Colin Corkery: Cork need to throw off the shackles against Roscommon

Former Cork footballer Colin Corkery wants the Rebels to play with freedom and not get caught up in a defensive style in their make-or-break clash with Roscommon.

The Rebels take on the Rossies this evening in the All-Ireland SFC Group 2 Round 3 tie in Laois Hire O'Moore Park (4.15pm) with the winners progressing to the knockout stages of the Sam Maguire.

Corkery, who captained the Rebels to Munster glory in 2002, wants to see the team have a go.

“Cork have to do the opposite to what they did against Louth last year,” he says.

“They were a bit too defensive and had their game plan. I think they are a better team when they just throw off the shackles and just go for it. They did that against Kerry in the Munster semi-final this year.

“We have good players, but we just seem to be holding back sometimes. This year, we haven’t pushed enough forward to win enough games. We are better when we just go for it and we have the players to do that. We have to trust our backs that they can win their individual battles and not be too concerned about the opposition.

“To be honest, Cork have very good scoring forwards. Chris Óg Jones didn’t get enough good ball the last day against Kerry. He’s our best scorer. If we can get enough ball into the forwards, I do think we can get the win against Roscommon.” 

The Nemo Rangers clubman wants to see the more established players lead by example in this crunch match for Cork. If they don’t win, the season will come to a very disappointing end.

“Our leaders have to step up. They haven’t really done it yet this season for whatever reason, but they are quite capable of doing so. Roscommon aren’t a bad side, so we will have to be on it. They are having a bit of a lull at the moment like ourselves. It’s the last hurrah for both teams.

“We have the upper hand when we just play with freedom. We get caught up in structures too much and two-pointers. There are certain players just going for two-pointers when it’s not on. Teams have copped on to it in recent games.

“We have to change up a few things and if we do that, we can win this game. We need to trust our backs and give good ball into the forwards. We did that against Kerry back in April, but we haven’t seen it on a regular basis. Cork are good enough.” 

While the bigger picture in Cork football is another day’s work, a victory later on would ensure a place in the last 12 of the All-Ireland for the senior team.

“There are a lot of young players on the at the moment. The future is bright, there are players coming through. If we can get over the line against Roscommon, it will be another year of getting into the business end. Get the win, develop the young players and we will be very competitive going forward.” Corkery concluded.