No decision made on Cork future, insists Conor Lehane

The 33-year-old insisted that all inter-county matters have been shelved until after Midleton’s club campaign.

Midleton and Cork hurler Conor Lehane. Pic: John Sheridan/Sportsfile

Conor Lehane says no decision has been made on his Cork future.

The 33-year-old, when asked about his future in red and a potential 15th season in 2026, insisted that all inter-county matters have been shelved until after Midleton’s club campaign.

“We'll see. I'm not thinking that far ahead,” Lehane replied when pressed on his Cork existence.

“It's not something you think of when you're in the middle of something else. It would only be a distraction. When that time comes, it'll come. Until then, it's just all guns blazing for the black and white.” 

Having rarely featured across the season’s opening five months, Lehane became a regular off the bench for Cork from the end of the Munster championship onward.

His introduction during second-half injury-time against Waterford on May 25 represented only his third involvement of 2025 and first championship involvement in 337 days. 

His 65th-minute All-Ireland semi-final point against Dublin was his first Croke Park score since the same semi-final stage of the 2018 championship.

Sandwiched in between was his significant impact in the extra-time Munster final epic where he sniped a pair of points, assisted a third, and nailed the penalty that resuscitated Cork early in the shootout.

If Lehane was to soldier on in red, he would be linking back up with the former Cork teammate who coached him and Midleton to their last county title in 2021.

“Ben is loved in the club for the success we had with him back in 2021. We'll always have that, no matter what,” he said of the new Cork manager.