John Cleary on facing Kerry in McGrath Cup final: 'We're not overly worried about winning or not'

The Cork footballers will be aiming for a third successive McGrath Cup title this weekend.

The Rebels face Kerry tomorrow in the final of the pre-season competition in Killarney with throw-in at 1.30pm.

This is the last competitive game for Cork before the real stuff starts next weekend when they face Cavan in the opening game of the Allianz Division 2 Football League.

That one is on Sunday week at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Cork will be pleased enough to have another competitive game before the league starts and none better than facing the reigning All-Ireland winners.

The Rebels come into this decider after defeating Tipperary before losing to Limerick in Group B of the McGrath Cup.

Both games in terms of team selection couldn’t have been more different though. Having put out their strongest possible team in the 19-point triumph over Tipp, it was very much an experimental Cork side in the five-point loss against Limerick.

Cork manager John Cleary is fully focused on Sunday week for the league opener and isn’t too concerned about the McGrath Cup final.

“We’re not worried about that too much,” he says.

“Any time you go to Kerry, it will be a good test. If we can come out of it with a clean bit of health, you know, and maybe try to get game time into guys. Our sole priority is the game against Cavan.

“Look, it’s another game though. We’ll have to decide now who needs a game but it’s not our priority. Cavan is our priority.

“If fellas need a game against Kerry, that’s what we’re going to do. We’re not overly worried about winning the game or not. It’ll be another competitive game.

“It will be great preparation for going into the league.” 

Cleary will be trimming his squad in the coming weeks and this competitive game against the reigning All-Ireland winners in the shape of Kerry is ideal for the players.

“We’ll be looking at the panel over the next few weeks. Thank God this year our injury count isn’t too bad.

“The last couple of years there we were looking at 10 or 12 injuries. That’s considerably down. Like every team around the country, we’ll have an extended panel at the start and we’ll be cutting back on the panel as the league starts.” 

Kerry come into the pre-season final on the back of a facile victory over Waterford last Sunday. A game that both sides wouldn’t have benefitted from as the Kingdom won on a scoreline of 1-27 to 0-1.

Tony Brosnan kicked 1-15 against Ephie Fitzgerald’s side.