Talking Point: Cork went looking for the ideal cocktail. Have they found it?

Whatever happens next, at least Pat Ryan’s vision for Cork to have a side with that ideal amalgam of pace, power, size, class and aggression has been realised.

PACE, POWER, SCORING: Brian Hayes in action against Dan Morrissey. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

In the aftermath of Cork’s defeat to Waterford in the opening game of the Munster round robin in April, Seánie McGrath neatly laid out the stanzas of a familiar composition in his Irish Examiner column, each verse defined by recognisable lines.

Worry. Frustration. Concern. Those words had become such a recurring theme with Cork hurling that their supporters could recite that tune as easily as a nursery rhyme.