DANERGOUS IDEAS – that’s what Cork GAA CEO Kevin O’Donovan says is needed to resurrect the Rebels’ football set-up that is stuck in its own version of Groundhog Day.
Season after season for the past decade, since Cork were relegated from Division 1 in 2016, it’s been a fairly similar storyline: initial Division 2 promotion hopes that descend briefly into a relegation scrap before commendable backs-to-the-wall survival. Then, no joy in the Munster championship (even when Cork beat the old enemy) before an All-Ireland campaign that could include one scalp and suggest green shoots and better times ahead. And repeat.
We’ve watched this movie before though, and we know how it ends. It’s why Kevin O’Donovan, speaking at a Cork Chamber business breakfast at Páirc Uí Chaoimh last week, suggested that ‘dangerous ideas’ are needed to breathe new energy into Cork football. One suggestion the Kilmeen man floated was the possibility of Cork competing in the Leinster senior football championship instead of the Munster series.
‘Should Cork move to Leinster as a province? Should we ask? That’s not a joke – an officer rang me (about it). It’s a new idea. Should we go to Leinster for more competitive games?’ The Irish Examiner reported O’Donovan as saying.
This is a left-field idea, but weakening this sit-up-and-take-notice soundbite is that Cork have lost to Tipperary (2020), Clare (2023) and Kerry (2021, ’22 and ’24) in the last five Munster senior football championships. There are competitive games here in Cork’s home province for the Rebels, given where Cork football stands in the pecking order right now: a mid-table Division 2 team.
Rather than dangerous ideas – though perhaps something radical is needed to change the culture of where Cork football stands in the minds of so many in the county – a good start for the present power-holders would be to, finally, hold an extensive review into #2024 – A Five-Year Plan for Cork Football, and see what objectives were met, which ones weren’t and why. Set up and launched by the previous regime, the wait of over a year to review a plan that ended after the 2024 inter-county season makes little sense. Would the hurling fraternity accept such a laid-back approach to their game? The issues haven’t gone away. In fact, with each season they are heightened.
Michael Shields was the last Cork man to captain the county to the Munster senior football title, back in 2012. (Photo: Lorraine O'Sullivan/INPHO)
Next year will mark Cork’s tenth campaign outside of Division 1, and the Rebels haven’t won a Munster senior football championship title since 2012 – this is now Cork’s second longest run ever without winning the provincial football crown. Go back to the gap between 1928 and 1943 for the worst, but the current Munster SFC title drought has the potential to match that. That’s why 2020 will rankle those involved: a dramatic, brilliant win over Kerry, but then losing a home Munster final to a county (Tipperary) that hadn’t won a Munster SFC title since 1935 … until the dramatic day they beat Cork at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
Since then the Rebels have contested one final, losing by a record margin to Kerry in 2021 – that’s the last time the Rebels featured in a Munster senior football decider. The path back there has a Kerry-shaped obstacle standing in the way, providing Cork neatly sidestep this Saturday’s quarter-final against a Limerick side with nothing to lose.
But are Cork any closer to ending the county’s wait for the Munster title? It’s hard to put forward a compelling argument that says yes, when Cork are in much the same position as in previous seasons – sixth, fourth, fourth and fifth place finishes in Division 2 in the past four years – while Kerry continue to boss this province, almost at their ease.
We’ve now reached the stage where no current Cork senior footballer knows and feels what it’s like to win a Munster senior football championship. The elder statesmen of the squad, the warriors who have carried the fight in these lean years, have little to show for over a decade of commitment and sacrifices. Brian Hurley made his debut in 2013. Ian Maguire in 2014, the same season Ruairi Deane was first involved with the Cork seniors. Winning a Munster senior football medal would be a reward they’d value more than most, but also a step forward for a county that needs a football boost. Hence, Kevin O’Donovan’s ‘dangerous ideas’.
There is a cyclical nature to sport. Nothing lasts forever (perhaps even provincial championships themselves will be culled at some stage, given the apathy words them). Kerry won’t win every Munster senior football title. But the sporting landscape is constantly changing, with more choices and opportunities for kids in this county. It’s why Cork football needs some success to start winning the hearts and minds of the next generation. A Munster senior football title is the last realistic chance of silverware this season. It’s not an impossible task. Take care of Limerick first, and then plot an ambush of the next-door neighbours. ‘Dangerous ideas’ are needed, but so too are wins.
