‘There has to be that little bit of animosity’
Retired Cork star Anna Geary expects Sunday’s All-Ireland camogie final to be a fractious affair, decided by whoever keeps their heads
PLEASANTRIES are never high on the list of priorities when an All-Ireland title is on the line, but even accounting for that there will be no disguising the friction between Cork and Kilkenny during Sunday’s camogie decider.
Anna Geary has been there, won All-Ireland medals and got the bruises to prove it, and the six-time All-Star knows the ill feeling that will be brewing in both camps this week.
“God yeah, there probably is,” said Geary at the launch of National Fitness Day 2018.
“There has to be that little bit of animosity because there has always been so little between the teams. You have that element of rivalry and you want that animosity. The Cork-Tipp rivalry never had that bite but Cork-Kilkenny always did.”
This will be the fourth time the sides have met in the final in the last five years, and though Geary has been retired since 2015 she can remember the extra bite this clash offered.
“I’m great friends with the girls now and you laugh about the welts and bruises we gave each other. Over the years I’ve had some of the best craic with girls that I’ve taken the heads off in matches.”
And whether it’s Ann Downey in the Kilkenny dressing-room or Paudie Murray with Cork, Geary knows all the upcoming tricks of the motivational trade.
“I’m sure Ann will be talking to those girls going, ‘they think you are only a flash in the pan’. “I would be if I was her, anything to rile them up. But Paudie could be in the opposite dressing-room saying, ‘those girls think they are better than you because they beat you in one All-Ireland.’”
Allegiances aside, Geary sees little to separate the sides and wouldn’t be surprised to see a game as tight as last year’s final, which the Rebels edged by a single point.
That was also the winning margin in their league final clash in April, only that time Kilkenny prevailed.
“Kilkenny took them for a spin around the park but Cork hadn’t too much training and they were only off the plane from their holiday,” said Geary, making the case for her native county.
Panic
“They were 11 points down at half-time but they didn’t worry, didn’t panic. If I was Paudie Murray I’d be doing cartwheels in the dressing-room after that – they’d been so sub-par yet only lost by a point.”
Geary won four All-Ireland medals with Cork between 2005 and 2014 and she’s well aware of how days like Sunday will cause some of the strongest of players to wilt in the limelight.
“People say it’s just another match but it’s not. I remember 2005, my Leaving Cert year, and the first year I got a start for Cork, the sheer volume of it – you’re going from small crowds to 30,000 and I was like, ‘oh my God, I think I’m going to wet myself here.’
“Some players will relish the occasion and the noise and nerves but others won’t cope well at all.”
That’s her one question mark over Kilkenny, their ability to stay calm under pressure.
“They have the personnel and ability and talent to win, but there would still be question marks for me over their composure.
“If Kilkenny can come out and start really well and drive on from there, they can bring the O’Duffy Cup home. But I think if Cork are allowed play the way they can, it’s going back to Leeside.”
Her worry for Cork is just how easy they’ve had it of late, breezing past Tipperary with a 12-point winning margin in the semi-final last month.
“Cork have been putting up remarkable scores but my fear is they haven’t fully been tested. On the other side, Kilkenny had a tough game against Galway in the group stage and the same in the semi-final and Ann Downey would have learned a lot from that.”
Her big hope for this latest instalment of the rivalry is to see a free-flowing, attacking game, and Geary backs Murray’s assessment that camogie has become too defensive this year.
“Maybe practise what you preach a little bit, Paudie,” says Geary with a laugh.
“I do agree with him, it could ruin the game but both managers will do what they have to do to win. They won’t care what the final is like as a spectacle.
“Camogie is at its best when they’re expansive and the game is flowing; let the game flow and take the shackles off the players.”
Whether we get that kind of game or not, Geary expects one key aspect to decide the outcome.
“It’s about who can cope with the big day, with all the distractions and who can have the smallest margin of error under pressure. Whoever does that is going to be taking home the O’Duffy Cup on Sunday.”