SAM THINGS WORTH THE WAIT

Kerrigan a Rebel with a cause as they climb back up ladder to try and land Holy Grail in near future

GAELIC GAMES CORK VETERAN HAS REAL

The Rebels were crowned Allianz League champions almost exactly 10 years ago and finished that 2010 season as All-ireland winners.

Attacker Kerrigan was a key man in that all conquering team and is still going strong at 33.

But it’s been a roller-coaster 10 years with Cork suffering a steady decline before appearing to find their feet again in the last 12 months.

The 2019 All-ireland quarter-finalists were on the brink of promotion back to Division 2 of the Allianz League and eyeing a glamour Championship clash with Kerry when the season shut down.

Kerrigan told Irish Sunday Mirrorsport: “After 2013 in particular, about 10 of the older fellas had gone and we were kind of in that transition.

“We didn’t do too bad for a couple of years but there was probably

Fresh-faced Paul Sam Kerrigan with as Cork Maguire Cup 10 win All-ireland years ago always going to be a bit of a fall. I’ll be honest and say I didn’t envisage us going down to Division 3 but I’d like to think we’d stabilised and we’re moving back in the right direction. “Cork won the All-ireland minor and U-20 championships last year and historically we’ve always done well at senior level after underage successes. “So I think that curve was starting to change for us and we’ve got a good group in there now that are giving it everything.”

Kerrigan hit the Cork senior scene at a boom time for the county, reaching an All-ireland semi-final replay in his debut season of 2008.

He lined out in the 2009 final against Kerry and finally got his hands on a Celtic Cross medal 12 months later.

There were four League wins in a row too, beginning with the Division 2 title in 2009 and climaxing with a Division 1 three-in-a-row in 2012.

It seemed at that stage that Cork were destined for years at the top but they haven’t advanced beyond an All-ireland quarter-final since 2012.

Things bottomed out with relegation to Division 3 last year though reaching the Super 8s was a giant boost and the underage teams blitzed all comers too.

Now Cork are looking optimistically to the future with rising stars like Damien Gore and Cathail O’mahony alongside Kerrigan in attack.

Kerrigan (right) said: “Cathail doesn’t say too much but you can see he’s taking it all in, he’s talented and he’s intelligent and he’s a great prospect.

“We’ve a lot of guys who are in their early to mid-20s. At the other end of things, myself and James Loughrey are the two oldest guys now.

“We’re trying to drive it along, ourselves and the likes of Ian Maguire who is captain this year.”

Kerrigan is looking to the positives of the current COVID-19 lay-off and hoping the lengthy break will help those recovering from injuries.

He said: “We definitely would have guys who’ll benefit in that way.

“Kevin Crowley and Ruairi Deane, two of our starters, they probably would have been ruled out for the Kerry game in the Championship if it had went ahead.

“So they’ll have injuries cleared up if there is to be something later in the year. Sean Powter, Brian Hurley, Mark Collins, Eoghan Mcsweeney, those fellas should all benefit as well.”