Pat Ryan delighted to have dual star Brian Hayes on board

Last month news broke that dual talent Brian Hayes had decided to throw his lot in with the hurlers for the 2023 season. Pat Ryan is hoping Ben O'Connor might do the same

DUAL STAR: Brian Hayes of St Finbarr’s has thrown his lot in with the Cork hurlers for 2023. Pic: Daire Brennan/Sportsfile

It was as much a statement as it was a coup. Last month news broke that dual talent Brian Hayes had decided to throw his lot in with the hurlers for the 2023 season. At the helm Cork had secured their man and now Pat Ryan had his.

“I’m delighted to have Brian Hayes on board,” he says, speaking at the launch of the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League.

“Obviously, it was a big decision for Brian to be involved. We had him for two years with the U20s. It’s a pity he can’t play both. He played both at U20 level but I think it’s just not set up to do that the way the Championships are.

“Are there 16 Championship matches in football if you want to win the All-Ireland? We have, whatever, seven or eight if you want to be All-Ireland champions in hurling so it’s just not set up to be a dual player but we’re delighted he’s come on board with us. He was top scorer in our club championship, scored 4-16.

“I wouldn’t have been doing my job properly if I didn’t ask him to come on board with us so I’m delighted he’s involved but it’ll be a big step up as well for Brian.” 

The move sends a message, no stone will be left unturned. For a time, Cork lingered as the last refuge for an endangered species. After Eoin Cadogan and Aidan Walsh, the dual dream died and romance made way for realism. Now players have to choose. As Hayes showed or Mark Keane before him, they are increasingly opting for hurling.

Ryan confirms he hopes Munster rugby prospect Ben O’Connor will do similar. That situation is still unclear. O’Connor is still rehabbing an injury picked up versus Ballyea, eligible for U20s and doing his Leaving Cert but the bottom line is they want him: “We are very much interested in Ben as well.” 

Tradition and expectation fuel the hurlers. They always have. That means one sole metric for Ryan’s management. Is it a case of All-Ireland means success and anything else is failure?

“Yeah, it would be a failure. Being honest, if you’re involved with Cork and you look at the managers that have gone before me, and they did brilliant things, but it’s back to John Allen since we last had a manager win an All-Ireland in Cork.

“We’ve had five or six and I think all of those managers would say that they probably failed. They did brilliant things, did brilliant work but we’re coming from a county that has fantastic success in hurling down through the years and if we don’t win an All-Ireland it will be a failure.” 

How long will it take? How long have you got? In his first term Kieran Kingston turned them into legitimate All-Ireland contenders and in his second they maintained that status. Ryan’s task this season is to pull clear of the chasing bunch.

“We all know Limerick are ahead of the pack. But everyone else, I don’t think there’s a puck of a ball between the other teams. It’s up to all of us other counties to try and catch up with Limerick and put them under as much pressure as we can but I think there’s no reason we can’t be one of those teams that put more pressure on Limerick and hopefully we’ll go on and win an All-Ireland.”