Cork boss Pat Ryan says job is not complete until Liam MacCarthy is back on Leeside
Pat Ryan says Cork’s season will ultimately be judged on whether they manage to bring Liam MacCarthy back to Leeside later this month.
The Rebels ended Limerick’s five-in-a-row ambitions with a superb performance at Croke Park on Sunday afternoon. Despite the momentous semi-final victory, Ryan says the job is far from finished for Cork in 2024.
“Look, I said this when I got into the job, fellas asked me what would be success in this job. If you’re a Cork man, you have to win an All-Ireland, simple as that,” stated the Cork manager.
“If you don’t do it, it’s not successful. And look, there’s been fellas before me that have done fantastic things and got to All-Ireland finals and have been very unlucky on those days. But look, we judge ourselves in Cork on winning All-Irelands so we need to get back to that.”
The sight of the Cork fans bouncing on Hill 16 in the aftermath of the win over Limerick gave an indication to the excitement and hype that is likely to engulf the county over the next fortnight.
Cork have already arranged their pre-All-Ireland final media event to take place on Monday evening – no doubt in a bid to get all such engagements out of the way as early as possible to allow the group focus fully on the game against Clare.
But Ryan feels there is probably no point trying to take air out of the hype balloon around the county over the next two weeks.
“It would be impossible to quell it down in Cork, to be honest with you,” said Ryan.
“We get confident after winning a Tiddlywink match! So, look, from our point of view, it’ll be just minding it from ourselves.
“And look, it’s hard. Fellas are amateur men, they’re going into schools, they’re going into work, they’re going into their families. But from our point of view, we know the job’s not finished and that’ll be our attitude.
Cork supporters celebrate the victory over Limerick at Croke Park. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho
“The crowd that was up here, there’s going to be fantastic excitement in Cork over the next two weeks and there’s going to be fantastic excitement in Clare too. It’s going to be hard to keep the hype down in both counties. There hasn’t been a different Ireland champion since 2019. So, look, there’s going to be fierce excitement.”
In praising his players for delivering a performance full of courage and skill and belief and belligerence, Ryan also applauded what Limerick have done for the game in recent years.
“I have to pay tribute to Limerick, what champions they’ve been over the last, whatever it is, since 2018,” stated Ryan. “Do you know what I mean, what they’ve given to the GAA itself, to the Limerick public.
“It was 1973 when they won their last All-Ireland before the lads got involved and what they’ve achieved, it’s absolutely superb.
“They’ve brought the game to a new level and they’re testing all of us to get better and to bring things to a new level and raise standards both on and off the field and look, we were lucky to get over the line today.”
Ultimately, though, while it has been Limerick’s era, Sunday was Cork’s day.
“I didn’t have any doubt that we weren’t going to perform today, to be honest with you,” added Ryan.
“You could see it in training, obviously there was a lot made of maybe lacklustre performances against Offaly and Dublin. But look, from where we came from after losing the first two games in the championship, that took an awful lot of energy, emotional and physical energy to get over Limerick and Tipperary in those games.
“There was a lot of preparation needed to get us back into the championship. We’ve driven on from there.”
All the way to the All-Ireland final.
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