We won’t be fearful of Kerry insists Hurley

BRIAN Hurley makes no secret of his intention to make a big impression against Kerry next Sunday.

The talented Rebel attacker didn’t play well in the recent league final against Dublin, but it was his equally below par performance in last year’s Munster final that is uppermost in his thoughts at the moment.

He has waited twelve months for an opportunity to atone for that, and he says his motivation to do so in Killarney knows no bounds at this stage.

“I wasn’t anywhere near my best in last year’s Munster final, but I suppose the same could be said for the vast majority of our players on the day. Maybe there were four or five fellas who did okay, but the rest of us just didn’t show up, and you need to have everyone contributing when you are competing against one of the top teams

“You are going to be severely punishment otherwise and that’s what happened to us against Kerry last year in Pairc Uí Chaoimh. Our performance simply wasn’t up to standard, so we could have no complaints about how the game went, but we are hell-bent on making amends for that now,” he stressed, adding that the championship rematch with the Kingdom can’t come quickly enough as far as he’s concerned.

“I’m certainly looking forward to going out and performing as well as I can, and I’m determined to make a much bigger impact than I did in last year’s Munster final.”

Hurley, given how devastating and explosive he can be when in full flight, is obviously going to be marked man on Sunday, but he says it’s something he is well used to at this stage.

“I have come across it a lot with my club Castlehaven in recent years, but obviously there are smarter defenders involved at inter-county level, which makes it a bit more difficult to cope.

“On the other side of that when you are playing with the likes of Mark Collins and Donncha O’Connor, you know you have fellas who can supply you with quality ball in the tightest of situations.

“It’s up to yourself then to use it as best you can, and it’s all about thinking inside the box really.”

While Kerry will be going in as strong favourites, Hurley contends that Cork have no reason to be intimidated by the task of taking on the All-Ireland champions.

“I know people from outside the camp believe we have yet to prove ourselves, and that we have a lot of questions to answer after our slump against Kerry last year. There is no doubt in my mind, however, we have learned a lot from that.

“I think we are moving up the ladder all the time, and fellas seem to forget that we had a very positive league this season. Okay, it didn’t work out for us in the final against Dublin, but we had some good wins up north against the likes of Tyrone and Monaghan, and not too many teams would be capable of doing that.

“It’s easy for people to stick a dagger in your back after you lose a big game, but we know ourselves what we have achieved so far this season, and we know how much of a treat we are.

“To be honest, it doesn’t bother me in the slightest that we are being written off by so many people, because, along with a lot of the players in our squad, I have enjoyed considerable success against Kerry at minor and Under 21 level.

“It means we have no inferiority complex when playing them in senior, and, while you’d have to agree the criticism of our display in the league final against Dublin was justified, we don’t accept the pessimism surrounding our championship prospects has any real substance.

“Our self-belief hasn’t wavered, which is only thing that matters ahead of the clash with Kerry, and we expect to deliver a performance on Sunday that will cause people to change their mind about where we are going very quickly,” said Hurley.

Insisting that Cork can be a match for any team in the country when they produce their best form, the 23-year old Rebel marksman points to their comeback, which only just fell short, in last year’s All-Ireland quarter final against Mayo as testimony to that.

“I think we showed in the last 20 minutes against Mayo what we are capable of, and I can assure you we won’t be fearful of Kerry next Sunday, although we know it isn’t going to be easy to get the win. “We are confident without being cocky, and, providing everybody puts a shoulder to the wheel, which wasn’t the case last year, I think we’ll be there-or-thereabouts,” said the ace Cork forward.