It took two weeks before Cork captain Ian Maguire was able to face the video review of November’s Munster football final. Having sensationally beaten perennial provincial champions Kerry in the semi-final, the county went down in another seismic shock, as Tipperary won a first title in 85 years.
“I am always a believer when you lose games, you watch the video. It took me two weeks before I properly watched it back. I did the usual process. I think it’s a normality for all players now – delete the Twitter, delete the Instagram.
“You just don’t want any association or you don’t want to see anything to do with it. It is just not easy. You fall off a cliff after you lose a championship game.”
Maguire, a 2020 All Star nomination, struggles to explain what happened. Not wanting to give offence to Tipperary by saying that his team had under-performed but emphasising the regret that they could have played better. He emphatically rules out any complacency and cites the precedent to prove it.
“I would have lost a minor and under-21 championship game to them. A lot of the players that are playing at the moment are around my (age) grades. There are probably more players with Tipperary who I would have played against at my own grade than there are with Kerry.
“I am only speaking personally but I would not have said I would have taken them for granted or I did any less preparation or I was focussing on the All-Ireland semi-final. I wasn’t.
“After the Kerry game, after a big win like that, there was no celebration, there was no, to use the term “party” or anything like that. You got dressed and you went home, you prepared and went back into training on the Tuesday. There was no opportunity to be complacent.”
Maguire had warm words for his contemporary Tomás Clancy, who retired this week because of ongoing injury issues.
“I’d played with him since Sigerson in 2013 when he was probably our main player or at least in the top two or three in a team with Michael Quinlivan and Paul Geaney.
“That’s how highly I regard him. It’s sad to see him go. From an outside perspective Cork have lost a good player, a stalwart, but I’ve lost a friend - that’s the way I look at it.”
He was, inevitably, asked about the proposed 12-week suspension for team manager Ronan McCarthy in respect of an unauthorised training session in Youghal in early January but although the matter was raised three times, Maguire played a straight bat each time, including when it was put to him that the suspension, if imposed after a hearing, would leave the team without a manager for the entire league.
“That question, like, I can’t really comment on it,” he said finally, “but I do know that we have a very good backroom team. We have a very good management. Ronan has put this structure in place since 2018 and he’s added to it every year. I can’t comment on it but we have a good strong management team.”
