John Horgan on hurling: Has this Cork hurling team been overrated? You're judged on your trophies...

All-Ireland hurling final week and, for the first time in three years, there won't be a red jersey to be seen in Croke Park.

Cork will be on the outside looking in this time, their hopes and dreams being shattered just over two short weeks ago by a Galway team that certainly would not have been considered as contenders at the season's outset.

Limerick, Cork, Kilkenny, Tipperary and maybe Clare would have been in front of them in the pecking order but at the same time, Galway, down the years, have had the capacity to come quickly in from the cold.

Winning Leinster for the first time in seven years injected a fresh confidence in them and nobody can now question their right to be marching behind the Artane Boys Band next Sunday afternoon.

The pre-match conversation among supporters and in the media is probably similar to what it was before their semi-final against Cork, Ben O'Connor's men overwhelming favourites to reach another final.

Now it's Limerick coming out of the opposition dressingroom and they will be the far more fancied team again to add another title to their exceptional record over the past eight years when they made the big breakthrough in 2018.

In the semi-final that season, they defeated Cork in extra-time in the semi-final, their substitutes impacting considerably to make the difference, most notably Shane Dowling.

Some have suggested that if Cork had not come up short in the extra 20 minutes that day, Limerick might not have gone on to become one of the greatest teams of all time. If the Treaty triumph on Sunday, nobody can ever question their credentials as the best we have ever seen, six All-Ireland titles in eight years.

Questions are still being asked on Leeside over what transpired in the second half of that semi-final, almost a replica of what it was last July against Tipperary. There can be no mystery, no suggestions, Cork were beaten by a far better team that Galway were and it's time now to move on.

Has this Cork team been overrated? You are judged every year on what is in your trophy cabinet at the end of it.

TRADITIONAL

Former Limerick boss Tom Ryan writes a very sensible column in The Daily Mail every Saturday. Now some might perceive him to be old-fashioned and not in tune with the modern game but here's one who wouldn't agree, he makes plenty of sense.

He wrote last Saturday: "What happened Cork was the fear factor. When you see a full-back and half-back line feck-acting with the ball and passing it sidewards and backwards it's not the way it should be.

“They lacked physicality and I could not understand why a ball-winner like Seamus Harnedy was not introduced.''

Interesting sentiments and food for thought.

Once the curtain is drawn next Sunday at around five o'clock, marking the all too premature end to the season the hurling inter-county year will quickly enough be put on the back burner.

The All-Stars debate will begin immediately, here in Cork the question will crop up, how many will Cork receive?

Well, first, the way the system works is that the teams that travel deeper into the championship, semi-finals and final, maybe that should be the final only receive the greater representation.

Back in 2021, Cork and Limerick contested the final which was won in a canter by the latter and they dominated the All-Star selection with 12 players honoured. 

Despite reaching the final, Cork did not get even one All-Star so that tells us what transpires in the final dictates most things.

And it will be the same this time, Limerick and Galway players will pick up the vast majority of the All-Stars.

Which brings us back to the original question about Cork.

Before the semi-final trouncing a number of players were probably in contention. However, it's all changed now.

The chances of Cork players being selected have diminished considerably and there is every likelihood that only one player will get the nod, the outstanding Brian Hayes has to be in the chosen 15.

Every county is now guaranteed four championship games at the very least but if the county fails to emerge into the All-Ireland series a player from one of those counties who played a starring role in the games should surely be considered even if his county's season ends in May.

Waterford's Stephen Bennett, because of injury, played only two full games in Munster but in both he was outstanding. 

There is not a snowball's chance in hell he's selected. That's how the system works. Everything depends on how far your county goes.

We'll be far wiser on how things will be after the eagerly awaited decider.

WELCOME DISTRACTION

Now we turn to events last weekend here on our own doorstep, the finals of the various county hurling leagues.

Firstly, it has to be stated that the secondary competition in all the grades has been an outstanding success and that has been the case since the competition was restructured.

The leagues are now structured across seven divisions with Red FM continuing its generous sponsorship and giving it a far greater profile.

For obvious reasons, the main spotlight falls on the Division 1 tier, which for the fourth year in a row has been won by Sarsfields. That surely has to be recognised as a staggering achievement and huge credit must go to the management team led superbly by Johnny Crowley.

Any club that has representation on the Cork panel must plan without those players, particularly those in the squad of 26. Players on an extended panel are allowed more leeway and get game time some of the time.

Sarsfields were surely helped this season by the fact that they had no representation in the Cork squad and they had nearly a full deck to choose from for every league encounter.

Nonetheless, to win any competition four years on the trot has to be saluted and it still takes a huge effort to do so no matter what the circumstances are.

Because of its restructuring, the league has far more relevance, the clubs across the city and county have bought into it far more than what was once the case.

Gone now are the days when walkovers were common practice, a struggle to have it completed and one can recall that one season in the long distant past when the SHL final was not played at all.

County Boards across the country can at times come in for criticism of some sort but credit where it's due here, the Cork Board deserve applause for the efficiency that now allows the secondary competition to be run far more smoothly.

And once more, East Cork clubs have dominated again, Sars v Midleton in Division 1, Bride Rovers against Erin's Own in Division 2 and further down Cloyne-Dungourney and Aghada against Sars' second team.