Conor Counihan: Important for Cork to be winning Munster titles 

FORMER Cork All-Ireland winning footballer and manager Conor Counihan believes the Rebels are heading in the right direction.

The Leesiders get their championship campaign underway this weekend with Limerick coming to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday for the Munster quarter-final with throw-in at 2pm.

“The start to the league wasn’t what they wanted,” says the Aghada club man.

“Losing the first three games wasn’t what anyone was expecting. I know they would have prepared very well for the league. The two of the matches were away, long trips and difficult ones at that, but you would have hoped Cork would have performed better than what they did. Notwithstanding that, a few important players have come back into the set-up in recent weeks. Confidence is key for all teams and they have that now. They could have easily said feck this after the three defeats, but the group knuckled down.

BOUNCE

“In recent weeks the team have shown a good recovery, winning three on the bounce and drawing with Armagh to finish fourth, so I would imagine they are heading into the championship in a positive frame of mind. It’s better to be in Cork’s position now, finishing the league strong rather than the other way around. It’s a good place to be.” 

John Cleary’s side will be overwhelming favourites to brush aside the challenge of the Treaty County this Sunday and in the process book a semi-final place against Kerry. Counihan says the team will need to be on it in order to avoid another shock.

“If mentally Cork are in the right place, yes Cork should be winning on Sunday,” says the former boss, who was in charge from 2008 to 2013.

“If Cork aren't tuned in, then there could be trouble. There are no excuses for that nowadays, it’s a competitive environment the players are in, you’re getting the jersey, you're getting an opportunity, so if you don’t perform, you're not going to be playing and I think fellas should realise that.

“Quite a few of this Cork panel beat Kerry in the 2020 Munster semi-final, and then Tipperary turned them over in the final down the Páirc, so they must learn the lessons from the past and they must be fully focused on Limerick. In today’s world, teams are well prepared, so there are no easy shots. You can’t afford to be off your game any day. 

The prime example was last year away to Clare in the Munster quarter-final, on most occasions Cork would expect to be beating them, but lost.” 

It's 12 years since the Rebels last lifted the Munster championship, and Counihan says it’s important that the wait comes to an end sooner rather than later.

“I think none of us would have predicted at that time we would be 12 years without a Munster title,” he said.

“It’s important for Cork to win a Munster football championship soon enough, hopefully this year might be the year. Expectations are higher now from the general public on the back of reaching the All-Ireland quarter-finals in the last two seasons. I would be hoping the team can improve another bit this year. Time will tell on that. There is a lot of youth in that team.

“I would love to get back to the days when the Munster championship was competitive, for the good of football nationally. 

Kerry’s success rate over the last number of years hasn’t been as good as it would have been historically and I think some of that is down to the lack of competition in the Munster championship.” 

Counihan guided the Rebels to the 2010 All-Ireland football title, ending 20 years of hurt, three Munster crowns, 2008, ‘09 and ‘12, and three Division 1 league successes, 2010, ‘11 and ‘12. He stepped down in August 2013 and since then Cork have struggled to make an impression. 

UNDERWHELMING

The Leesiders have made steady progress though since John Cleary took the reins in March 2022, which was initially on an interim basis before getting the gig full time in July of that year. Why did Cork underwhelm for many years after Counihan’s departure?

“Maybe we took our eye off the ball, maybe we thought we were a bit better than what we were, maybe we weren’t putting in the work. 

Cork also lost a number of players, prematurely and that sort of thing. There’s a lot to learn from that. 

"Strictly speaking, we took the eye off the ball and we didn’t manage the situation as well as we should have. I do think we are in a good place now though."