TOMORROW CORK RETURN to Croke Park, where they hope a big championship scalp will kickstart the life cycle of a football team in a phase of transition.
Eoin Cadogan was there for the good days when the county’s side were contesting All-Ireland finals.
And he has been also present for the litany of setbacks that have wounded the side in the last twelve months with damaging losses to Kildare and Tipperary, coupled with league relegation.
They’re still standing as one of the last 10 sides in the race for Sam as Cadogan and his teammates prepare to front up against Donegal tomorrow.
What has the addition of your brother Alan and Aidan Walsh done?
“It’s great to have Alan and Aidan in. They bring two different dynamics in terms of their positions. It’s another opportunity for them from being beaten by Wexford and being extremely disappointed to coming into a setup that are in the final stages of the qualifiers.
“It’s brilliant for them, it’s brilliant for the squad. The bottom line is if those two guys can contribute in any sense or any positive way at all then positive days.”
What’s Alan’s football form like this year?
“In football, against Carbery Rangers from a scoring point of view with the club he was our main contributor. I think he kicked nine points on the night. Anyone who has watched him previously at U21 level can see what he brings to the table.
“But in saying that it’s going to take a bit of time for him to adapt to senior inter-county football. It’s a different level.”
Any fears their inclusion would upset the squad?
“No, the bottom line is within an inter-county set-up you want to win. You don’t care how you win, you want to win the games.
“And if two fellas, whether they are hurlers or playing club football all year and performing well like the two lads had done previously, why not bring them in? There certainly wasn’t going to be any conflict from our side as players.”
In 2009, how did you find being in a similar scenario?
“In 2009, yeah. We were beaten in hurling by Galway, I got called in under Conor Counihan. You’re in a head-space where you’ve just been knocked out of the championship and then to get a phone-call like that is like a second life-line.
“It’s a brilliant chance, like. It’s like being told ‘we’re firing you’ and then all of a sudden it’s ‘we want you back’ or ‘come work with us’. You’d be delighted.”
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The Longford game saw Cork overturn a half-time deficit for the first time in a while in a championship. That must be a boost?
“We feel as a group things are getting better. We’ve limited the scores against Longford and Limerick in comparison to the games where we were beaten this year, the two stand-out ones being Roscommon and Tipperary.
“It was a tough situation to be in playing away from home, the home support for Longford. It was no harm that we had to get the finger out in the second half.
“I definitely think it’s a help in the sense that we haven’t come back from games like that previously. I know myself the amount of work that’s gone in this year to date is incredible for both the management and the players. We just feel we haven’t hit top gear yet.”
The criticism hasn’t eased this season, Darragh Ó Sé described the Cork players as ‘beyond shame’ after the defeat to Tipperary?
“If he’s willing to write that in the paper and put it out to print then that must be Darragh’s opinion. But, you know, it’s not just Darragh. There’s loads of former players and former people have different opinions.
“Our job is to go out and perform. You know, there tends to be a lot of negativity attached to Cork football. But if you go back to 2008, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, like, when Cork were doing well reaching the semi-finals, getting to All-Ireland finals, there was still a huge amount of negativity attached to the squad.
“It was never good enough. We won three National League titles, beaten All-Ireland finalists in ’07 and ’09, win it in ’10. It (criticism) seems to be par for the course for Cork football.”
Why do you think that is?
“I don’t know. Maybe that’s people’s perception of us. Hurling certainly tends to be obviously the more popular sport in the county.
“You can’t change the opinion of others. The only opinion you need to worry about is the opinion of yourself and the group.”
Is Conor Counihan’s era remembered now more fondly than it was at the time?
“Yeah, and at the time it was probably, ‘He got a handy All-Ireland’, you know? I don’t ever see anyone reaching any handy All-Ireland, so.
“Look, different guys are motivated by different things. The bottom line is that we shouldn’t have to go out and prove ourselves to anyone. We should be going out trying to prove ourselves right all of the time.
“I’m a big believer in that. You know, I keep harping on about it, but the amount of work you actually put into it, to not necessarily reflect that in your performances can be quite frustrating.
“But, we certainly feel as a group that things are changing. I think we’ve certainly become tighter as a group even in the last couple of years.
“When you’re knocked down and people like to knock you down, the only people you need to to I suppose trust in are the people who are putting the work in alongside you.”
Cork’s last championship meeting with Donegal in 2012, what are your memories of that?
