Cork v Tipperary: Donal O'Rourke has no fears about Rebels' ability to perform

With two full years down as Cork hurling coach and a third one going well so far, it’s hardly surprising that Donal O’Rourke has full faith in the squad and their capabilities.

Having reached last year’s All-Ireland final, losing to Clare by a single point after 80-plus minutes of hurling, Cork have bounced back in the best way possible, reaching tomorrow’s Allianz Hurling League final against Tipperary at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh (4pm).

Naturally, there is hype around the game and the team, but O’Rourke has no fears at all about that seeping in to the mindset of Pat Ryan’s team.

“Look, I'm not worried going into the national league final about us not performing,” he says.

“I would have been worried in a sense going into the All-Ireland final because, okay, you had a lot of players that were there from 2021 and a couple from 2013, so they'd been there and done that.

“But we had a relatively young group going into that All-Ireland final against Clare last year and they handled it really, really well. 

I suppose they'd played in two U20 All-Irelands prior to that so they're used to being at the back-end of championships.

“I know we didn't win the All-Ireland, but we didn't not perform either. It went down as one of the greatest All-Ireland hurling finals of all time, so you're very confident that the occasion or the hype or any of that didn't get to the players.

“The players are very, very grounded. They come in and focus on what needs to be. It's about the next ball.

“So the hype getting to the players or anything like that is not something that would worry me. They're very, very good at keeping the outside out.”

Displaying the consistency to reach a second straight national final also serves to show that accusations of mental fragility can no longer be thrown at Cork.

“The narrative was out there that it was the case,” O’Rourke says.

“As Pat keeps saying, I suppose it's all about how you represent the jersey. He's really got into the minds of the players and he's really pushing them forward.

NEXT BALL

“What we've learned and what we've done is that we keep going until the final whistle. The scoreboard only matters at the end. 

If we're seven points down, how do we get back into the game? We just keep playing the next ball.

“It's been very, very simplified for them. It's all about the next ball, the next play, the next moment, trying to get rid of the moments out of the head from the previous plays and just focus on the moment that's there and the next ball. I think that has really helped the players.

“It's a very, very narrow focus for them. Maybe players have had to deal with that stuff being thrown at them on an individual basis, but I don't think that can be thrown at this team or any team. I see every inter-county team preparing diligently for what they're doing.

“It's probably hard to hear, but it can't be something that can be thrown at this group. They're an incredibly hard-working team.”

Cappoquin native O’Rourke has obviously helped them in that regard, aided by his own varied experiences before answering Ryan’s call.

“I've been very lucky that I've been involved with some great players and some great teams,” he says.

“Even though I'm relatively young, I'm coaching a long time. I started off in my own club probably coaching teams since I'm 14 years old and I always had a great love for the game, be it as a player or on the coaching side.

“I suppose I've built up a lot of experience and I've learned from a lot of great people. It's come now to where I'm coaching at the top level and I have brilliant guidance from Pat. He's unbelievable and I suppose he's a guy that I lean on so much.

“Even when I was coaching other teams, we would always have had a great rapport and we see the game very similarly, which is great.

“We get on so well together and I've learned an awful lot from Pat.”