From the Cork teams that won minor and under-20 All-Ireland football championships in 2019, Colm O’Callaghan was the only man that started against Clare on Sunday.
Cork lost to Clare on Sunday, and, in the mean-time, questions about the pathway to senior inter-county football in the county have been asked.
Injuries, it should be pointed out, have played a part in sidelining the brilliant Cathail O’Mahony and Maurice Shanley. Others such as Brian Hayes and Patrick Campbell have crossed codes, to hurling and rugby respectively, but the question still persists.
Because of the 50 players that won All-Ireland medals in 2019, as pointed out by Eamonn Murphy in the Echo, how come only a handful have come through to the seniors four years later?
“Cork seems to me to be dysfunctional,” said Roscommon’s Shane Curran on this week’s GAA Hour Show.
Drawing parallels with his own county, who made it to the All-Ireland under-20 final in 2021, Curran mentioned how six of these players have featured for the Roscommon seniors in this League. Conor Carroll, Ben O’Carroll, Keith Doyle all started in their win against Mayo on Sunday.
“They (Cork) can’t seem to get it together or to keep it together,” added Curran.
For a big county, look, obviously a lot of resources goes into the hurling, but somebody down there with a football has to get their act together.
“Get a programme in place, get a pathway for them, through to the seniors.
“This has been going on now since 2010 when they won an All-Ireland with a really good group.
“There’s been a lot of poor commentary coming out of the county about the coaching structures and so on down there.”
“It’s a huge county with a huge tradition but yet they don’t seem to be able to get it together.
“Look at Colm Collins in Clare, with such a small player base, it’s the opposite because he’s performing miracles.
“But it’s sad, because the Munster championship needs Cork,” continued Curran.
“Kerry need Cork I think as well – they have that historical tradition of a bone-heading for decades – If you had a better Cork, you’d have a better Kerry – I know they won the All-Ireland last year. Is it possible for Kerry to keep going without Cork, I don’t think so.”
Curran advocated for the inclusion of Billy Morgan in a plan to get the county’s football scene back to a better place.
“It’s something that, internally, I think they need to strive to be a lot better. Billy Morgan has been working miracles, still in his 70s, in UCC, I think the likes of him should be brought in to build from the bottom.”
Morgan steered UCC to another Sigerson Cup this year, his fourth as a manager, with many young Cork footballers starring on the team.
“Look at Roscommon, we had three debutantes, all in and around 20 and 21.
“There’s been a few lads coming through from that age group. If you’re ever in doubt between an old fella finishing off and a young fella coming through, you’ve got to give the young people the opportunity.”
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