It has not been a good 2016 for Cork's hurlers and footballers.
Both sides were already knocked out of the Munster Championship by the second Sunday in June. Last Sunday, Cork's footballers lost to Tipperary in a Championship game for the first time since 1944.
In Wednesday's Irish Times, Kerry great Darragh Ó Sé was wrote about how he thinks the Cork team have become complacent. He believes it started after the draw in last year's Munster Final with Kerry in Killarney.
"These players were good enough to win a Munster title last year and were robbed by a bad refereeing decision – but since then, they’ve lost championship games to two Division Three teams."
Sunday's loss has sent Cork into Round 2B of the Football Qualifiers after their loss. It will be the first time since 2010 that Cork have not reached the provincial final. That year the team lost to Kerry in the semi-finals.
The Cork panel ahead of the game. Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne
Ó Sé was scathing over Cork's reaction to the defeat in Thurles. He feels the team have become far too comfortable with a lack of expectation for the Cork public.
"I look at them sometimes and I wonder have they just become immune in a way. Do these defeats even leave a sting anymore? If the dog who turns up to the butcher’s door looking for scraps keeps getting a boot in the arse from the butcher, he’ll eventually just stay over on the far side of the street."
"Cork look to me like a crowd that are far too comfortable on the other side of the street. If there’s no threat of winning anything, there’s no expectation. It’s as if they nearly don’t need the hassle of being in the position where they might feel the butcher’s boot."
How Cork react to the loss remains to be seen. They will have to wait a few more weeks to return to the field.
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