The 16th Man

Nicholas Murphy’s perspective on football has changed considerably since he first started playing the inter-county game with Cork in the late 90s. The 6’5’’Carrigaline man may be a gentle giant off the pitch but a fierce ambition burns within the midfielder to fulfil the potential that he and his peers have promised, but so far failed, to deliver for over a decade. Amending that is one more change that Murphy hopes to master this Sunday.

In 1999, Murphy was part of the Cork team beaten at the final hurdle by Meath. At the time the big midfielder admitted that he was in some ways dismissive of that All-Ireland final defeat.

“I suppose when I got there in 1999 there was a sense of thinking we’d be there for the next couple of years but we never really followed through in the years afterwards.”

Now a more senior member of the squad, Murphy relishes any opportunity to feature in the latter stages of the All-Ireland in a way that he perhaps took for granted when he was younger. At 32 years of age he may be nearing the end of a superb inter-county career but he admits that he is not actively entertaining the idea of retirement after this year’s All-Ireland final.

“I wouldn’t say it’s now or never because if you say that you’re kind of finishing yourself off. It might be a cliché but it really is a matter of taking one game at a time.  Even the young lads have to think like that. I was young back in 1999 and thought I’d be back in finals year in year out but you might have to wait four or five years to get another chance.”

The game has developed since he first started playing at the highest level and Murphy has said that his own game has progressed because of those changes.

“The training aspect of it has really come on. It used to be just weights around Christmas then training took precedence but now you’re doing weights throughout the year and you’re doing short stuff in the running. Everything has moved on, from nutrition to sports psychologists. It really has moved on an awful lot.”

As the game has developed so too has the competition for places. Nicholas Murphy has been a constant in the Cork side of recent years but a stress fracture of the lower spine has limited the number of appearances the midfielder has been able to make this year. Aidan Walsh starred for the Under-21 side that won the All-Ireland title last year, coincidentally beating Down in the final, and he has cemented his status as the first choice midfielder. Murphy accepts that while the competition may not make things easier for him personally, it is good for Cork football in general.

“The likes of Aidan Walsh and Ciaran Sheehan are really bringing something to the panel and it increases competition which is great. I’ve been pushing them on as much as they’ve been pushing me on so it helps to keep everyone going in training.”

If training has been altered in the last number of years so too have the targets for Cork. Reigning in Munster is not the holy grail it once was for Murphy et al.

“At the end of the day the All-Ireland was what we are after and if we won Munster on the way that was a bonus but the main thing was getting back to where we were last year (the All-Ireland final).”

Things have certainly changed, it used to be that Kerry were willing to lose in Munster and win in Croke Park and now it is Cork who are trying to replicate that model. It gifted the Cork the opportunity of building some momentum through the qualifiers, unlike Kerry who went straight from a provincial final victory to a quarter-final defeat. Unsurprisingly Murphy has little sympathy for the Kingdom.

“We were in the same scenario last year having won Munster so I think it’s grand the way it is to be honest. The back door was good in that we got playing week in, week out but I suppose if there were injuries the squad got stretched but we have a big panel of 34-35 players there so there were still players competing to get game time.”
Cork have reached the All-Ireland final for the third time in four years with the two previous encounters infamously ending in defeat.  Last year Cork were mooted as the team of the year after impressive free-scoring victories, including the striking scalp of a much fancied Tyrone team. This year things have changed and at times, Cork have flattered to deceive but if things have changed this year in that respect Murphy is again hopeful that the result can change too this year for Cork.

“We didn’t play as well in the final last year and we’re hoping we can correct that this year.  People said last year that we were the team of the year but it’s a results business and we came up short. Kerry won last year so the most important thing from our point of view is getting over the line. A performance on top of it would be a bonus. We just want to drag ourselves over the line. We fell short last year.”

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