Strictly business as O’Rourke plots downfall of Déise

Pat Ryan’s appointment of Cappoquin’s Donal ‘Duck’ O’Rourke as coach is arguably the most responsibility an outsider has ever been given in the set-up.

OUTSIDE MAN: Cork coach Donal O'Rourke. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

There was a time, a long time, when the presence of a non-native in a Cork senior hurling set-up would have raised an eyebrow but there’s more open-mindedness these days.

Not that they took their cue from the footballers but they were beginning to cut the ties to tradition in 2016 when Peadar Healy brought in Kerry’s Billy Sheehan as coach/selector. After Sheehan came Jason Ryan (Waterford), Cork-based Cian O’Neill (Kildare), Ray Keane (Kerry), and now Galway’s Kevin Walsh.