by
Henry Martin

"Take a good look around the place ‘Markeen’, because you won’t be seeing it again"

2002 was the year, and the above was the comment from John Meyler which may well have precipitated where the Cork hurlers are today. In the context of the Cork Hurling/GPA/Frank Murphy/Cork County Board (if permitted to use all parties in the same sentence) it has proved to be a costly comment. And if the truth be known, it’s possible that a similar comment might have led to Meyler’s departure as Wexford manager.

But whatever about the Wexford hurlers, ‘Markeen’ wasn’t shy on the airwaves this week. ‘Markeen’ was never shy when it came to the limelight, and as the winning captain in 1999 he flourished in it. The latest step is his self-anointment as the 2008 autumn version of Kieran Mulvey. His mantra is apparent "For the good of Cork Hurling etc." But ‘Markeen’ will be disappointed, because Frankeen won’t be going anywhere, no more than Gerald McCarthy is. Donald Go may well be bidding adieu though and Martin Coleman must be getting itchy feet at these player meetings, knowing that there’s a place waiting for him.

The Cork situation was always going to end like this. The more leverage the players got, the more they would look for. The more the county board were burned, the more they were likely to wait in the long grass.

But this dispute isn’t about hurling. Ben O’Connor tells us it’s not an honour to wear the Cork Jersey, but it’s an honour to win in it. The likes of Jack Lynch and Christy Ring would turn in their graves. There’s many a player in many a county honoured to wear their jersey, whether they are lucky enough to win silverware, or lucky enough to keep the losing margin to twenty points. There’s so much confusion and cross contradiction coming from the players at this stage that they are backing themselves into a corner. Sean Og’s summer declaration of trust in Gerald McCarthy being an example. Where were all the complaints about McCarthy’s drills and training methods back then?

Some may say that they are simply looking after the interests of Cork hurlers, ensuring that the best man is in the job, making sure that a range of best candidates were interviewed. The best man for the job, in fact the best man for any intercounty job, is unquestionably Donal O’Grady. He has cushier numbers on ‘The Sunday Game’ and ‘The Irish Examiner’, and is too cute to ever enter intercounty management again. Cork County Board know that, the players know that, and Gerald McCarthy knows that. O’Grady is a bigger hero with every passing day because he got out at the right time. Ger Loughnane wasn’t satisfied to be a Dermot Healy, wanting bigger glory. It didn’t happen and his reputation is damaged forever more. Donal O’Grady will not make the same mistake.

Who do the players want? Ger Cunningham we are told, a man that’s unproven, and who would represent something of a gamble. The players in all they have had to say in the media have not presented another choice of anyone as manager. And in any event, at this stage any manager coming in would have to drop a marquee name to issue a statement. The current Cork players have been successful and militant, both on and off the field. One has to wonder do they wish to go down in history as the men who shafted ‘Frankeen’ before they finish playing? It wouldn’t be in the nature of some of the players, given their volatile playing careers, to slip into retirement unnoticed.

‘Frankeen’ is going nowhere though. Neither is Gerald McCarthy, he has been around the block and weathered many a storm. The main gripe with Teddy Holland last spring was that he wasn’t of the required standard for senior intercounty management. He had very little exposure in the intercounty arena to back himself up. That cannot be said of McCarthy. But wait and see, there will be more ‘programmed’ Cork ‘Legends’ wheeled out into the media backing the players, than we had Kerry ‘Legends’ criticising the suspension of Paul Galvin in the summer. And the media will give them all the airspace they want, because it’s cooler to hang with the stars, even when the stars are wrong, than to go with ‘Frankeen’ and McCarthy.

We were told last year in a newspaper article that twenty three of the thirty Cork players drive courtesy cars. The credit unions will be licking their lips, as there could be twenty three people looking for car loans. There are players near retirement who will be losing these cars anyway, and perhaps the economic recession could see a discontinuation of these ‘courtesy’ cars.

If this writer had low mileage as an intercounty hurler, and had one of those cars, the aforementioned economy - meaning Euros and cents - may matter more than proving a point.

An interesting winter awaits us!