I’d love to say this post is my work but it isn’t!It cheered me up though reading it.
In the midst of the negativity of how this year seems to be gone, I can’t go along with some of the comments about how Cork football is in such low place. In the medium term past this season we’re in a great position, the best after Dublin. Even leaving out the dual players, we have potentially ‘top’ players varying different stages of their senior intercounty careers spread throughout the side.
The older crew including Shields, Kerrigan, Goold, Goulding, Cadogan and Kelly should have another few years yet. The good thing, depending on how you look at it, is that we aren’t relying on them. How they go could vary but Kerrigan and Goold have looked inspired at times this year, and Shields and Cadogan are corner stones of the defence. I’d be amazed if players of the pedigree of Goulding and Kelly don’t have a major say over the next few years too.
Colm is behind that by a few years and seems on his way back as strong as ever after injuries as one of the country’s best players. Collins has finally established himself in a key role there too, and COD seems to be bolting from the blue in fantastic fashion. A pity about the rest of that group (Kiely, Jamie and Denis O’Sullivan - Sheehan and Walsh potentially leaving the sport) but its far from terrible either.
Clancy and Hurley are now well established and important parts of team and likely to be 2 main anchors of defence and attack over the next decade. John O’Rourke is tettering around there as a player who could develop and important role very quickly.
The crew below all that are very promising. Maguire, BOD and Vaughan in the next wave after that are 3 players who would be very confident of establishing themselves as top class intercounty footballers in a short enough space of time. Crowley we haven’t see enough of but you’d suspect similar. Dan Mac Eoin and a few others from this group have the potential to do likewise.
And once that older crew start to finish off, we have the players to step up into leadership roles, the players behind that to support, and from looking at our underage teams we will have a nice conveyor belt flowing all the time.
You can’t take anything for granted in Cork football, but that’s a great core to built a team around and there’s plenty players I didn’t mention are very good intercounty footballers. It’s not taking into account one or all of the dual players selecting to play football and reaching their true potential at it. Walsh is Walsh, potentially the best midfielder in the country if he focused on it, and Cahelane has major potential too as a middle third player used properly. Hopefully Sheehan gets a good run down under, but if not… that’s potentially the best footballer in the Country to come riding back over the sunset and would be a serious game changer. Not worth teasing ourselves with though.
Before all that, I expect a performance next week. We’re in the position that suits Cork football and are in the position that they despise and I think that will tell. Weather it’s enough, I doubt it.