Captaincy shuffle: Missed opportunity or right approach for Cork hurlers?
Robert Downey of Cork scores his side's first goal during the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Final between Clare and Cork at Croke Park in Dublin last year. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
With Robert Downey named Cork hurling captain for the 2025 season, it now means the Rebels have five different players in the squad to have held the role.
Prior to Downey it was Seán O’Donoghue who held office, while Mark Coleman and Patrick Horgan were the predecessors of the Inniscarra hurler.
That leaves Séamus Harnedy – the only one of the four previous captains to have won any major honours, having won the Munster title as skipper in 2018.
While the tradition of allowing the county champions to nominate the county captain has become a thing of the past for the Rebels – Cork still frequently rotate the role, while many other county teams do not.
Do the Rebels do it right? Is it better to regularly shift the armband, or is there greater value in sticking with the same player for a lengthy period?
Take Limerick – who had Declan Hannon as captain from 2017 until this year, when John Kiely announced that Cian Lynch would take the role.
Their success with Hannon in the role doesn’t need any introduction – though it’s not as if they won four-in-a-row because the player holding office didn’t change year after year.
There is value in stability though, and what continued success builds. Legacies.
That Limerick team will be remembered for decades to come – with the likes of Nicky Quaid, Cian Lynch, Aaron Gillane, Diarmaid Byrnes and Séamus Flanagan, just some of the names that will come to mind. Then you of course have Declan Hannon – their captain.
Another player associated with a particular generation of players is Stephen Cluxton, who captained the Dubs to seven All-Ireland Senior Football Championship titles, including six-in-a-row from 2015-2020.
Those legacies exist outside of the GAA too. Head across the pond to the Premier League and take Roy Keane.
The heart and soul that Manchester United’s winning teams were built on. Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils won a total of four Premier League titles and that incredible treble in 1998/99, where United won the Champions League for the first time in 31 years, with the Corkman as skipper.
While yes – Keane did miss the final, his incredible performance in the semi-final second leg against Juventus has never been forgotten, and without that stellar turnaround there would have been no treble.
There are several more examples of outstanding teams with a plethora of trophies won, associated with specific captains.
Paolo Maldini for AC Milan is one – Franz Beckenbauer is another. ‘Der Kaiser’ is synonymous with his time leading Bayern Munich.
But it goes the other way too, where the leadership is shared. Take the Cork side of the late 1990s and early 2000s, with Seán Óg Ó hAilpín our last All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winning captain.
Ronan Curran, Donal Óg Cusack, Joe Deane, Timmy McCarthy, Diarmuid O’Sullivan, Brian Corcoran and Ben O’Connor are never far behind, as are many more from that period.
The same applies to their rivals in black and amber – with Kilkenny still following the old tradition. The senior county champions nominate the captain, with John Donnelly taking the role this year.
The Cats won eight All-Irelands in 10 years between 2006-15, with a different captain every season. Brian Cody’s teams are not forgotten.
Henry Shefflin, arguably the greatest of all-time was one of the many winning captains. But sharing the role meant that many more got the opportunity to lead one of the greatest teams to ever grace the game.
One of those all-time greats was TJ Reid. Yet despite winning seven All-Irelands, none of them were in his two seasons as captain (2010 and 2019).
Limerick and Manchester United are great examples of teams that have done just that with the same captains.
But Kilkenny and Cork have done it without sticking to one. The beauty of sharing the role means numerous players from said generation get the opportunity to lead the team.
The best teams have many great leaders. Those leaders all get the chance to be captain.
While his time on the panel was brief, as was his role as captain – were Cork not a side to continuously spread the duties around, the late Ray Ryan likely would never have captained the hurlers in 2009.
But that fact will always be there as part of the legacy he leaves behind. It’s a minor detail, but one his family, friends and Sarsfields can savour.
A great reason to continue sharing the honour that is captaining your county.
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