Mark Coleman on Ben O'Connor's appointment as Cork boss: 'It's a blank canvas, excited to play under him'

Cork senior hurler Mark Coleman says he’s excited to work under new manager Ben O’Connor.

The Newtownshandrum native was appointed on a three-year term on Tuesday as he replaced Pat Ryan after the latter decided not to seek a new term at the helm.

The Rebels have lost the last two All-Ireland finals with O’Connor inheriting a talented group of players.

It's a new era as Cork chase a first Liam MacCarthy trophy since 2005 in the next campaign. 

“Ben was the obvious candidate,” Coleman said to The Echo after winning an EPH Controls Muskerry GAA award on Wednesday night.

“He had a lot of success with the Cork U20s. I wouldn’t know him personally, but it looks like a good appointment.

“A lot of the current players would have looked up to Ben as a player. He has a strong backroom team in with him. I am looking forward to getting going with the new management.

“It’s a blank canvas for us. Growing up, Ben was on the successful All-Ireland winning teams, the two black tapes halfway down the hurley always stood out. I am excited to play under him.” 

Pat Ryan’s tenure didn’t end the way he or anyone in Cork would have liked, but despite not landing that elusive All-Ireland crown, he did help the Leesiders to Division 1A league success and Munster silverware this year.

“All you can ask for is to leave it in a better place and Pat definitely did that,” the Blarney star says.

“He brought a lot of players through and improved the players that were there when he took over. It was disappointing to see him leave because we spent three years together and we were hoping he would go for a fourth year, but it was his decision to move on and that’s it.

“Pat had a great knowledge of hurling. He helped us play the game in a different way over the last couple of years than we did previously.

“We have to move on and look forward to next season under the new management.” 

Now that the dust has firmly settled on the campaign for the Rebels, Coleman is eager to look on the bright side despite the All-Ireland final defeat to Tipperary.

“It’s easy to write off the season as a bad year just because of a poor half of hurling,” he states.

“You have to take the positives. It was a big monkey off our back winning the league and the Munster championship. It was a pity we couldn’t get over the line in the All-Ireland final.

“If you look at it as a whole over the past year or two, we have definitely taken another step forward in 2025. Hopefully we can keep building.” 

Coleman was picked as the latest EPH Controls Muskerry GAA award winner on the back of his displays at wing-back for the Cork senior hurling team this year. It’s not the first time the 27-year-old won this award, he also won it back in 2017.

“It’s always nice from the Muskerry Board to have these awards in place. It brings you back to where it all started. It’s nice to have a night like tonight to grow into yourself and get back to where it all started in Mid-Cork.”