Cian O'Neill to Cork? This is going to be interesting, says Lar Corbett

ROARING SUCCESS: Kerry coach Cian O'Neill celebrates their Munster SFC final win over old rivals Cork at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Lar Corbett has described new Cork hurling coach Cian O'Neill as a 'revolutionary' figure in Gaelic games who will 'relish the opportunity' of smashing through an apparent glass ceiling with the Rebels.

O'Neill is expected to be installed as Ben O'Connor's head coach, just weeks after being part of the Kerry football backroom that contested the All-Ireland final.

It will be former Kildare manager O'Neill's first involvement in a senior county hurling setup since his time with Corbett and Tipperary, whom he helped to win the 2010 All-Ireland.

Corbett sniped a hat-trick of goals in that 2010 final win over five-in-a-row chasing Kilkenny and said that O'Neill's role was hugely significant. O'Neill was technically the team's fitness expert but according to Corbett, he took on a much wider remit under Liam Sheedy.

"He came into that role and he changed everything, and he made it exciting and the really important thing was that he was able to explain absolutely everything that he did, and bring you along," said Corbett.

"He was ahead of his time, at that time, a revolutionary sort of figure in my opinion. I can only guess now, but I'd say I'm right, that he's still ahead of his time.

"When I heard the news of him and Cork, I said to myself, 'This is going to be so interesting, I can't wait to see how this goes'. Because we're all after seeing what Cork are capable of doing, and not doing, over the last number of years.

"We're going to see Cian O'Neill's stamp on it now. When we see something different, we'll know straight away that the common denominator is the new guy who has come in.

"We've all seen the things Cork aren't doing, this year, last year, we've seen the pitfalls, so I'm hugely interested to see how Cian goes about solving those things.

"One thing I know for sure, if I know anything about Cian O'Neill, he'll relish the opportunity, the challenge. Because the talk is that Cork can't do it when it counts, Cork can't do it when it really comes to it. He will love that."

O'Neill is best known as a football coach, winning All-Irelands with Kerry in that role in 2014 and 2025. He was part of Mayo, Galway, Limerick and Cork football backroom teams over the years too, as well as managing the Lilywhites.

ANSWERS ON A POSTCARD: Brainstorming in Balybofey, from left Mikey Sheehy, Dairmuid Murphy, Eamonn Fitzmaurice and Cian O'Neill

While involved with Tipp, he was also a coach/trainer with the Newtownshandrum team that O'Connor played for, winning Cork and Munster titles in 2009.

"I've always said to myself, from the years 2002 to 2007, you never knew if we were good enough to win another All-Ireland, but I did know for sure we weren't actually coming to the field being the best prepared," said Corbett, part of a Tipp group that transitioned from Babs Keatings' management to Sheedy's for the 2008 season.

"I've always felt that. So when these guys came along at the end of '07, I said straight away, 'Oh f*ck, yeah, we have a chance, now we have a chance'. I knew straight away, starting off in '08, if we don't win an All-Ireland with this management team, we're not good enough.

"I knew by the way they spoke that they'd do every single thing correctly and right, within their ability, which was an awful lot better than previous people. And so I knew we had a chance. And I'm absolutely including Cian O'Neill as one of the people who made you feel that way."

Corbett described O'Neill, head of the Department of Sport, Leisure and Childhood Studies at MTU, as a friend.

"What I liked about him, and I'm starting to judge an awful lot of people this way, is would I like to sit down for a pint with this guy? If the answer is yes, then there's something in him. If the answer is no, well then we're only ticking a box in our time together.

"Cian O'Neill, when all the hurling was over, we loved each other's company and I loved sitting down for half an hour with him, over a pint, shooting the breeze. That's a great quality and I think he'll do that with Cork, he'll build relationships and be an excellent friend to those lads as well."

Three-time All-Star Corbett, who won All-Irelands in 2001 and 2010, said the football man versus hurling debate is irrelevant when it comes to O'Neill.

"I never had much time for lifting a weight, putting it down and moving on to the next one. I wanted to know, 'Why am I lifting this?' The same as if Eamon O'Shea said to me he expected a certain movement off me on the field, I'd say, 'Why?' And then when they'd explain it to you, you'd go, 'Ah, okay, right'.

"Cian O'Neill is in that bracket, he's one of those guys that before, during and after games has a reason and a logic for everything he'll ask of you. He was far more to us in those years than what you might think."