There were times when Ger Manley wondered if taking the Cork senior camogie manager job for a third consecutive year was the right choice. His decision was based on the hope that the experienced players would stay on and bid to reach another final after suffering a narrow defeat to Galway 12 months ago.<\/p>\n
Instead, a significant exodus of personnel meant he was faced with a revamp.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the start of the year they were all going away and I was saying ‘what have I let myself in for?’ There were lots of doubts when we had a few bad performances in the league,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut to give the players and to give the management their credit, we stuck at it. There\u2019s huge talent in Cork and there are probably players out there that deserve to be on the panel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are as honest as we can be picking squads and we look at people in form and if they can do a job. There is a lot of temperament you need for inter-county, and fitness levels as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always said July was our target, we didn\u2019t really worry about the league – well, we did the last game as we were nearly relegated and I would be the first Cork manager to do so in camogie and that was a bit worrying alright. But our aim was the championship and we knew there was no jeopardy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
An opening-round road trip to Athenry ended in victory over champions Galway. It ignited their season. Subsequent wins over Tipperary and Waterford in a newly structured championship meant they advanced straight to the semi-final.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got very tough games. Three matches where there was very little between the teams, and it stood to us. I can see where the Camogie Association is coming from because last year there were games we won by 15 or 20 points. Does it do you any good? Probably not in the long term.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Manley welcomes the new system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s changed camogie for the better. It\u2019s making the game more exciting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at the league and championship, it was very good between all the teams. Galway were the only team that gave Tipp a bit of a hiding but Tipp were down a few players and they knew they didn\u2019t have to win.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the only disadvantage I would see because if you are beaten you have another day. If I was told we would be in an All-Ireland quarter-final you\u2019d start training in June, and have six weeks to get it right.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In any sport, rules and referees are always in the spotlight, especially with so much at stake, and most often in tight matches. Last August, Cork came out on the wrong side of a thrilling one-point final. Emotions ran high.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose after the match, I was probably a bit upset over a few things. Disappointed for Hannah (Looney\u2019s red card). I have known Hannah for a long time, but look, a red card is a red card, you can\u2019t change the ref’s mind and we didn\u2019t either at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid it make a difference to the match? Without a shadow of a doubt. But did Galway deserve to win? They probably did.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some days those 50\/50 decisions go with you, and other days they go against you. Is that just the way things are?<\/p>\n
\u201cTotally. The goal Katrina Mackey got in 2024 went against us in 2025. Small things win matches, they do make a difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rules are changing. You put the hurley around the head, it is a free, over-carrying, frontal charge, but give the refs their credit I think there is a huge improvement this year. Some of them interpret the rules differently, but they are all trying to be consistent.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a winner-take-all environment, no stone is left unturned in an effort to reach the ultimate goal.<\/p>\n
Gemma O\u2019Connor, one of Cork\u2019s most decorated players, has stepped up to coaching, while her St Finbarr\u2019s clubmate D\u00f3nal O\u2019Grady does analysis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have coaches Se\u00e1n Crowley and James Nyhan, and Gemma is doing a lot more coaching. D\u00f3nal O\u2019Grady and Len Browne provide analysis.<\/p>\n
\u201cGemma has been through it all as a player. Would I like to play her? Of course I would, she\u2019s still as fit as ever. Like [Ashling] Thompson, they have a presence on the pitch.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As both a winning player and manager, O\u2019Grady brings a proven track record.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was with us near the end of last year, he has a huge role. He sits down, goes through the small things. He\u2019s phenomenal. He was involved with the Ashbourne team with Jerry Wallace.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know his background, clever, clever. He sees things you don\u2019t see. He\u2019ll talk it out with you and he\u2019ll have an argument, and he\u2019ll go ‘why did you do that?’<\/p>\n
\u201cThe girls love that. It isn\u2019t he\u2019s telling them they\u2019re doing something wrong, it\u2019s that they can do something better. Technically, he\u2019s top class.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The question now is whether Manley\u2019s combination of maturity and youth can step up to the plate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been nothing between us and Galway. Go through them, they are a great team. Who isn\u2019t a good player with them? They are great to watch and physical.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I wouldn\u2019t swap any of them for any of the Cork girls. And that is the important thing.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There were times when Ger Manley wondered if taking the Cork senior camogie manager job for a third…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623624,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[12190,1263,9,10,24,18,13,14,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,7,8],"class_list":["post-623623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-camogie","tag-cork-sport","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-cork-gaa","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117048902308964208","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}