Kerrigan is ready for a different kind of test
‘We have lads who are real characters and who are the future of Nemo’
PAUL KERRIGAN could be kicking back on Cottesloe Beach in Perth right now, enjoying some downtime after the International Rules Series. He could perhaps have bundled some holidays together and extended the trip to a bit of travelling around South-East Asia, like so many before him. A part of him surely wonders whether he could have been the difference in the two-test tour.
Selected on the original squad by manager Joe Kernan to travel Down Under until his involvement with Nemo meant he had to opt out, his aim was to follow in the footsteps of his father, Jimmy.
‘My Dad played it in the ’80s, he was in Australia 30 years ago. I’d have loved to have gone and followed that but I was lucky enough to have played.
‘At start of the year you write down a few goals, five or six goals — win the county and make the tour were two. I suppose I did do two of them but I couldn’t obviously go on the tour. I was gutted. I rang Joe on the Monday and he was expecting it, he said “fair enough”. He knows about club more than anyone.’
Kerrigan watched Australia come out on top over the two legs and the talk switch to a possible test in Philadelphia next year with the AFL keen to gain a foothold in the US. For someone whose club commitment can’t be questioned, he still says the international dimension deserves to have a future.
‘If you speak to any player, they’ll definitely say [it has a future]. Fellas are devastated when they don’t make it. It’s inter-county players and it’s probably the first time they’ve been dropped for anything in their lives, if you think about it.
‘There were only 22 players on the original panel. You’d like to have a bit more of a crowd and stuff like that but the last two series have been good — the skill element over taken maybe the violent element that was there before. It was no harm to see the boys having a bit of a dust up at half-time either, it got the crowd into it as well.’
AT least when one door closed for him, it opened for another Cork teammate Sean Powter, who made such an impact this summer. The winter has offered vari- ous opportunities then for Cork players to finish the season on a high after the Munster final blowout against Kerry in Killarney and an underwhelming season in Division 2 of the League.
Kerrigan draws hope from seeing new leaders emerge even in defeat in a dramapacked qualifier against Mayo, Powter and Ian Maguire to name but two.
‘I’d say even before the Mayo game they really stood out, those two boys and they continued it on. I suppose you’d see fellas’ characters really come out when things are tough and those two lads came up trumps when we played against Mayo. They’ve really good characters: Jamie Sullivan, Powter, Maguire, Tom Clancy from Fermoy, all those lads, Donncha [O’Connor], their character came out when the need was the greatest. ‘It’s very easy for fellas to throw their hat at it and give out after losing a Munster final. I think they’re the future of it. They’ve got that buy-in and hunger where they do everything right. We’ll be on the right track with them.’ If that Munster final defeat saw Cork pride dented by Kerry opposition, tomorrow’s Munster club final offers Nemo Rangers a chance to gain some sort of redress against Dr Crokes. Kerrigan has been around long enough to remember the first-half spectacular in 2010, Nemo blazing into a 1-13 to 0-3 lead. ‘It’s probably the best first half I’ve ever seen or played in. It was unbelievable. I think Barry O’Driscoll got one from the outside of the left from one sideline and I got one from the outside of the right on the other sideline. [James] Masters scored a goal from just inside the 21 with a drop-kick. Everything we hit went over, half-backs getting scores, guys coming on getting scores, it was unbelievable.’
Yet it’s Crokes who haven’t lost a match since in the competition. They travel to Páirc Uí Rinn as reigning All-Ireland champions while Nemo are still chewing over the gut-wrenching memory of Michael Quinlivan’s scene-stealing late goal in the 2015 decider.
‘It was the worst ever, that’s the only way I can describe it — it literally was the last kick of the game. They just lumped it in, the ball broke and he swivelled and [it ended up in the] bottom corner — it was horrendous.’
He acknowledges Crokes are ‘a different animal’ since the 2010 decider, the nature of the modern rivalry spilling over even when they’ve met in challenge games. ‘I remember a few years ago one summer, I was injured and I was down and there was half a scrap, Cork were playing Kerry the same day. They’re always feisty.’
But Nemo have their own feisty Kerry man within their ranks, a famous member of the Ó Sé clan. While a groin injury ruled Tomás out of the 2-17 to 0-4 semi-final drubbing of Adare, and is set to curtain his involvement tomorrow, Kerrigan points to his influence beyond the whitewash.
‘He has been a real driving force since he came in, a quiet driving force in the dressing-room. He is good to train with. For a lad that is nearly 40, he trains all the time.
‘Even when we played UCC in the quarter-finals, 13 of their 15 were from Kerry and his knowledge and experience was important. He has seven or eight years on me. I’m 30, he is in his late thirties. He has so much experience. He is such a help to young fellas.’
What could he know that Kerrigan doesn’t?
‘He has about five All-Ireland medals!’ he laughs by way of reply.
IF a sense of perspective was needed, it came in the Cork county final replay when team-mate Cian McWhinney lost all feeling from the neck down after an accidental collision. ‘It was kind of innocuous because I could see from centre-forward and he was kind of lying there and I was saying, “Jesus, he’s not moving at all.” Flat out. He said something to Barry and obviously the ref blew it up. Both teams gathered up towards him. We were like, “Jesus, he can’t feel his arms or legs.”
‘Immediately after the game... even the celebrations in the dressing-room were a small bit muted compared to normal. Straight away our doctor was obviously onto his mother. I think by the end of the game he could feel his two arms and one leg or something. By the time we got back to the clubhouse it was two arms and two legs so… it took a while to come back.’
His rehab since from a spinal cord contusion saw him board the team bus for the Adare game. ‘He did, yeah. I shook his hand, he had a bit of a grip. He’ll get there, to be honest with you, but I’d say it’ll be next season, maybe the summer hopefully for him.
‘Even last year, he only got dropped for the Ballincollig game he was playing up until that, the semi. So he’d nearly two full seasons under his belt. He earned his medal anyway.’
They will all have to earn theirs the hard way tomorrow.