Cork hurling: League minutes per player give insight into championship team

GIVEN that he was not named to start either of Cork’s opening two Allianz Hurling League games, the fact that Ger Millerick finished the campaign as the player with the fourth-highest number of minutes for the Rebels is indicative.

Introduced as a first-half sub against Kilkenny when Robert Downey got injured, the Fr O’Neills man acquitted himself well, first in the half-back line and then in the corner after the introduction of Mark Coleman.

Central to the fightback that saw Cork come from nine points down to lead against the Cats before falling short by a point, Millerick played all of the remaining three games, which Cork all won.

Millerick wasn’t out of favour by any means at the outset of the campaign – like so many others, he had Fitzgibbon Cup commitments and the management were shuffling their pack accordingly – but his displays look to have nailed down the number 5 jersey for the Munster SHC opener against Waterford in Walsh Park on April 21.

While it’s not an exact science as injuries and the returns from lay-offs can have an effect, the game-time given to players during the league can give a good insight as to what we are likely to see come championship.

The three players to log more than Millerick’s 259 minutes were goalkeeper Patrick Collins and Tommy O’Connell, both on 280 – four full games and each rested once. Not far behind them was Conor Lehane, the only player to start all four matches (brought off in two games) and given a late run-out in last Saturday’s win over Wexford.

Similar to Millerick, the prominent usage of Séamus Harnedy, Declan Dalton and Alan Connolly as availability allowed later in the campaign bodes well for their likelihood of starting in the championship. 

Having missed the opening two games following his football heroics with Castlehaven, Damien Cahalane played the entirety of the last three matches, surely confirming that he will be the number 3 in Walsh Park.

A total of 34 players were used during the league, with 32 starting. The unfortunate Micheál Mullins – who came on late in the opener against Clare and then sustained an injury – and Robbie Cotter were the two not to start. There were 24 different scorers for Cork across the five matches.

Minutes per player (total scored in brackets)

280: Patrick Collins (0-1), Tommy O’Connell (1-3); 

273: Conor Lehane (0-9); 

259: Ger Millerick (0-1); 

257: Patrick Horgan (1-31, 0-20 f); 

251: Shane Barrett (0-6); 

239: Seán O’Donoghue (0-1); 

230: Eoin Downey (0-1); 

210: Niall O’Leary, Damien Cahalane; 

207: Brian Hayes (0-5); 

202: Ciarán Joyce (0-3); 

201: Brian Roche (0-2); 

187: Shane Kingston (0-8, 0-3f); 

164: Robert Downey (0-5); 

163: Séamus Harnedy (0-3); 

149: Luke Meade (0-3); 

144: Tim O’Mahony (0-1); 

140: Eoin Roche, Seán Twomey (0-1), Alan Connolly (6-4, 1-0 penalty, 0-1f); 

112: Robbie O’Flynn (0-2); 

110: Declan Dalton (0-7, 0-4f, 0-2 65); 

106: Jack O’Connor (1-5); 

97: Eoin Carey; 

91: Mark Coleman; 

74: Darragh Fitzgibbon (1-1); 

71: Cormac O’Brien (0-1); 

70: Brion Saunderson, Cathal McCarthy; 

42: Conor O’Callaghan (1-0); 

37: Robbie Cotter; 

36: Ethan Twomey; 

8: Micheál Mullins.