Dónal Óg: Kenny's role could be crucial
Dónal Óg Cusack believes his former Cork team-mate Tom Kenny is the "obvious choice" to be the Rebels' 'extra man' in Sunday's All-Ireland SHC final against Clare.
With Clare set to station captain Pat Donnellan as a sweeper between the back lines - a tactic that worked to their advantage against Galway and Limerick most recently - Cork manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy has a decision to make about his own spare player.
Writing in his latest 'On The Line' column for the GAA's official website, former Cork goalkeeper Cusack said: "It will be really interesting to see what Davy (Fitzgerald) will do from the outset. The seventh defender tactic is his trademark by this stage of the summer. They go to it straight away, no attempt to disguise the tactic. So do Cork push on a seventh attacker?
"It's tempting but if Cork play a seventh attacker on Sunday they have been mugged. Letting Davy crowd his side of the pitch while leaving acres of space in front of the Cork goal would be suicide."
Cusack, who made 54 Championship appearances for Cork and won three All-Ireland titles, reckons JBM could turn to wily wing back Tom Kenny - himself a two-time All-Ireland winner - to fulfill the 'extra man' role.
Kenny was replaced by Stephen White after 45 minutes of their semi-final win over Dublin, but his experience and guile at this level - he is the elder statesman of the team now at 32 - could be of vital importance to this young, new-look Cork side.
"Cork have to choose the spare man and then decide where he plays. Tom Kenny seems like the obvious choice for that job. Clare like to shoot for points from out the field so there is little point in Cork having the spare man operate inside their own '21'. The ball will be just flying over his head," explained the Cloyne stopper.
"He needs to be further out and he needs to be as dynamic as everybody else. If he moves from one spot to pressurise a Clare player the Cork players around him have to adjust accordingly.
"Even then there are risks. If Cork leave just two players in the full-back line they have to put a lot of pressure on Clare in the middle third. If not Clare have all sorts of options. They can sling the low ball into space or drop high ones on Darach Honan who for a big man has the full range of skills. He could do huge damage."
There have been rumours that Clare boss Fitzgerald might try to pull a fast one on Cork by changing tactics for the all-Munster decider, but Cusack does not envisage this happening.
"Has Davy got something up his sleeve? Will he change things from time to time...why would he change things for Sunday? In an All-Ireland final with all the adrenalin and excitement, sometimes if you do something the other side doesn't expect you can buy 15 minutes maybe before they work out what is going on and decide what to do about it.
"The only certainty long-term and short-term is change. In all likelihood the game will hinge on something small, something will change and whichever team reacts fastest will win."
