I’D BITE YOUR HAND OFF FOR THIRD
Ryan hungry for provincial progress and a run at All-ireland
CORK boss Pat Ryan admits he would “bite your hand off” for third place in this year’s Munster Championship.
The Rebels were edged out of the Championship last year as, after beating Waterford, they drew with Tipperary before suffering one-point defeats to Clare and Limerick.
Had they scored an extra point in any of those closing three games they would have at least made the All-ireland series and possibly a Munster final too.
Although finishing third in the group means having to rejoin the Championship at the preliminary quarter-final stage, Ryan certainly wouldn’t turn his nose up at it given how competitive Munster is.
“I’d bite your hand off for it,” he said. “With the exception of Limerick maybe, everybody is looking for that, to get out of Munster. That’s the key for us.
“We didn’t get out of Munster last year and that’s key to our year. Everything takes off after that. “We know how competitive Munster is. If you come out of Munster, you should be having aspirations of getting to an All-ireland final at that stage.” Cork have been earmarked as a team to watch given how competitive they were last year but Ryan says any credit directed towards them for those performances are merely “hollow victories”.
“We didn’t make progress. We didn’t get out. We’re trying to get back to the top table and get into an Allireland final.
“We were in one in 2021 and we didn’t perform the way we would’ve liked.
Our job is to try and win an All-ireland. That’s why we took the job on.
“Getting out of Munster is the first step in that. As you said, I’d bite your hand off for third. I think everyone would.”
Cork start away to Waterford in Walsh Park this Sunday but Ryan identifies their home games, against Clare and Limerick, as pivotal to their chances of playing outside of Munster later in the season.
They beat Waterford comfortably at home last year but a draw with Tipp meant they had to get something on the road, which ultimately eluded them.
“Your home games are key. That’s what kept us out of qualifying last year. We beat Waterford and we didn’t play as well as we wanted against Tipperary.
“We probably should’ve won the game coming down the stretch. You have to win your home games. That’s the key.”
Cork have Clare at home on Sunday week and Ryan has learned from last year, when he didn’t let off the handbrake after their opener against Waterford.
“We definitely got it wrong between the Waterford and the Tipperary game. It was six days. We have an extra day this time between the Waterford and Clare games. I definitely think we got that wrong. We probably needed to give lads a bit of a break afterwards.
“We got lads back in straightaway the next day for a bit of recovery and analysis work. We’ll probably give them a bit more of a break this time.”
Ryan was part of the Cork squad that won an All-ireland in 1999 after what was considered a nine-year famine at the time but it’s well-documented that they are currently enduring their longest ever gap, now in its 19th year, between titles.
“I wasn’t involved in 2004, 2005. Wayne (Sherlock) was, he’s a selector with us. It’s a long time. It is a long time and it’s something we have to try and solve. We can’t hide from it.
“In fairness to our public, the Cork GAA public are only looking for some team to follow.
“Our job is to get them behind us because we all know if we get the Cork public behind us, we’ll bring 55,00 people to Croke Park. That’s what we need to get to.”