Cork v Tipperary: How much does an early hurling league match matter?

The bumper crowd, which will exceed 25,000, and the dark shadow cast by the All-Ireland final mean the stakes are higher than they should be this early in the campaign.

Cork won't want to give an inch to their great rivals at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday night, while Tipperary would love to sow seeds of doubt into the hosts' minds before the championship rematch. Yet both counties know this is the warm-up before the real stuff starts in two months.

Ben O'Connor's side have no choice but to front up on home turf, where Liam Cahill might look at his options and get a decent look at Cork's tweaked approach post-Pat Ryan. You'd imagine once the performance is strong, the result won't bother Tipp.

Cork ripped Clare apart in the league last season in an All-Ireland final rematch but still couldn't get the job done when they met again come championship, though Shane Barrett's red card was a key factor that day in Ennis.

Cork have been fairly consistent in the league in recent years. They reached the final in 2022, losing to Waterford, and made the semi the following year, beaten on the road to Kilkenny. In 2024, they won three of their five matches but missed out on the league semi-final before landing a first league title in 27 seasons last April.

They're currently in a decent position to return to the league final on the first weekend in April, especially if they defeat Tipp here. The remaining league games are a couple of tricky away fixtures in the space of six days against Kilkenny, March 1, and Limerick, March 7. 

The group stage concludes against Offaly in the Páirc on Saturday, March 21. Cork will have been warm-weather training in mid-March so everything will be geared towards the opening round of the Munster campaign on April 18-19 in Thurles with Limerick in town the following weekend.

Understandably, the only trophy that matters to Leesiders this year is the Liam MacCarthy. 

However, winning is a habit and with a new management team in situ, there doesn't seem to be any appetite to ease off the gas. 

Bringing on Tim O'Mahony and Brian Hayes at half-time in Salthill last weekend showed how seriously the league is being treated by the holders. Expect them to go very hard and do whatever it takes to lay down a marker.

HURLING LEAGUE:

SUNDAY, January 24: Cork 3-25 Waterford 1-17, SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

SATURDAY, January 31: Galway 1-21 Cork 2-20, Salthill.

SATURDAY, February 7: Cork v Tipperary, SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 7pm.

SUNDAY, March 1: Kilkenny v Cork, Nowlan Park, 3.15pm.

SATURDAY, March 7: Limerick v Cork, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 7pm.

SATURDAY, March 21: Cork v Offaly, SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 7pm.

April 4-5: 1A and 1B League finals.