Predicted Cork hurling league panel for 2026 season 

With Cork’s Canon O’Brien Cup meeting with UCC fixed for Sunday December 28, there is a particular intrigue attached to this one.

Not just because it is Cork’s first competitive outing of the winter, but because it marks Ben O’Connor’s first official game in charge, and the first glimpse of how his Cork might begin to take shape.

There will be heavy rotation, as there always is at this time of year. Both this fixture and Cork’s Munster Hurling League programme will be used to inform selection ahead of the National Hurling League, with experimentation very much the order of the day.

Assuming Cork follow recent precedent and confirm a 37-man panel for the National Hurling League, there will be noticeable differences from last season, and not solely because of the change in management.

Patrick Horgan’s retirement alone ensures that. For the first time in over 17 years, Cork will begin a season without their talismanic scorer. Alongside the Glen Rovers great, Conor Lehane, Luke Meade, Daniel Hogan and Robbie Cotter will also not feature in O’Connor’s 2026 plans.

What has become clear already, though, is the size of the initial net being cast.

Daire O’Leary, Brian O’Sullivan, Cian Darcy, Barry Walsh, Seán Desmond, Colm McCarthy, Jack Leahy, Hugh O’Connor and Brian Keating have all been drafted into an extended panel that currently sits north of 40 players – a number that will be trimmed ahead of Cork’s league opener against Waterford.

From that group, a core cohort of roughly 18-20 players will form the backbone of Cork’s season, accounting for the bulk of minutes across the league and championship.

Beyond that, there remains genuine opportunity for those on the fringes – both established and emerging – to force their way into O’Connor’s thinking.

The remaining places will almost certainly be filled from within the existing squad, a mix of experience and fresh blood competing for very limited room.

Cathal McCarthy’s cruciate injury, sustained during the 2025 county championship, makes him an unlikely inclusion for the league panel, though a return later in the year remains possible.

Among the current group, there are five players whose positions appear most open to question: Damien Cahalane, Darragh Flynn, Eoin Roche, Jack Cahalane and Jack O’Connor.

All have produced strong club seasons, and Flynn has impressed during recent league outings with UCC. Ultimately, however, their fate will hinge on how they compare to the new faces O’Connor has brought in for assessment.

At this stage, certainty is impossible. That said, experience tends to count in these calls, and you would expect Damien Cahalane and Jack O’Connor to remain in the mix given their recent form and familiarity with the inter-county environment.

Among Ben’s additions, it is difficult to see past former Cork senior Daire O’Leary and Brian O’Sullivan earning league places. Both have consistently demonstrated that they’re at this level over a number of seasons.

Hugh O’Connor is another likely to be retained, particularly having stepped away from the senior football panel to commit fully to the hurlers. After that, though, the margins tighten considerably.

Barry Walsh, Brian Keating, Colm McCarthy, Jack Leahy and Cian Darcy are all firmly in contention, while Timmy Wilk and Seán Desmond will also be part of that conversation.

The gap between those players is razor-thin. Training form and performances in the early fixtures will decide it.

It is far from straightforward, but here is a best estimate.

Predicted 37-man panel:

Alan Connolly (Blackrock), Ben Cunningham (St Finbarr’s), Brian Hayes (St Finbarr’s), Brian O’Sullivan (Kanturk), Brian Roche (Bride Rovers), Brion Saunderson (Midleton), Cian Darcy (Sarsfields), Ciarán Joyce (Castlemartyr), Cormac O’Brien (Newtownshandrum), Daire O’Leary (Watergrasshill), Damien Cahalane (St Finbarr’s), Darragh Fitzgibbon (Charleville), Darragh O’Sullivan (Ballinhassig), Declan Dalton (Fr O’Neill’s), Diarmuid Healy (Lisgoold), Eoin Downey (Glen Rovers), Eoin Roche (Bride Rovers), Ethan Twomey (St Finbarr’s), Ger Millerick (Fr O’Neill’s), Hugh O’Connor (Newmarket), Jack Cahalane (St Finbarr’s), Jack O’Connor (Sarsfields), Mark Coleman (Blarney), Micheál Mullins (Glen Rovers), Niall O’Leary (Castlelyons), Patrick Collins (Ballinhassig), Rob Downey (Glen Rovers), Robbie O’Flynn (Erin’s Own), Séamus Harnedy (St Ita’s), Seán Desmond (Watergrasshill), Seán O’Donoghue (Inniscarra), Shane Barrett (Blarney), Shane Kingston (Douglas), Tim O’Mahony (Newtownshandrum), Timmy Wilk (Cobh), Tommy O’Connell (Midleton), William Buckley (St Finbarr’s).