Cork hurling talking points: The Echo Sport Podcast on new players to watch for the Rebels

DIVISIONAL DOMINANCE:

Since Imokilly's three-in-a-row era of dominance, they'd suffered a succession of bad breaks in the knockout stages. This season there were no penalty heartache or late goals to derail them, they were immense against Fr O'Neills, Blackrock and Sars and deserved kingpins in Cork again.

Denis Ring and his management team put in a colossal effort to prepare the East Cork side for the business end of the Premier Senior Championship and they benefited from having their key hurlers fit and firing when it mattered. 

Understandably, there will be a debate now about the presence of divisional sides in the competition. Cork, like Kerry, has a rich tradition of divisional participation and with the new format, they must draw from outside the top 24 clubs.

However, there are plenty of club members across Leeside who would rather the divisions and colleges weren't involved. 

The easier route to the quarter-finals is a legitimate gripe which has been raised. Clubs must battle through very tough four-team groups to progress; the divisional section isn't anything as demanding.  

Yet that conversation shouldn't take from Imokilly's superb victory against Sars, who were going for back-to-back doubles. Jack Leahy was a worthy MVP pick by TG4 but they were superb in every line of the field.

CANDIDATES FOR CORK:

Pat Ryan's Cork squad was loaded with options this year yet when the All-Ireland final against Clare hung in the balance they couldn't get their hands on the Liam MacCarthy Cup.

As good and all as the campaign was, the Rebels need to freshen up the squad and there will be some hard calls made in the coming weeks. Imokilly's top-scorer Leahy will certainly be in the mix to feature in the league, along with Diarmuid Healy, and their All-Ireland winning U20 comrade Timmy Wilk was a powerhouse as well for Imokilly. 

Wilk's only 19 though so will most likely be allowed to develop further in Noel Furlong's squad. His natural strength and adaptability mean he has the makings of a Cork senior in time.

Healy and Leahy are quick and skillful forwards and they'll be competing with Ben Cunningham as well for game-time. Sars' Daniel Hogan also offered a reminder of his talent in all five of their matches

Daire O'Leary has been curtailed by injury but his availability gave Imokilly a ferocious half-back platform along with John Cronin and Ciarán Joyce, while he's also been to the fore for Watergrasshill, Premier Intermediate semi-finalists. 

WHAT NEXT FOR THE GLEN?

There is no Munster series for the Cork Senior A winners, which means the Glen can savour the celebrations this week. However, judging by their reaction to Sunday's emphatic victory over Blarney, they won't be going too mad in Blackpool. They know they should never have been relegated from the top tier.

The Glen have the talent to be involved in the latter stages of the Premier Senior competition and that's before you factor in their underage dominance lately, which has yielded three minor counties in four seasons. Big guns like Patrick Horgan, captain Dean Brosnan, Brian Moylan, Cathal Hickey and the Downeys, showed the expected leadership at the weekend but Adam Lynch, Rhys Dunne and Lee Quilligan, who lanced 1-1, also impressed.

Minor graduates Stephen Lynam and Eoin O'Leary added Senior A medals to their collections, with Diarmuid Wall, Jake Brosnan, Cian Walsh and Conor McCarthy coming on stream next and U16 dynamo Michael Tadhg Brosnan waiting in the wings as well.

Tomás Mulcahy and his management team, which included Tipp legend Tommy Dunne, ticked all the boxes this season and will be looking forward to 2025 already.

JUNIOR A DRAMA:

Whitechurch's clash with Passage might have been off-Broadway compared to Sunday's action in the Páirc but it was a historic game in Ballinlough, as they lifted the City Division Junior A hurling title for the first time. They were without their best-known player, former Cork U20 captain Micheál Mullins, through suspension but denied Passage what would have been just their second success.

Cian McCarthy was immense for Passage who took the battle into extra time but they ended up going down to 13 and Whitechurch took over in the last 10 minutes. Last season's Seandún victors Nemo Rangers won the county.

WILD IS THE WIND:

Respect to every single hurler, footballer, coach, mentor and supporter who braved the stormy conditions this weekend. It was certainly not 'hurling weather'.