean in the bigger picture, but for the now, we just need to live in the moment.

John Coleman