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Kelly does this every year. He's tempermental and this sort of thing is par for the course with him. Good to see the club aren't going to back down this time.

Not to labour the point- but i don't think that's what Sweeney is saying. Cork appear to have no recognition that they were a moderately talented team. they appear to believe they operated on a different plane than everybody else skillwise as well as everything else. Credit to them for their professionalism -but they weren't the Kerry team of the 70's.

josey, yes, they believed that. But so what. We all have our opinions on it. That they believed that is just part and parcel of how they prepared psychologically for games. I think every year that 2 or 3 teams believe the same thing about themselves. Again, its just spin by Sweeney on something that anyone who ever played the game already knows, and won't be surprised about.

And on the 'golden era' comment. Colombia might chastise me for saying it, but the last 'golden era' involved none of the 'big 3' (yes Colombia, '3'!!). 'Golden Eras' typically refer to the number of teams in with a shout rather than the standard of play. Cork and Kilkenny's all-Irelands in recent years came at a time when the standards being set by those at the top was far better than anything in history. Of course thats my opinion, but I think it hard to argue against the superior fitness levels and preparation that goes into todays game than anytime past.

I don't believe Cork are/were a moderate side. As someone else said, that they achieved the maximum of their potential is the greatest compliment anyone could pay them. As a team they are/were certainly better than the sum of their parts and it didn't matter that they weren't littered with superstars.

One of the most interesting aspects of the hurling championship over the next 2 years will be to see where they go next. Other counties (Tipp and Waterford in particular) will be queuing up to see if they can overtake them in the pecking order (assuming they do go into decline). How they respond and how they cope with the loss of some of their older players will tell us a lot about them.

oh right, so you were referring specifically to that trip, and didn't mean it as a general comment? Fair enough then.

As I said, I do have issues with them, but don't really accept the ones highlighted as being issues. What would be more of an issue would be the attitudes of the Cork panel (Anthony Nash aside) to this year's competition.

Do you know for a fact that they think they're better than everyone else? Maybe they don't mix because they're shy. I don't see the value in guessing why they didn't mix.

I do agree that it was a bit strange that Donal Og took it upon himself to get those lads back from the pub. He wasn't on the team, let alone the captain of it, so it seems to me he overstepped his authority. If it was John Gardiner, who was captain on that trip, then maybe I'd understand that a bit better.

I'm not sure where you get the notion that they look down on everyone or that they think everyone is inferior to them, or that they think they can tell everyone what to do. Like I said, I have gripes with them, but mostly over incidents that have happened, not over what I'm guessing is happening in certain situations.

I read the original extract in the Tribune last week. Though it may seem a little grating for Waterford people to read, I can't see why anyone is surprised. A large part of Cork's preparation since Donal O'Grady took over has been their psychologial preparation. The stuff Corcoran has said shouldn't surprise anyone that has ever played the game. Part and parcel of it is telling yourself that you're better than the lad you're marking to give yourself confidence. That Cork did this collectively as a team and dissed Waterford collectively as a team is no big deal. Do we honestly believe that Waterford didn't do exactly the same thing going into that game?

Whether people want to believe what Corcoran said about the faults with Waterford is one thing. Whether he should have put it in print is another, but to me it read like a passage that was always going to be the newspaper extract that would be used to capture the attention. A bit like the bit in Dessie Farrell's about the booze. Every autobiography has to have its share of 'shock' value. With Corcoran there probably wouldn't be too much he could use of a personal nature, so this is the type of thing the media hone in on.

Cork have come across as arrogant during their time at the top. They will have turned off many neutrals who will be waiting to pounce on something like this. In my view its an overreaction by Sweeney, but probably a welcome one from Corcoran's point of view, and more than likely was the intention of the particular extract.

Brian Corcoran is a gentleman. He hasn't a bad word to say about anyone. As Enda McEvoy said yesterday, he is a true giant of the game and there should be a law making every kid adopt him as their role model. In my own view he hit the nail on the head with Waterford. The in-fighting at club level is legendary at this stage. Barely a year goes by when we don't hear about some ruckus or other. That stuff has to have some impact at county level. Thats a different argument though.

The Claw, the incident you refer to in Boston involved the Newtownshandrum contingent of the Munster side. They flew back to Ireland the night of the game, rather than hang around Boston until the tuesday. I didn't see any real problem with that. I also heard that prior to the game, Donal Og sent out a search party to retrieve some non-Cork players from a local watering hole to go to the gym. Again, whats the problem there?

I'm all for picking up on Cork when they step out of line (like the professionalism thing - the standing for election caper being the latest in a long line of muppetry from that quarter), but fair is fair, people queue up to find sticks to beat them with. The article from Sweeney, though serving its purpose, is clutching at straws.