A simple solution to a complex problem
As one of the country’s most recognisable faces it was natural that Anthony Nash would be among the most prominent players used at the launch to the Cúl Heroes trading cards in Croke Park today.
The Kanturk man has been a feature on the GAA landscape for a number of seasons, and with that profile also comes an increased scrutiny.
The Cork goalkeeper admits that that he has been drug tested numerous times as an inter-county player by the Irish Sports Council, but he has huge sympathy for the Monaghan footballer who this weekend tested positive for a banned substance.
The teacher feels that GAA players need much more protection and education than their professional counterparts when it comes to staying on the right side of the law:
‘I think you if take certain over the counter drugs like Lemsip, there is some you can’t take but other ones you can. I think maybe if there was an app on your phone to just check whether things are OKÂ or not it would be a huge boost.’
‘I know there are some out there, but if the Sports Council could help us a little more than professional athletes because we just don’t have the time.’
‘We’ve to go to work from 9-5, you go to training then and you’re home and if you feel under the weather then it’s a problem what to take. In Cork our medical team is great because if we’re not right we’ll ring them, and they’ll recommend something that is OK.’
‘The GAA and GPA are very good at trying to educate the players. I don’t know the player but I would hope the issue is resolved in a positive manner. It’s not just the players reputation but it’s his family as well.’
‘I’m sure that it will come out that he made a mistake hopefully, and if that’s the case then it’s just addressed properly and that it doesn’t happen again.’
Just days before the failed drugs test was made public, the Irish Sports Council announced that GAA players would now be blood tested as part of their anti-doping measures from 2016. Nash admits that players have heard very little of the actual detail of what they may be subject to:
‘I don’t know if blood testing is a step too far. I don’t know enough about it to be honest. I’m not sure what the breakdown will be, whether we have to do it once or twice a year. Again, we have to be educated. We’re amateur athletes and if they feel its the best thing for the game and it’s not infringing on players private lives, then go for it.’
The goalkeeper is back with his club before the county panel reassemble next week to prepare for their Munster Championship opener with Waterford. It’s just over a fortnight since the Cork captain saw his side slump to a 10 point loss to their Munster rivals in the Allianz League final.
How do Cork use the five week gap to plan a second assault on Derek McGrath’s outfit and ensure a different result
‘It’s a Munster semi final – it doesn’t matter who you are playing. When the Championship draw was made that’s all we were focused on. We couldn’t do anything about how the league panned out really in terms who we’d face
‘They (Waterford) worked very hard and they deserved their victory and its a cliché but you have to get yourself right and not worry about the opposition and try and enforce yourself onto them.’
Waterford’s ambitions ahead of that clash in June have been dealt a hammer blow with the news that Pauric Mahony suffered a serious leg break while playing his club over the weekend.
Nash has huge sympathy for the man who scored 0-11 in the league final two weeks ago. Nash admits that the injury made him think of a similar situation in the Cork panel recently:
‘It’s heartbreaking for himself, and we had Paudie O’Sullivan in a similar position a few years ago and now we have Christopher Joyce as well who did his cruciate here in Croke Park.’
The loss of Mahony means that Waterford manager Derek McGrath has been robbed of one of his key attacking platforms in their new look defensive system.
It was a tactic that Cork struggled with during the 70 minutes in Thurles. So does Nash feel that both sides will now alter their plans to try and make themselves less predictable?
‘I guarantee Waterford will change from the league final and what we have to do is look at ourselves and see where we can get our gameplan right. Do we have to change our gameplan? I don’t know.’
‘You could get two goals after five minutes and it could change the game or you could concede two goals after five minutes and the game completely changes so tactics will only go so far. Ultimately you have to play on the field and I think we have the fellas that can do that.’
Cork as reigning Munster champions will be hoping to go one step further than their disappointing last four exit at the hands of Tipperary last season in the All-Ireland series as well as defending their Munster crown. Nash feels that the southern province is once again shaping up to be a hugely competitive.
So can the Deise be considered this year’s version of Clare 2013 and dark horses for Liam McCarthy,
‘Absolutely. I hope not,I hope it’s us that does it, but in Munster any team can beat any team.’
‘Limerick beat us in 2013, we beat them last year then, we lost to Tipperary in the All-Ireland series, we beat Waterford after a replay, Clare beat us, and then we beat Clare. It’s the way it goes.
‘Kilkenny and Tipperary showed that last year and maybe even still they are a step above the rest of us but we’ve to try and catch up and if we meet them we’ll perform well.’
Nash, along with Michael Murphy, TJ Reid and James McCarthy is a brand ambassador for the new Cúl  Heroes series which was launched today in Croke Park.
The goalkeeper admits that he was a big fan of collecting stickers in his youth, and there was something of a magpie about his obsession:
‘I never really got to collect a full one, but I was plaguing my parents going into the shops to ask for more money to get some more packets. The shiny ones of Man Utd are the ones I was always after.’
‘Myself and James McCarthy had a word about trying to get our ratings up alright but people hate goalkeepers, simple as! Hoggy (Patrick Horgan) got the highest rating in the Cork panel and I suppose he deserves it.’
Nash is known as a big fan of FIFA, but he feels he hasn’t found a worthy challenger in the Cork panel as of yet. He’s rubbished Aiden Walsh’s claims of being any sort of equal to his button bashing supremacy,
‘Aiden is no competition at all to be honest, he hates it. Lorcan (McLoughlin) is more of a threat and his brother John. The last time I mentioned something like that David Meyler called me out on Twitter (thanks to SportsJOE ) so I had to back down straight away.’
‘I’m concentrating more on hurling and people don’t see that in how players wind down. Â Everyone’s different. I personally like going for a game of golf or a walk or a game of FIFA to try and switch off and get away from hurling.
‘Even after the Waterford game I went for a game  of golf and we talked everything but hurling. I’m lucky with good staff  in the school as well.’
‘Unfortunately some Waterford teachers give me a bit of slagging, but my friends are excellent. We might be amateurs but we’re human as well and that’s the way it is.’
