Luke Connolly: Nemo are disrespected, I don't want that to change

Former player has been impressed with how his club are doing this year in the Premier SFC

It has been nine months since Luke Connolly officially retired from playing the game he loves due to injury.

The Nemo Rangers man was part and parcel of the first team for over a decade as he helped Nemo to five top-flight football championships on Leeside and two Munster crowns. A 24th Cork title remains elusive at the moment, but the city side were close to reaching that target last year, but lost to Castlehaven in the final.

Nemo are always one of the favourites and they are ticking along nicely this season. They won their three group games fairly comfortably against Ballincollig, Éire Óg and Newcestown and got over Clonakilty after a penalty shootout at the quarter-final stage last Sunday. They face Mallow this Sunday in the semi-final in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh at 2.30pm. A fifth final in six seasons remains on track.

It’s strange not seeing Connolly on the Nemo team. He made his debut for the first team in an opening round win over Ballincollig in 2011. The rest is history as they say.

What does the 31-year-old make of Nemo’s championship campaign so far?

“I have been following the results alright and you would have to be impressed,” he says.

“Most of the lads have four or five county medals in their back pocket. People have been saying to me all year that Nemo will struggle, which is a ridiculous thing to say. Last year, we lost the county final, so we were the second best team in Cork. I have seen stuff that Nemo probably aren’t as strong this year and are going through a transition phase. I can name at least 17 players on the panel who have played in county finals.

“I think Nemo are in a good place at the moment. There’s a few excellent young players coming through at the moment, the likes of Ross Corkery, Colin Molloy and Eoin Nation to name just a few. The beauty of Nemo is the wheel keeps turning so there’s always young players coming onto the panel. I am obviously biased, it’s madness to ever write Nemo off.”

When Connolly did hang up his boots in January, people had been wondering who would step up and be the main man. There was one obvious contender.

“I think that Mark Cronin needs to be that guy,” Connolly said.

“It’s a good thing for Mark that I am out of the picture. He’s an unbelievable talent, but sometimes you just need to be given the freedom of the pitch to really flourish. I think Mark will be the next big forward for Nemo. You still have Paul Kerrigan and still performing. It breaks my heart seeing Paul out there and I am here talking about him.

"It should be the other way around in terms of age. He’s one of the best players that this club has ever had and he’s flying it at the moment. I would have no worry about Nemo's firepower. Ross Corkery is another forward who has really flourished this year and the season isn’t over yet.”

Nemo weren’t fancied in 2022 when they won the county after a famous win over St Finbarr’s in the club’s centenary year. They aren’t favourites either this season with Castlehaven and St Finbarr's ahead of them in the odds.

“I do think Nemo are disrespected. We won the county in 2019 and 2020, but we weren't talked about and again weren't given a chance in 2022. We were spoken about in terms of a team that were never in a final ahead of the St Finbarr’s game two years ago and even last year when we played Castlehaven in the final.

"It has been like that for a long time, but it works in our favour. I don’t want that to change because I know what it does for the lads in the dressing room.” Connolly concluded.