Cork hurlers 'tearing strips out of each other' in training

Cork's perfect start to the Munster Hurling Championship has been built on resilience, depth and fierce internal competition 

Tim O'Mahony on the Cork hurling panel: "It is a great place to be, but it is very competitive." Pic: ©INPHO

Their early progression out of Munster and two-week gap to their next round-robin outing allows for some red stocktaking. An opportunity to reflect and assess Cork’s three wins as a package.

The Limerick and Waterford games both had to be won in the closing stretches. The Tipp game was won during a commanding third quarter, albeit when Tipp closed to four in second-half injury-time, and to three in the final minute of injury-time, Cork had to go and win it a second time.

So, what do victory margins of four, two, and four points again tell us about Cork in 2026?

“I think it’s showing the resilience in the group again,” reckons Brian Hayes.

“A lot of questions have been asked, some fairly and some not so fairly, but we’ve just focused on ourselves, one through 37, and the management team.

“I think everyone knuckled down and worked hard in the winter, took the league as it came. We lost the league final, but we bunkered down and gave it everything for the first two [championship] games, and we were lucky to come out with two results.

“We came out with another one against Waterford and it sets us up nicely now for the summer.” 

Hayes had not yet graduated to the starting team when Cork last visited Walsh Park for their 2024 Munster opener. It remains the last championship game he started on the bench for the county, wearing first-team status for the 17 championship games since.

He gave a forceful reminder of exactly why on Saturday evening, top-scoring with seven points from play, assisting three more, and winning a first-half penalty. He had four different Waterford defenders for company over the course of the 70 minutes. None of them enjoyed their time in the shadow of the towering inside forward.

Cork's Brian Hayes: “A lot of questions have been asked, some fairly and some not so fairly, but we’ve just focused on ourselves." Pic: ©INPHO

“We were under no illusions coming down to Walsh Park that anything was going to be easy,” Hayes continued.

“Two years ago, we came down here and we went home with our tails between our legs, and especially facing into that breeze in the first half, it would have been easy to let them get a fast start, but we didn’t do that.

“We had a fast start ourselves, and I think we continued throughout. That was the main objective coming down, to get the two points and get six points on the board, and we’re absolutely thrilled.” 

To do so without the spine of their defence added to the impressiveness of the win, even if Waterford ended up with their own mini hospital, such was the frequency of white shirts collapsing across the first half.

Both Hayes and his Cork teammate Tim O’Mahony dedicated the victory to cruciate victim Ciarán Joyce. Named at midfield, it was O’Mahony who dropped back into the No.6 pocket to deputise for the other missing defensive pillar, Rob Downey.

“Ah, it is a killer, sure,” O’Mahony said of Joyce being unavailable for the rest of the championship.

“Ciarán is such a big personality within the group. His hurling speaks for itself, massive player for us, but massive personality inside in the group. Gutted for him. Gutted for Rob, but at least Rob will have a chance of getting back in in a couple of weeks’ time, hopefully.

“You were going out and you wanted to represent Ciarán, we wanted to do it for him as much as family, friends, and supporters that came down.” 

Travelling in the opposite direction to the finished-for-the-year Cork full-back is Pádraig Power. The Cork forward came off the bench for the second time in this championship following a 14-month sideline spell, which began with a ruptured cruciate.

“It’s great to see the likes of Paudie Power come back after another tough injury – these things are never easy on players at a young age,” Hayes remarked.

Power’s return from injury, allied to the recent summer debuts handed out to William Buckley, Barry Walsh, Hugh O’Connor, and Alan Walsh, is evidence of the new arrivals who’ve ratcheted up internal competition.

“There is no point talking about panels, and saying we have this panel, we have that panel. You have to go out and show it,” said O’Mahony.

“Lads came into the starting 15, lads came into the 26; everyone is competing. I keep saying we are loving training, but fellas are tearing strips out of each other inside there. It is a great place to be, but it is very competitive.”