Darragh Fitzgibbon glad of chance to take stock after busy start to league

While the bulk of the teams in the Allianz Hurling League are back in action this weekend following a break, for Cork the gap is only reaching the halfway point.

The Rebels went into their fortnight lay-off in a good position, three wins from three, and time between the win over Tipperary and next week's trip to face Kilkenny allows for some valuable time together in training.

“In terms of what we're doing, we now have something to work off with this management," says captain Darragh Fitzgibbon, "uUp until the first three games, Ben and his management were working off what previous managers were doing and stuff.

“It's an important two-week block to get some work done on what has happened in the last three games and prepare for the next three games that are coming.”

The change in management has not resulted in a drastic overhaul, however.

“Yeah, there's obviously a few differences,” Fitzgibbon says, “but I don't think it would be any different if it was the same management as before.

“There’s always going to be tweaks and changes and teams are going to evolve and you're going to try and improve, season on season.

“The management have been very clear that they're not going to come in and throw everything out the window, it’s more a few tweaks here and there.

“We were 35 minutes away from winning three trophies last year, so all’s not broken or all's not lost either.”

Primarily, the two weeks have been focused on the team as a unit.

“So far, it's just been collective, really,” Fitzgibbon says, "I'm sure the more individual work will come in closer to the time. 

"You’re just trying to get a gameplan going, really, at the start of the season and then, once we kind of get a base on our gameplan, fellas are going to start tweaking things individually and stuff.

“You kind of focus on your own role and what you can add here and take away there.

“I'm sure more individual stuff will come later on down the line, but so far it's all been collective stuff.”

And for someone who has been on the panel since 2017, where would he pinpoint the biggest areas of personal growth?

“I suppose probably mentally, really,” he says, “being able to deal with the ups and downs of games and the wins and the losses.

“You kind of have the tools in your mind to deal with the high-pressure moments – you don't really see the games in terms of being nervous anymore.

“It's more you know what to do, you know what preparation kind of works for you now because you have experience built up.

“I suppose you're more vocal in the group now, too. You're not just coming in and just being told what to do by the older lads – you are one of the older lads now.

“You try to drive the standard in training and trying to drive the standard of our gameplan and all that and making sure that we kind of are living up to the standards and staying consistent.”