GAELIC GAMES:After 61 appearances, veteran goalkeeper Brendan Cummins says he's still learning. IAN O'RIORDANreports.
AT ONE point in our conversation with Brendan Cummins it sounded as if he’d actually become sympathetic towards Kilkenny’s quest to win that five-in-a-row, that he might not feel so bad if they win on Sunday, and Tipperary lose.
Were we hearing him right?
“I’ll always remember 1982,” he told us, “and the All-Ireland football final. I was there, in the Upper Hogan Stand, sitting on my dad’s lap, and I cried like the rain when Kerry were beaten. I’ll never forget when Séamus Darby stuck the ball into the roof of the net.
“Kerry were the team I loved. They were the Manchester United. They were flamboyant, had all the guys moving, scoring, winning everything. Why wouldn’t a young fella be attracted to that? And then Offaly went and ruined it. I think I am scarred for life after it.”
Okay, Cummins did grow up immersed more in football than hurling. His father, John, played football for Tipperary and later coached Waterford, and Cummins played football for a number of years with club and county. But surely now all his thoughts are with the Tipperary hurlers?
“Well, working down in Kilkenny, I am in the middle of all the hype, so there is no place to hide. And I will say there is fantastic colour around the place down there. It seems to have captured the imagination of the Kilkenny people an awful lot sooner. It’s normally the week of the match, from my experience down there over the last four years, but this time I suppose there is the five-in-a-row and the whole hype that goes with it has meant the Kilkenny people have come out in force earlier this time.
“Like, I drive down through Ballingarry going to work and on the border you can see the changing of the colour, it’s fantastic. As a player you try and detach yourself, but you also have to respect the fact that supporters will have a ball with this thing.
“The players, though, never get sucked into any of the messing or the circus that goes on around the games. They just want to go and win matches and they know they have a unique bunch of players and that they can’t afford to take their eye off the ball. And they haven’t, and I suppose that is the lesson we all have to learn from what Kilkenny are doing. They certainly make the best of it. It’s what we all aspire to.”
Such respect and affection towards Kilkenny is clearly not staged, as Cummins soon turns the conversation to what we’ve really come to hear about: Tipperary’s desire to win, and what exactly it will take for them to beat Kilkenny.
“The biggest difference between the Tipp of last year and this year is the level of experience,” he says – and by experience he also means confidence. “The young fellas last year were going into their first All-Ireland final, thinking it was great, and had no major nerves, but the experience you get can work both ways. It can spook you the next time you go in, and hopefully that won’t happen. On a positive note, it should give us a huge lift.”
And having played a record 61 times for Tipperary, no player will be more experienced on Sunday than Cummins: “All very well, but a statistic that would concern me is I have played 61 times for Tipp, and I only have one All-Ireland medal. That’s the bottom line and that is disappointing, to say the least.”
Suddenly he’s talking up a big game for Tipperary. For all his experience, Cummins admits he is still learning, and that his puck-outs – which he used to just “hoof” – will play a key part in Tipperary’s game plan on Sunday.
“The whole puck-out issue, I had known for years, was one part of my game that I really needed to work on. The responsibility comes on me to put it in the right place, but also on others to position themselves to receive it.
“The last day, against Waterford, they way they played the game it lent itself really to give the short puck-outs most of the time. But it is something that is in the armoury, if needed.
“I don’t think it is a tactic like Cork do, that this is going to define us. I think it is something we know is there if we need to use it. The next day is going to be a new ball game again.
“But even a few years ago we never really would have opened our minds to what could happen. It had always been that you try and get as close to the other goals as possible and hope for the best. When Liam Sheedy and the lads came in they said this is one aspect of the game that we are going to build on.
“Sometimes you have to adapt to the hand you have. While we might not have great ball-winners in the half forward line, they certainly have other qualities and we have to play to the strengths of the team we have. The restart is also a huge thing. And if you have a free puck of the ball against one of the best teams in the country you have to make sure it gets to a blue-and-gold jersey, or give them a 60/40 chance of winning it.
“It’s not like American Football where you can have your set plays. It’s a very dynamic game and you have to have your mind open to these things.”
Brendan Cummins
Position: Goalkeeper
Club:Ballybacon Grange
Age:35
Occupation: Financial Consultant, AIB (Kilkenny!) Championship appearances: 61 (Tipperary and goalkeeping record)
Honours: All-Ireland senior (2001); 3 Munster senior (2001, 2008, 2009); 4 National League (1994, 1999, 2001, 2008); All-Ireland under-21 (1995); Railway Cup (2001); 4 All Stars (2000, 2001, 2003, 2008)
