IF CORK HURLING manager Denis Walsh took one lesson from Sunday’s Allianz National Hurling League final defeat to Galway then it was on a physical level, more than a mental one.

No one can question Cork’s hunger for championship hurling, but the question does arise as to whether they are up for it physically – particularly the older players, some of whom have been on the road for a long time now.

“Galway were more physical in the tackle, and seemed that bit more motivated, with a great hunger for the victory,” reflected Walsh.

The manager will find out soon enough whether or not Cork really have what it takes to challenge for this year’s championship when they take on Tipperary in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on May 30th. “We kept it going, but Galway punished us when their chances came in the first half, and again in the early part of the second. Every time we lost the ball they seemed to go out the field and get a score which was disappointing and hard to take at times. But, overall, Galway were the better team and now we must move on and we have to get ready for Tipperary in the Munster Championship in three weeks. That will give us plenty of incentive to get back on the training field.

“It’s disappointing to lose of course but I think a hard, competitive game like the league final will help us in the long run. We don’t have much time now to prepare for the Tipperary game, and this league final will focus the mind, everyone’s mind, as to exactly where we stand. We know we were moving well enough, we know we have a lot of players, but I suppose everyone now has to get back to the drawing board in the coming few weeks, and make sure that when pressure comes on in games and when we are tackled and harassed and lose the ball they will be punished and we will have to guard against that against Tipperary.”

It was expected Cork would cause plenty of problems for Galway with their big men up front, like Aisake Ó hAilpín, Michael Cussen and Pat Horgan, although that only materialised at times.

“The problem about that is we did not get any real ball into these guys, and that is another thing that we will have to examine on the DVD,” admitted Walsh.

“We reckoned at half-time that the second period was going to be different. But Galway were stronger in the tackles and we just could not break the tackle and move the ball on. They punished us every time. I counted many times in the second half when we got the ball in the half-forward line and looked threatening, but then lost the ball and we were punished at the other end.

“At this level you are going to be hurt like that.”

Walsh now rates Galway as serious contenders for the All-Ireland title and most hurling folk nationwide would agree.

“They are definitely in the hunt for the All-Ireland and the league win will boost them further.

“They seem to be very focused, and they still have some players to come back in that will strengthen the team further. We were just not able to match them as a unit, physically, and that would be the main lesson I will learn from our defeat. We also learned that we need to increase the intensity, but everyone would expect that from the league to the championship anyway.”

Meanwhile, Tipperary’s Lar Corbett is expected back in training this week. Corbett picked up a knee injury in the league loss to Cork on April 4th and has been sidelined from training in the weeks since. He is now on the road to recovery ahead of that big clash with Cork on May 30th.