Didn’t suit the Rebels
score-line as Cork’s game really isn’t suited to pitches like the one on offer last weekend.
Cork need good ground, hard ground, fast ground and while that is not always available, particularly at this time of the year, it should be somewhere close, particularly at home where you expect things to be setup to suit the home side.
No matter what field or outdoor sport you consider it is recognised that a significant element of home advantage is that the behind the scenes people liaise with the teams’ management to produce a product that suits the home team.
Think of the Ryder Cup, any English Premiership side, Munster rugby or indeed the Dublin footballers – they all get to show their wares on grass that is prepared to suit their needs.
That is why the post-match statement that the pitch was the same for both sides really doesn’t wash. If Wexford last Sunday were to choose a pitch to play on they may not have chosen the near bog-like conditions that they got, but if you had asked Davy Fitzgerald what kind of a field he would like to see Cork have to play on he might well have chosen the pitch they got.
Before everyone gets on their high horse to slam the powers that be in Cork GAA it is important to remember that Croke Park had its fair share of pitch issues in the early days after redevelopment while places as famous as Old Trafford, the Emirates Stadium and even the Aviva in Dublin didn’t avoid what many consider to be the embarrassment of a poor surface – that said, most of those facilities had huge resources from which to put the issue right while in Cork money seems to be getting tighter and tighter for a complex that still hasn’t produced a final cost.
The decision to move to Páirc Uí Rinn for the game against Clare may well be seen as a slight embarrassment for the Cork need good ground, hard ground, fast ground and while that’s not always available it should be something close at home
County Board, but the decision really was a no-brainer – the pitch by the Lee was not only inadequate but also dangerous and Cork are very familiar with the backup ground and more importantly its pitch.
Cork will hope to have the two Cadogans back the next day as well as some of the Fitzgibbon players so expect to see some improvements all over the pitch but now would not be the right time to throw the baby out with the bath water, making a raft of changes for the sake of it.
John Meyler needs to get his best 25 players on point, hungry for action and bang in form and that can only happen by getting a winning mentality into the side but he must not adopt change for the sake of change.
O’Mahony should be left at centre back for the rest of the league to give the young north Cork star a real chance to show his wares. Murphy has to be retained in the middle to again prove he is worth a spot and up front Aidan Walsh must be given more time – what was the point of bringing back the latter pairing if they weren’t to get the playing time required.
Even though we are only in early February this is a big rest week for Cork.