Galway v Cork: Ben O'Connor welcomes increase in selection options

Cork are likely to shuffle their pack again for tomorrow night’s Allianz HL Division 1A clash with Galway at Pearse Stadium, with Ben O’Connor welcoming the competition for places.

On the injury front, the return of experienced players who missed Sunday’s opening-round win at home to Waterford gives O’Connor and his management further options as they target a second victory.

“It looks like we'll have Tim O’Mahony, Brian Hayes and Séamie Harnedy,” he says.

“The other boys [Ciarán Joyce and Shane Kingston] are back doing training, all right but they won't be available for this weekend.”

For the 14-point win over the Déise at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh,

“Sure look, they all think they should be playing,” he says, “so this is the chance.

“There'll be some fellas ruled out at the weekend, fellas will get their chance and then it's to take the chance when you get it.

“That's the way it is and the boys know that, that there will be changes and they know that they'll get a chance and it's up to them to put their hand up and say, ‘Look, I'm good enough at this level.’

“That's what keeps things going in training then as well. Every fella knows that they're in with a fair chance, they know they'll all get game-time and we'll be looking at form. That's how we'll be picking teams going forward, it will be on form.

“Obviously, the first few league games, there’ll be fellas rested and things but, give us three or four league games and it’ll all be picked on form and after that, we'll be coming on for championship, so it'll be whoever's on form at the time.”

Another fact in this early part of the league is that it is the second of three consecutive weekends where Cork and the other hurling counties are in action.

It’s the most compacted part of the season that they will face – allied to the fact that the Fitzgibbon Cup knockout stages have commenced.

“At the start, we decided with Ian Jones that we were going to keep our set nights, whether we played league on Saturday or Sunday, rather than changing during the week,” O’Connor says.

“We kept our set nights for training, just so fellas could have a routine, and I think that helps them as well.

“Even during the Championship, you're not going to get three games in the space of 13 days, so this is a little bit different, plus you have Fitzgibbon thrown into the middle of it, whereas during the championship, it’s all focused on the Championship.

“So, look, it's only about managing what the boys are at at the moment. In fairness, Ian and all the lads in the backroom are well on top of it.

“We'll be trying to mind fellas as much as possible.”

While Cork won on their last trip to Salthill – coincidentally, Pat Ryan’s second league match in charge, back in 2023 – it hasn’t always been a happy hunting ground.

Given that the Tribesmen lost their opener away to All-Ireland champions Tipperary, O’Connor expects a strong response but, equally, that represents a challenge that he and the team are looking forward to.

“It's a hard place to go and win all the time,” he says, “but look, we're looking forward to it. Fellas are in good form, there's a good buzz around the thing, so we want to keep that going.

“It's different surrounds and the home team does get a boost from having home support. I'm sure we'll still have a good few above there on Saturday night.

“We're going up to win the game and that's the way we'll be treating it.”