After talking the talk it's now about walking the walk, and everything about Sunday's hurling quarter-final between Cork and Galway suggests it will be along a very thin line.
As visitors to this stage of the hurling championship both teams could be now be accused of loitering: Sunday marks Cork’s 10th appearance in the All-Ireland quarter-finals, having won seven, drawn one and lost one of the previous nine; for Galway it’s their 15th visit, won three, drawn one and lost 10 of their previous 14.
Neither team are here by choice – having naturally targeted the provincial winner’s route to the All-Ireland semi-finals. However, a win on Sunday would put them back on equal standing with Kilkenny and Tipperary, and that, at least for Galway, is the very least of their ambitions.
Calmly declared
Because in one of the more talkative post-match interviews this summer, Galway manager Anthony Cunningham calmly declared that the first thing he said to Brian Cody after losing the Leinster final to Kilkenny was "see you again in September . . . ".
It was a slightly unnerving declaration of confidence, although Cunningham is standing by his words – at least in more modest terms. “We came up short, but not that short,” he says, reflecting again on their seven-point defeat. “Our character was really tested, and was well intact for most of the match. And Kilkenny are the best team in the country, they’re the team to beat, and you’re going to be tested in every corner against them.
“You’d still have to be disappointed, because we did come up short in a number of positions. But it’s staring you in the face, that a slight improvement, or a tidying up in some corners, because overall we’re playing well, going well.”
Cork and Galway will be no strangers to each other either: Sunday marks their 33rd championship clash between the counties (Cork winning 25 to Galway’s 7, from the previous 32) – although all of Galway’s seven wins have come in the last 40 years, a period in which they lead Cork 7-6. And Galway have also won their last three championship clashes with Cork.
That’s not the only reason for Cunningham’s apparent confidence. It was clear to anyone who witnessed their replay against Dublin in the Leinster quarter-final that as a team the players were also performing with an air of confidence not seen since 2012, when they last made the All-Ireland final (losing to Kilkenny in a replay).
“I think some of the young players who have come in have blossomed,” explains Cunningham, speaking at an event of hurling championship sponsors Etihad. “From the full-back line, right through, and when you get on a roll your confidence gets up.
“We actually had a good league, just had one off day, against Waterford, and a lot of people read into it incorrectly. Every other team had a lot of off days, too.
“We blooded a number of players who played quite well so it was going to go well in the championship.
“So we really would be taking a lot of positives from the last day against Kilkenny. The total honesty of this is that the players are really buoyed by their performance.
‘Certain quarters’
They would know that there is a good 20 per cent they can catch up on. Kilkenny may be at their top, and they’ll always be at their top when you’re playing them, but in certain quarters we would have played well.”
There is further reason for confidence in Galway in that captain David Collins – their most burly defender who missed the Leinster final – is back to full fitness. Jason Flynn is also set to start, having only come on against Kilkenny due to a finger injury, although the game has come too soon for 2014 All Star nominee Conor Cooney, who should be back in contention for an All-Ireland semi-final, should Galway make it.
And then there's Joe Canning, who for the first time since 2012, has brought his A-game to this championship, scoring 4-32 already this summer – his goal against Kilkenny in the Leinster final just one shining example of that.
“The trick for us is two things,” says Cunningham. “How do we get more out of Joe? And how do we get Joe more in the play?
“He’s a constant threat but he’ll be awfully keen to improve his own performance as well, that’s how professional he is. It’s about the sum of all the parts now.”
