Whelan Explains Why Cork Approach v Kerry Could Be Blueprint For All-Ireland Contenders

Cork very nearly claimed another famous rain-soaked shock against Kerry on Saturday night, with the Rebels' charge only halted by a late extra-time surge by the Kingdom.

Largely written off entering the Munster semi-final, the home side gave it one hell of a go under a deluge at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoímh.

Kerry were reduced to 14 late on when influential playmaker Paudie Clifford was controversially sent off with minutes to spare. However, when Cork's Sean Brady followed him in being sent off during extra time, the momentum swung in the way of the visitors, who held on for a nervy two-point win.

The weather conditions under the lights on the banks of the River Lee harked back to Cork's famous last-gasp victory over their bitter rivals in the eery empty stadiums of 2020. This, however, would have been a more all-around well-deserved win for Cork, who may feel they left a major shot at Kerry behind them on Saturday night.

Nonetheless, on a weekend where Monaghan and Leitrim put Donegal and Mayo under pressure, Cork's performance will have given the "underdogs" of Gaelic football hope of springing a few surprises this summer as Gaelic football's new rulebook takes hold.

It was Cork's exploitation of one of those new rules that most impressed Dublin legend Ciarán Whelan.

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Perhaps most notable about the 3-21 to 1-25 final score of Saturday's Munster SFC epic were the six two-pointer scores from Cork.

It was a superb exploitation of one of the more contentious new rules introduced by the Football Review Committee for the 2025 season, and something that Ciarán Whelan thinks even the most prominent contenders for the All-Ireland could take inspiration from.

A case in point was that Kerry scored only one two-pointer to Cork's six in Saturday's game - something Whelan says Kerry and their rivals will be quick to learn from.

Speaking on the RTÉ GAA podcast, Whelan said:

We saw elements of Kerry's game that were very good. Their kicking game, even in the conditions, was excellent. Their counter attack...they are definitely the team in the country that's moving it faster than anybody else.

They don't seem to be caught up on the two-pointers and that's something that they're going to have to...they're not putting an emphasis on it. You'd have to wonder, because the two-pointer is definitely benefitting the underdog.

Brian O'Driscoll's two boomers [for Cork] in that first half really kept Cork hanging in there. You could see, that was a trend over the weekend, the underdogs were saying "let's get out there and if we get a two-point shot, let's take it on."

It's something that the bigger teams are going to start beginning to look at.

Two-time All-Star Whelan also said that the way the biggest teams defend against so-called "underdogs" would have to change if the likes of Cork continued to so effectively exploit the two-point rule.

"The bigger teams are going to start pushing out much further and exert pressure so that you're not getting that opportunity to set up the two-pointer," Whelan said.

"I do think that's going to be one of the evolvements we're going to see in the next few weeks. The power of the two-pointer...if you're willing to sit on the arc and you're willing to give a team control of that 'dead space' outside the 50-yard-line...you do run the risk, particularly in the wind, of being picked off."

Gaelic football's new rulebook is the talk of the town as the 2025 All-Ireland gets underway in earnest. If 'underdogs' like Cork can continue to exploit it, we may have a very intriguing season ahead of us indeed.