‘He took the fight to the bigger fellas. He wasn't standing back. That’s Pat’

BY SEÁN HOLLAND

THIS Sunday in Croke Park, prior to the ball being thrown in, the 1999 All-Ireland-winning Cork team will be honoured as they will walk onto the pitch as this year's silver jubilee team.

While members of that squad will stand and receive their rightful applause, Pat Ryan will have more pressing matters at hand. One man who will be on the pitch is two-time U21 All-Ireland winning captain and Barryroe native Danny Murphy. Having played with Ryan, Murphy gave us an insight into the man tasked with overseeing the Rebels’ quest for All-Ireland glory.

‘The first thing I'd say about Pat is he was a fantastic hurler in his own right when he played,’ voiced Murphy. ‘He had a good career with Cork and a great career with his club. He was a fierce servant with Sarsfields back at a time when they maybe weren't as strong. He would have been a mainstay for them in the mid-90s, late-90s until the early 2000s, then moved on to coaching with Sars and Cork, having a good record as a selector under Kieran Kingston.

‘Pat also did very good work, with the U20s as well so he's served his time. Even when he was a player, he'd have been one of those fellas who would be there analysing the game afterwards with you. Where other fellas could take it or leave it, Pat would be a thinker about the game,’ explained Murphy.

Having been part of that victorious 1999 team, Murphy knows first-hand what effect and influence Ryan and his management team will have on the team's preparations for Sunday's decider.

‘I think he has an excellent backroom team with him too,’ he explained.

‘I’d have played with a lot of them, and I'd know a lot of them well, and there's a good mix there between Donal O'Mahony, who would be a very good thinker on the game. Wayne Sherlock brings great experience and so does Brendan Coleman. They're all very good, solid guys that the players would look up to. They bring a down-to-earth attitude to the whole thing and a level head to it.

‘I would imagine they're probably in the dressing room this week, in training, preparing for this even though it's not just another game, but just trying to keep it as much as possible as they're just preparing for another game. But also focusing on the performance and not worrying about the outcomes and the big occasion'.

Jimmy Barry-Murphy was in charge of the victorious Cork side in 1999 and Murphy was asked if Ryan would take after the Cork hurling legend in his approach to management.

‘Pat would be very much his own man,’ remarked Murphy. ‘I wouldn't think he'd have changed much over the years. This is probably coming naturally to him. He wouldn't be an intense character, but he would be a real hurling man. He would share similarities with Jimmy.

‘Jimmy was a very likable character. He was also fairly straight up with fellas. Very little bullsh*t and I say there’s very little bullsh*t with Pat. The players know where they stand, and he won't hide from the fact that they're in the All-Ireland final. I suppose once they acknowledge the fact that there's a big prize at stake, I'm sure he'll keep them grounded and focused on just the simple things, getting the better of their opponents and of their matchups and all these things are critical come Sunday.’

One moment stands out for Murphy that gives an insight into Ryan while being calm and composed, he has a fire in him that seems to have been passed into his players today.

‘I can remember the county final in 1997 when Sarsfields played in Imokilly and Sars came out of nowhere, that year,’ he said.

‘Pat Ryan and Teddy Mac were the two stalwarts of Sars that spanned generations. Teddy was their spiritual leader at the time, but Pat was their best player. It was between them. In Imokilly, where they were up against the odds, and obviously with Sars, being within the Imokilly division, there was a big rivalry there.

‘I can remember coming off the field at half-time, there was a bit of a scuffle and so on, and Pat wouldn't be a big man. He'd be a small, very skillful, hurler, but quite tenacious. He wasn't shy either. He wasn't afraid to take on the big dogs in a fight. I just remember a shouldering match as he was leaving off the field. Imokilly were a big strong team, big fellas involved in Cork at the time, Ronan Dwane, Mick Daly, Mark Landers and the Cahills from Cloyne, fellas like that. But it just struck me that particular day when Pat had his club jersey on, he was taking the fight to the bigger fellas coming off the field, and he wasn't standing back. That was Pat.’