Cork Hurling: Wayne Sherlock can get Rockies back in mix and Glen have big boots to fill

Glen will have a fresh voice for 2027

After being edged out in the first group game by 14-man Blackrock, Glen Rovers didn’t look like county champions in waiting. A powerful finish to their next match with Kanturk saved their season and they took flight from there, beating Fr O’Neill’s, Charleville, Midleton and the Barrs to lift the Seán Óg Murphy Cup for the first time in 10 years.

Tomás Mulcahy, who guided his beloved club back up after their shock relegation in 2023, deserves huge credit but the impact of Donal ‘Ducky’ O’Rourke was significant as well.

After three years coaching Cork under Pat Ryan, he was back involved in his native Waterford this summer.

After steering Loughmore-Castleiney to the Tipp title in 2025, and given his strong bond with the Downeys and Patrick Horgan, he was an ideal fit. Especially when you factor in his direct style and favoured three-man inside line, which saw Horgan, Eoin O’Leary and Simon Kennefick thrive.

He explained to The Irish Examiner this week: “Once you conquer Everest, I’ve no great grá to conquer it again.”

The Munster campaign was a one-and-done affair, a slight disappointment, particularly in the context of Cork clubs’ struggles in the modern era, but that doesn’t diminish the Glen and O’Rourke’s achievement at all.

Tipp legend Tommy Dunne was the Waterford native’s predecessor and it will be interesting to see if they look for another outsider but they might not need to.

Eoghan Cronin, whose brother Donal is involved in Ben O’Connor’s Cork set-up and father Don is a former Cork minor manager, shared coaching duties with O’Rourke this year.

Sherlock set for Rockies hot-seat

All-Ireland-winning corner-back Wayne Sherlock served alongside O’Rourke in the Cork management and has built up a lot of experience as a selector and coach in recent years.

He’ll be aiming to emulate another former Rockies and Cork defender Fergal Ryan next season when he succeeds Jamie Harrington as Blackrock boss. Ryan was at the helm in 2020 when Blackrock lifted their only senior hurling county since the halcyon days of the early noughties.

Harrington’s tenure at Church Road was consistent; this season was their first not escaping the group section. They’d had some close calls in the knockout stages, losing in extra time to Midleton after an epic semi-final in 2025.

The Rockies last made the county final in 2022 when Clare’s Louis Mulqueen was in charge and Harrington was a selector but St Finbarr’s got over the line in a deluge in the Páirc.

Sherlock made his name as a tenacious, powerful and skillful hurler and he inherits a squad with no shortage of players with those traits. Robbie Cotter earned a recall to the Cork squad after his high-scoring exploits across the round-robin series this summer and Alan Connolly remains their marquee man.

They’ve also got Gavin Connolly, as good a goalie as they’ll find at club level, Alan O’Callaghan, John and Nial Cashman, Cathal and Ciarán Cormack, and Daniel Meaney. Plus some younger guns in Ollie McAdoo, PJ Linehan and the towering Fionn Coleman.

They reached a Premier 1 minor county final this term, losing to Midleton after a cracking replay, so they’ll have a few players to blood from that crop, including Michael Quill, a standout all campaign.

Like the Glen, it'll be interesting to see how Sherlock turns to as coach...