Seán Óg keen to pass on baton as last All-Ireland winning Cork hurling captain
Seán Óg Ó hAilpín pops a handpass for the Cork hurlers. Picture: INPHO/Lorraine O'Sullivan
SEÁN Óg Ó hAilpín, the last Cork captain to lift Liam MacCarthy, will have a special interest in this year’s All-Ireland final.
The retired dual star wants his status as the last man to bring the cup back to Leeside to end on Sunday after Cork play Limerick at Croke Park.
He believes the 16-year record is a poor indictment of Cork hurling, but he thinks better days are ahead for the Rebel County.
“It’s not a good sign when I’m told I’m the last Cork captain to win an All-Ireland. 2005 was too long ago. It’s a tag I don’t like having,” he said.
“A county of our size with our history and tradition should be winning All-Irelands every three or four years.
Cork have been hoovering up silverware recently, with the county claiming the minor and U20 Munster titles. Ó hAilpín, who won minor and U21 All-Ireland honours, believes that this stream of talent will strengthen and push Cork on.
“Every year or two years, people move on over retirement or injuries and that means new players come in. The senior manager will now know there’s a pool of players they can bring in. It will be a pool of players who have won. To win something at underage level gives you a good start. I know from experience. You go into senior hurling deeming yourself a winner. Underage success also gives you a sense of belief.”
Ó hAilpín has a good feeling ahead of Cork’s first All-Ireland final in eight years.
“I’m fairly optimistic for the final. We had a great semi-final win. We got a sucker punch at the end of normal time and it was like the team was knocked out cold on the floor. They bounced back up in extra-time and established themselves as the better team. They finished as deserving winners.
“The semi-final will give the team a lot of confidence going into the final. I’m optimistic but I’m also a realist.
“Cork are up against it playing Limerick. They have been the best team in the competition for the last three to four years. Limerick are All-Ireland champions with a lot of experience. On paper they have everything covered and they will be raging hot favourites.
"This is why I give Cork a chance. All the pressure is on Limerick to deliver.”
An overriding theme ahead of this final is captain Patrick Horgan’s quest for an All-Ireland medal, which is entering its 30th year.
Ó hAilpín does not want the county to burden the forward with expectations going into the decider.
“I hope there’s no pressure on him,” Ó hAilpín said, “If people start putting pressure on him saying he needs to win to cement his legacy, it’s for the wrong reasons.
“You win All-Ireland medals as a group. It’s an accumulation of everyone’s effort that year. Don’t get me wrong, it would be fitting for Horgan to win it.
Cork will be going into the All-Ireland final after three successive victories in championship. This is in contrast to Limerick’s route to Croke Park, which has seen the Treaty play just three championship games in 2021.
Looking at the diverging roads to the final, Ó hAilpín believes Limerick have a slight advantage.
“It’s been an argument for years, is it better to get a long lay-off or to come through the qualifiers. Personally, I prefer the route that Limerick have come through.
“I think back to when Kilkenny were dominant and I reckon one of the reasons for their success was that they avoided the backdoor. They were able to be fresh for when it mattered. They didn’t have to go through battles week in week out.
“Case in point, look at Waterford’s game against Limerick. That was their fourth week out on the trot. You could see they had nothing left in the tank.
“But, there’s a huge difference to playing four weeks in a row than playing three weeks in a row. Cork are lucky, they had time off before the final. They can recharge their batteries and players can recover from knocks.”
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