We’ve all been there playing a team we know we should beat.
Strutting out on the pitch with an air of confidence and bringing the intimidation factor.
When that’s the case the confident team will usually bully their opponents, who are they to try match up with you?
Swatting them away like flies off the ball and verbal abuse to no end.
“You lads are muck”
“Tough season so far?”
“How many games have you lost?”
“I can’t believe they beat you, we absolutely trounced them, that’s embarrassing”
Jackie Tyrrell wrote his most recent column in the Irish Times and in it spoke about what Waterford need to do to beat Cork at the weekend.
With Tipperary dumped out of the Munster Championship by the Rebels, Sunday represents a great chance for either of these sides to establish themselves as All-Ireland contenders.
Tyrrell questioned Waterford’s ability to bring the previously mentioned intimidation factor to the field, calling them “nice guys” and revealed how they should go about changing that against Cork.
“Whatever Waterford defenders are marking Shane Kingston and Luke Meade on Sunday, they should be letting them know they don’t belong on this stage, right from the handshake. Be relentless. Put the doubts in their minds from very early on. Ye all played great the last day – how likely is it that ye’ll all do the same again? Don’t let them settle into it. First ball, second ball,” he wrote.
“Verbalise it, if you think it will work. Tell them they’re only young lads who should be up in the stand. Ask them how they got on in Maths Paper One during the week. Drill it into them that what they got against Tipperary wasn’t how this thing works. This is man’s stuff, come back in two or three years. You think we’re a nice team? Not this year.”
The game will throw in at four o’clock on Sunday in Thurles.
