By John Harrington

When Cork’s Christopher Joyce returned to inter-county hurling in 2016 after a year out with a torn cruciate ligament, he discovered the hard way that the game had moved on in his absence.

There was a greater focus than ever on speed, and the extra muscle he’d worked so hard to pack on in the gym during his knee-injury rehab turned out to be a hindrance rather than a help.

The Na Piarsaigh man realised he needed to find a better balance between strength and speed, but admits it took him a year before he had fully adapted to how the game had evolved at the highest level in a short period of time.

“It’s now pace, it’s now speed,” he said. “The half-forwards are going to come down the pitch non-stop, and I suppose you going up and down after them.

“As you said, the game has changed now it’s really moving quick now and you need to be super fit.

“Look, I’d a year out, I’d done a lot in the gym, I probably bulked up too much and I was carrying too much in 2016.

“But since then I’ve stayed out of the gym and I’ve just trying to get fit and nimble and quick, so I definitely think it was up to last year before I feel myself again.”

Joyce certainly looks like he’s up to speed now. He’s been extremely consistent at wing-back and just as dependable when he’s been asked to move to centre-back on occasion.

He’s very much a modern defender who is comfortable in a variety of roles.

“To be honest with you, I just think the way the game has changed, I think you need to be flexible,” said Joyce.

“If you look at full-back lines now, you’ve three players. All three of them can play full back. They’re probably going to be on two guys inside, again the same in the half-back line.

“You might be told ‘look pick this guy up’, and I think that’s the one thing about us, we’re flexible. It doesn’t matter who’s playing number six or who’s wearing the number six jersey, each player has a job to do for the team.

“If that’s in the middle or that’s on the wing. I don’t think that’s a big issue for any player really, we all know what our jobs on the team are, going out on any given day. Once lads know what our role, I don’t think that’s any issue.”

What stands out about the Cork backs is just how comfortable on the ball they are.

When they win possession they get their head up to pick the optimal pass, even if that means striking it laterally or back to goalkeeper Anthony Nash.

And it’s a testament to their self-confidence in their first-touch and ball-handling that they offer themselves as outlets and demand the ball whenever one of their team-mates is in possession and needs a support runner.

“You need to believe in yourself,” said Joyce. “If you’re going for a ball, and you know there’s a guy on your back, you need to have the confidence. To want it and to take the man on.

“It’s coming from training, it’s coming from in-house matches, it’s coming from League, as you say getting your confidence up, pulling yourself out of pressure in training is the main thing.

“We do a lot of in-house games. They are very competitive, guys are trying to get back in the team. We built a good squad over the League. A lot of guys have got game-time.

“I suppose it’s about putting yourself under pressure in training because at the end of the day, you’ll play how you train.

“It’s very important that you get to those levels in the training field.”

The game might be much faster now and defenders might be much more comfortable in possession than they once were, but some hurling fundaments don’t change.

“It’s get that ball into the forward line as quick as you can and get the dangerous guys on the ball and they’ll put the ball over the bar,” said Joyce.

“Crowd the defence, stop the other team from scoring, it hasn’t changed a whole pile while the fitness levels and the gym has risen.

“The game is much more physical and faster. But it’s still about putting that ball over the bar and getting quick ball into the forwards.”