“That game was a strange kind of game in the sense that we went in in a very good position at half-time. And then Donegal tagged two or three very quick scores at the start of the second-half and retreated then.
“They knew at that stage that you had to come out and go for it. And when you come out and go for it and take the ball into the tackle, Donegal turn you over and they relish that.
“But the whole dynamic of that squad and Cork team has completely changed. You’d like to think that Donegal squad has changed as well. They play a very similar tactic probably to what they did in ’12, but they’ve just got different characters in different positions now.
“So we know what’s facing us. We know what’s coming down the track. But we’re looking forward to facing it head on.”
Cork's Eoin Cadogan will be up against Donegal's Martin McElhinney SPORTSFILE
SPORTSFILE
It was noticeable how keen the Cork players seemed to thank supporters after the Longford game?
“That doesn’t go unknown within the squad. We don’t tend to have a massive following as ye probably know. The people that traveled to Longford that day and waited around afterwards on a performance that was below par really.
“That kind of showed to us that there’s people who care about Cork football and that enjoy it. Peadar (Healy) went out to the fans afterwards, people were delighted, they were in a good mindset, they were positive.
Cork manager Peadar Healy celebrating their victory with fans after the Longford game Tom Beary / INPHO
Tom Beary / INPHO / INPHO
“At the moment Cork tend to be under the microscope and there’s a lot of negativity around at the moment. It’s not to forget either that the minors are playing. There’s a lot of household names in that backroom team with Noel O’Leary, Alan Quirke, Bernie Collins.
“They’re putting in a lot of work to them as well. I was talking to Noel recently and there’s guys travelling from way down by Castletownbere, they leave at four o’clock to come up for training at six.
“That type of commitment at that type of age – I was very fortunate that I didn’t have too far to travel ever – that just shows me what Cork football means to players that are willing to sacrifice so much both for their families and the players themselves.
“We’re fully aware of that as a group. I think that in terms of the people that support us the whole way along, family, friends, the people that are there to pick the phone up after the shit hits the fan on the Monday morning after you’ve been beaten in championship or when things aren’t going well, they’re the people you want to repay. The talking is over now, it’s time to perform.”
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Battling negativity in Cork football, hurling additions and the Donegal test
TOMORROW CORK RETURN to Croke Park, where they hope a big championship scalp will kickstart the life cycle of a football team in a phase of transition.
Eoin Cadogan was there for the good days when the county’s side were contesting All-Ireland finals.
And he has been also present for the litany of setbacks that have wounded the side in the last twelve months with damaging losses to Kildare and Tipperary, coupled with league relegation.
They’re still standing as one of the last 10 sides in the race for Sam as Cadogan and his teammates prepare to front up against Donegal tomorrow.
What has the addition of your brother Alan and Aidan Walsh done?
“It’s great to have Alan and Aidan in. They bring two different dynamics in terms of their positions. It’s another opportunity for them from being beaten by Wexford and being extremely disappointed to coming into a setup that are in the final stages of the qualifiers.
“It’s brilliant for them, it’s brilliant for the squad. The bottom line is if those two guys can contribute in any sense or any positive way at all then positive days.”
What’s Alan’s football form like this year?
“In football, against Carbery Rangers from a scoring point of view with the club he was our main contributor. I think he kicked nine points on the night. Anyone who has watched him previously at U21 level can see what he brings to the table.
“But in saying that it’s going to take a bit of time for him to adapt to senior inter-county football. It’s a different level.”
Any fears their inclusion would upset the squad?
“No, the bottom line is within an inter-county set-up you want to win. You don’t care how you win, you want to win the games.
“And if two fellas, whether they are hurlers or playing club football all year and performing well like the two lads had done previously, why not bring them in? There certainly wasn’t going to be any conflict from our side as players.”
In 2009, how did you find being in a similar scenario?
“In 2009, yeah. We were beaten in hurling by Galway, I got called in under Conor Counihan. You’re in a head-space where you’ve just been knocked out of the championship and then to get a phone-call like that is like a second life-line.
“It’s a brilliant chance, like. It’s like being told ‘we’re firing you’ and then all of a sudden it’s ‘we want you back’ or ‘come work with us’. You’d be delighted.”
The Longford game saw Cork overturn a half-time deficit for the first time in a while in a championship. That must be a boost?
