Rebel with a cause: Nicholas Murphy interview

Ahead of this weekend’s All-Ireland football final, JOE caught up with Cork midfielder Nicholas Murphy to get his views on the big match.

By Conor Heneghan

In the lead up to this Sunday’s All-Ireland final, there has been a lot of emphasis on Down’s sterling record in All-Ireland finals. Five times the Mourne men have travelled to Croke Park on the third Sunday of September and on each occasion they have travelled north with the Sam Maguire Cup.

For all of their success, however, there is no member of the current panel that has experience of playing in an All-Ireland decider. In fact, this year is the first year since Down’s last success in 1994 that they have got anywhere close to a final. Cork, on the other hand, have a squad that is littered with individuals who know what it’s like at the business end.

Midfielder Nicholas Murphy is just one of the current Rebel squad with such vital experience. The big Carrigaline midfielder has been around the block since 1998 and in the time since, has lost almost as many All-Ireland finals (3) as Down have won in their entire history. Because he knows what it is like to come so close but to ultimately fall short at the final hurdle, Murphy is not about to get carried away with thoughts of what it would be like to lift the Sam Maguire come five o’clock on Sunday afternoon.

“It would be massive to win it, but we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves,” he says.

“We still have to go up and perform and please God we will perform well enough and get the right result at the end of it. The most important thing is getting the result and if we get it, we’ll take whatever plaudits that come with it afterwards.”

Getting the right result is something that Cork have been doing all year long, but by all accounts they haven’t been setting the world alight while doing so. Since losing out to Kerry in Munster, Cork plodded through the qualifiers, taking the scalps of Cavan, Wexford and Limerick, before overcoming Roscommon in the quarter-finals. Having trailed Dublin for the majority of their clash in the All-Ireland semi-final, Cork finally got over the line in the end.

Murphy readily admits that the Rebels haven’t been exactly hitting the heights this year, but has seen signs of improvement in the last couple of games, in particular the encounter with the Dubs.

“Well, I suppose ideally we would be playing a little better than we are, we probably played much better last year. We knew it (Dublin) was going to be a big test. In fairness, Dublin really put it up to us; the pressure they put us under was massive. We never really panicked, which is a big bonus; we just kept going and kept going and we finally got through in the end.

“Against Dublin there was definitely improvement, although if we play like we did that day, we probably won’t win an All-Ireland. Despite that, we’re still confident enough of getting a result in the final.”

Murphy in action against Darragh Ó Sé in last year's All-Ireland final

Perhaps one of the reasons for Cork’s inconsistency this year has been the fact that manager Conor Counihan doesn’t seem to have settled on his best fifteen. Changes have been made to the starting line-up all over the pitch throughout the championship, with not many sure of their starting place as a result. Murphy himself has had to be content with cameos from the bench in recent times, with Alan O’Connor, Aidan Walsh and Derek Kavanagh all vying along with Murphy for a place in the midfield.

One can hardly blame Conor Counihan, however, for his rotation policy as Cork have probably the strongest panel of any in the country at the moment. Murphy certainly doesn’t envy Counihan the responsibility of having to pick the team, when there are so many competing for places both in training and in matches.

“There is serious competition for places,” he says.

“Any one of the 30 or 33 lads that are in the panel could make a difference. There are a couple of lads not even making the panel that are still good enough to be making the team. It’s great for the team, because it keeps pushing every fella on and please God it will keep us going right up to Sunday.

“If every man does as much as he can for whatever length of time he’s on the field - he might be there for 70 minutes, he might there for 15 minutes - but you put it in for as long as you can and you know that whoever is coming on in your place is going to do the exact same thing.”

Every year there’s no guarantee any team will get back to an All-Ireland final so when you’re in there, you fight tooth and nail to try and win it. We’ll play the same next Sunday as if it is was our first All-Ireland final.

While Cork are favourites, it would seem that their opponents have the momentum going into Sunday on the back of wonderful victories over Kerry in the quarter-final and Kildare in the semi-final. The quality of their performances in the latter stages of the championship has not been lost on Murphy, who has been impressed with James McCartan’s side.

“The one thing you notice about Down is that they’re a confident team and they’re all good footballers,” observes Murphy.

“Their work ethic is very good as well; they have some great players, the likes of Marty Clarke, Benny Coulter, Danny Hughes and all these guys.

“We know they’re going to be a tough team to beat; they played very well in the semi-final. But at the end of the day, we’ll try and concentrate on ourselves and hopefully we’ll be good enough.”

Everything is in place for a cracking game this Sunday, and Murphy is determined to right the wrongs of his last three All-Ireland finals. He bristles at the suggestion, however, that this could be the last opportunity for this current Cork panel to win an All-Ireland.

After all, according to Murphy, being in an All-Ireland final is a privileged position for any footballer and it can’t be taken for granted that it is an opportunity that will come around on a regular basis.

“Every year there’s no guarantee any team will get back to an All-Ireland final so when you’re in there, you fight tooth and nail to try and win it. We’ll play the same next Sunday as if it is was our first All-Ireland final.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to have been in a few finals in the last couple of years, but at the end of the day there’s no guarantee we’ll be back again in the next couple of years, so you take the chance when you’re there and hopefully we’ll do that on Sunday.”

Read JOE Gaelic Football analyst Ciaran Whelan's preview of the All-Ireland football final here.