IN THE immediate aftermath of Cork’s Allianz Hurling League semi-final against Dublin, the pictures taken of Jimmy Barry-Murphy reflected him in a way that we thought he would never be portrayed as a manager.
Barry-Murphy’s celebration was the antithesis of his cool self-possession.
JBM jumped around like a child. He pumped his fist in the air more animatedly than he had when he managed Cork to the 1999 All-Ireland title. It was an expression of elation from deep within his gut.
Its origins were easy to trace. After being hammered in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final by Tipperary, Cork looked on course for another hiding from Dublin.
Down 12 points at one stage, they still trailed by six with just five minutes on the clock before igniting in a blaze and catching Dublin on the line to win by one.
Cork didn’t play that well, but still scored 1-27. The way they won the game was typical Cork; once it descended into a shootout, Cork were just happy to pull their guns from their holsters and go gunslinging.
When they met Dublin the previous month and Dublin stood off them, Cork racked up 0-34, a record points tally in league hurling.
Barry-Murphy has never claimed to be an original or tactical thinker on the game. He has created a team in his own image, a side which reflects his outlook. He wants his teams to be positive, to always play positive, attacking hurling.
“I like us to play the Cork style of hurling,” he said before the league final against Waterford.
“I love, attacking, skilful hurling, and for us to try and impose that game on the opposition. I’m not convinced we’re a team that can play a system with extra bodies back and then get massive scores to win the game. Tactics can be overdone, that’s just my opinion. I think if we play to the best of our ability, we can be a match for anyone on our day.”
Barry-Murphy has taken a team with no history of underage success, a group that had no modern culture of winning, and turned them into a real force. Nobody can quantify the effect he has had on this group, but modern society and thinking questions everything.
Forensic analysis holds a mirror up to anything that moves. In big games over the last three seasons, Cork have been dictated to too often and question marks continue to stalk Barry-Murphy and the team.
After Waterford beat them by 10 points, former Kilkenny player Eddie Brennan said that Cork were “tactically naive again”.
Hurling’s randomness has always been a fundamental part of its appeal, but the modern game has been all about reducing that influence and having a plan. Hurling is such an instinctive game that nobody can be tied to a set system.
Too much tactics can strangle players, but the game has still become so physical and tactically broad that detailed structural planning is still often the most logical way to marry expression with results.
Cork have consistently struggled to balance that equation through their conventional game. They have a really talented forward line, but the fact that they are not as tactically fluid or adjustable to other teams has held them back.
In some big games, that mindset has left them exposed because they have been too predictable. In the 2013 All-Ireland final replay, Clare knew exactly what Cork were going to do; man-mark Podge Collins and Tony Kelly and leave huge space in the middle of their defence, which Clare went to town in, scoring five goals.
When Cork met Waterford in Munster last year, Cork were a much better team on paper, but Waterford had a plan and a system and they nearly took Cork down in the drawn game. Cork were more tuned in for the replay.
They worked harder.
They sat Mark Ellis and Daniel Kearney deeper and offered more protection to the centre of their defence. It was a more complete and clinical performance from Cork, but Waterford collapsed.
Waterford are a different team now, which Cork discovered in the league final. They have more pace in their defence. Their work rate - which defines any system - has increased, but they are still far more defensively sound and tactically adaptable.
Waterford have become very structured, but executing the game plan requires huge discipline and fitness levels. Protecting possession is also a shared responsibility.
With extra bodies back, and often only one or two forwards up top, receivers must always move and be available. It will often break down, but in the modern game, expression can't really prosper without structure, especially for young teams.
The starting point for Cork now against Waterford on Sunday will be an increase in work rate and intensity. But just as important will be how much they have learned from Waterford's system.
How can they get around Waterford if they are going to play to a conventional system? Can they throw a tactical curveball of their own to unhinge it? Are they going to again allow the match-up which Waterford want – Noel Connors on Patrick Horgan? Given that Connors has repeatedly had Horgan in his pocket since 2010, will Cork play Horgan somewhere outside Connors’ comfort zone?
That will be one of the many fascinating potential sub-plots of Sunday’s game. Because Cork need to start asking different questions if they want new answers.
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