“We feel as a group things are getting better. We’ve limited the scores against Longford and Limerick in comparison to the games where we were beaten this year, the two stand-out ones being Roscommon and Tipperary.
“It was a tough situation to be in playing away from home, the home support for Longford. It was no harm that we had to get the finger out in the second half.
“I definitely think it’s a help in the sense that we haven’t come back from games like that previously. I know myself the amount of work that’s gone in this year to date is incredible for both the management and the players. We just feel we haven’t hit top gear yet.”
The criticism hasn’t eased this season, Darragh Ó Sé described the Cork players as ‘beyond shame’ after the defeat to Tipperary?
“If he’s willing to write that in the paper and put it out to print then that must be Darragh’s opinion. But, you know, it’s not just Darragh. There’s loads of former players and former people have different opinions.
“Our job is to go out and perform. You know, there tends to be a lot of negativity attached to Cork football. But if you go back to 2008, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, like, when Cork were doing well reaching the semi-finals, getting to All-Ireland finals, there was still a huge amount of negativity attached to the squad.
“It was never good enough. We won three National League titles, beaten All-Ireland finalists in ’07 and ’09, win it in ’10. It (criticism) seems to be par for the course for Cork football.”
Why do you think that is?
“I don’t know. Maybe that’s people’s perception of us. Hurling certainly tends to be obviously the more popular sport in the county.
“You can’t change the opinion of others. The only opinion you need to worry about is the opinion of yourself and the group.”
Is Conor Counihan’s era remembered now more fondly than it was at the time?
“Yeah, and at the time it was probably, ‘He got a handy All-Ireland’, you know? I don’t ever see anyone reaching any handy All-Ireland, so.
“Look, different guys are motivated by different things. The bottom line is that we shouldn’t have to go out and prove ourselves to anyone. We should be going out trying to prove ourselves right all of the time.
“I’m a big believer in that. You know, I keep harping on about it, but the amount of work you actually put into it, to not necessarily reflect that in your performances can be quite frustrating.
“But, we certainly feel as a group that things are changing. I think we’ve certainly become tighter as a group even in the last couple of years.
“When you’re knocked down and people like to knock you down, the only people you need to to I suppose trust in are the people who are putting the work in alongside you.”
Cork’s last championship meeting with Donegal in 2012, what are your memories of that?
“That game was a strange kind of game in the sense that we went in in a very good position at half-time. And then Donegal tagged two or three very quick scores at the start of the second-half and retreated then.
“They knew at that stage that you had to come out and go for it. And when you come out and go for it and take the ball into the tackle, Donegal turn you over and they relish that.
“But the whole dynamic of that squad and Cork team has completely changed. You’d like to think that Donegal squad has changed as well. They play a very similar tactic probably to what they did in ’12, but they’ve just got different characters in different positions now.
“So we know what’s facing us. We know what’s coming down the track. But we’re looking forward to facing it head on.”
It was noticeable how keen the Cork players seemed to thank supporters after the Longford game?
“That doesn’t go unknown within the squad. We don’t tend to have a massive following as ye probably know. The people that traveled to Longford that day and waited around afterwards on a performance that was below par really.
“That kind of showed to us that there’s people who care about Cork football and that enjoy it. Peadar (Healy) went out to the fans afterwards, people were delighted, they were in a good mindset, they were positive.
“At the moment Cork tend to be under the microscope and there’s a lot of negativity around at the moment. It’s not to forget either that the minors are playing. There’s a lot of household names in that backroom team with Noel O’Leary, Alan Quirke, Bernie Collins.
“They’re putting in a lot of work to them as well. I was talking to Noel recently and there’s guys travelling from way down by Castletownbere, they leave at four o’clock to come up for training at six.
“That type of commitment at that type of age – I was very fortunate that I didn’t have too far to travel ever – that just shows me what Cork football means to players that are willing to sacrifice so much both for their families and the players themselves.
“We’re fully aware of that as a group. I think that in terms of the people that support us the whole way along, family, friends, the people that are there to pick the phone up after the shit hits the fan on the Monday morning after you’ve been beaten in championship or when things aren’t going well, they’re the people you want to repay. The talking is over now, it’s time to perform.”
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Quiz – Can you match these All-Ireland football quarter-finalists with their club?
‘I’m absolutely speechless. It’s incredible to win it on our home patch’
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eoin Cadogan Gaelic Football Rebels Cork