Cork Hurling: Three key points ahead of the league opener at Páirc Uí Chaoimh
Cork’s Rob Downey with Brian McGrath of Tipperary, the Glen defender had a powerful last quarter in the Munster SHL final. Picture: INPHO/Evan Treacy
THE hurling league starts this Saturday night in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Éamonn Murphy looks at the takeaways from preseason so far.
There will undoubtedly be experimentation in the league. There are defensive positions up for grabs, the opportunity for a hard-working midfielder to secure his place as a foil for Darragh Fitzgibbon, and the clear need for more brawn in attack.
Conor O'Callaghan, Seán O'Leary Hayes, Daire O'Leary, if he returns to full fitness, Ethan Twomey, Brian Roche, Tommy O'Connell, Brian Hayes, Cormac Beausang and Seán Twomey are among the contenders on the extended squad of 40-plus with the potential to push into the championship mix.
A balancing act will be required in February though.
With Fitzgibbon Cup commitments this week involving newcomers like Twomey, Beausang, Hayes and Roche but also established Cork hurlers Rob Downey, Shane Barrett, Niall O'Leary, Jack O'Connor and Ciarán Joyce, the selectors will keep a keen eye on the MTU Cork and UCC games before picking the squad to face Limerick.
Pat Ryan has taken the sensible approach in his first few months as bainisteoir by keeping everyone on board from the 2022 squad. Cork have their share of players over 30, including Damien Cahalane, Conor Lehane, Seamus Harnedy and Patrick Horgan. They've all got high mileage but by the same token, they remain among the best hurlers in Rebel county.
And experience can be crucial when the pressure is on.
The management are operating from a clean slate but it's likely some of the older crew will be deployed as impact subs in the Munster round-robin series or at least not start every game. Alan Cadogan (29 this year) and Horgan were two of the most effective players as second-half replacements in last season's quarter-final defeat by Galway.
Lehane was Man of the Match against Tipp last summer and impressive in the Munster Hurling League lately while Cahalane was terrific in driving the Barrs to a first county in the modern era.
Harnedy, on his way back from an injury sustained with his club St Ita's, has been Cork's most-consistent performer in the last decade aside from Horgan. He's that rare combination on Leeside of ball-winner and score-taker.
After beating Tipp in Páirc Uí Rinn, Ryan explained: “We haven’t a lot done tactically and we’ve been concentrating on effort and attitude and physicality, that we’re trying to raise inside in training."
They did go long in that game but the deliveries weren't always measured.
The supporters will be as interested in Cork's tackling and aggression as they will in the style they use.
Stephen Casey was brought in by Kieran Kingston after his S&C work delivered results for Blackrock, Blarney and Cork underage teams and he's been retained. It'll be interesting to see what impact that has this year.
