IN THE SUMMER of 2022, Donal O’Rourke’s role with the Cork senior hurlers was officially rubber-stamped.
Pat Ryan drafted him in as coach in the group he was formalising, having been installed as the county’s new manager.
Cork were still digesting a championship exit at the quarter-final stage, yet Ryan was moving swiftly to assemble his sideline brains trust. He leaned heavily on those he had worked successfully with at U20 level but while O’Rourke was an addition to that list, his relationship with Ryan stretched back for some time.
As players they hurled together for Ryan’s club Sarsfleids for a few years, before O’Rourke moved back to Waterford.
Coaching has been his primary focus since. The Capppoquin native has steered Cork to tomorrow’s league final against Tipperary [throw-in 4pm, Live TG4], in his third season in the position.
A wide range of experiences have informed his coaching progression – spells with the Waterford and Galway senior camogie camps, guiding Erins Own to a Cork semi-final place in 2020, juggling roles with Kilkenny’s Dicksboro and Waterford’s De La Salle in 2023.
“I’ve been very lucky that I’ve been involved with some great players and some great teams. Even though I’m relatively young, I’m coaching a long time. I started off in my own club, probably coaching teams since I’m 14 years old and I always had a great love for the game. I’ve built up a lot of experience and I’ve learned from a lot of great people.”
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Ryan has long been someone he has tapped into for hurling information.
“I have brilliant guidance from Pat. He’s unbelievable and I suppose he’s a guy that I lean on so much. Even when I was coaching other teams, we would always have had a great rapport and we see the game very similarly, which is great.”
His admiration for Ryan is clear and it is a view O’Rourke feels is shared widely in the Cork camp.
That manifested itself in late February after the sad news of the sudden passing of former county hurler Ray Ryan, brother of Pat.
In the week of a league tie against Kilkenny, it was a difficult experience for the Cork players to focus on the routine of preparing for an upcoming game while their manager had suffered a family bereavement.
“That group means an awful lot to Pat and the group back to Pat,” says O’Rourke.
“It was a very, very tough fixture but the players really dug in for that game and there was a tough atmosphere around that game. But Pat was adamant that week that the Cork team prepared the way that they would, no matter what. He wouldn’t hear of trainings being put off or anything like that. He was just all about the players and the group and Cork had to represent in that game.
“He’s very, very attached to this group of players. He’s worked with an awful lot of them. The players really respond to Pat. They would do anything for him and they believe in him, that’s the big thing. We just hang off every word. He’s our leader and we all learn from him. The knowledge that he has of this game is phenomenal and we’re just learning from him. It’s a pleasure for us as coaches to be involved with him but it’s a pleasure also for the players to be involved with the man. He just has it.
“A big thing that Pat always says is to believe in the work that you’ve done, believe in the people that are with you and believe in the players around you. It’s not an individualistic thing. It’s very much a team thing and you’re fighting for the lad beside you.”
Cork manager Pat Ryan with coach Donal O'Rourke. James Lawlor / INPHO
James Lawlor / INPHO / INPHO
Ryan’s work at the helm of Cork over the last few years has sought to address the trait of fragility that often hovered over the team in their performances on the pitch. They came up agonisingly short in last year’s All-Ireland final epic, but O’Rourke believes the group has been infused with a streak of steel now.
“The narrative was out there that it (fragility) was the case. As Pat keeps saying, I suppose it’s all about how you represent the jersey. He’s really got into the minds of the players and he’s really pushing them forward. What we’ve learned and what we’ve done is that we keep going until the final whistle. The scoreboard only matters at the end. We just keep playing the next ball. It’s been very simplified for them.
“Maybe players have had to deal with that stuff being thrown at them on an individual basis, but I don’t think that can be thrown at this team or any team. I see every inter-county team preparing diligently for what they’re doing.”
The day after Cork ended Limerick’s five-in-a-row dream in an absorbing semi-final contest last July, Ryan faced the media in advance of the final with Clare. He was still trying to process the euphoria of the Limerick victory, but remarked that the Cork coach had already studied forensically the match footage from the Limerick game.
After the defeat to the Clare game, O’Rourke did the same, despite the pain of defeat and the fact Cork’s next competitive outing was months away.
“I watched it straight off the bat. It’s just something I do. It’s, ‘How can I make the team better for the next day?’ Win or lose, I have to find the margins on how we’re going to get better. I’d be very, very determined that way.
“Yes, it was tough watching it the first time. But it’s something that I have to do. My job and my role in Cork is to make the team perform on match day. have great help, there are unbelievable coaches with us and Pat is obviously such a highly intelligent hurling man. You have great people with you. I’ve watched it a good few times. I could probably tell you every play inside out now. But we want to banish those ghosts now and we just want to keep progressing. If you keep knocking on the door, it will eventually open.”
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Cork’s form, apart from one blip in Thurles against Tipperary, has been strong in this season’s league. They have blitzed teams with goals, six against Clare and four against Galway, a trend that is not accidental.
Declan Dalton with Brian Hayes after his goal against Galway. James Lawlor / INPHO
James Lawlor / INPHO / INPHO
“The way we look at it is that no matter where we play or no matter who we’re playing, we nearly outnumber the support. And there’s no greater roar than when a Cork player will hit the back of the net. That noise can go around the stadium and it can really get behind players.
“We’d done a lot of work on it. It’s a big thing with us because we know with the style of player we have that we’re going to create goal chances. We were frustrated that we weren’t executing them but, in fairness, the players put in massive work on the training ground and we really kind of zoned in on it in the last couple of weeks.”
Those type of performances have fuelled the praise for the team and seen their share price rocket. Managing that hype is now a task they face. Cork haven’t won the league in 27 years or the All-Ireland in 20 years, and face a rapidly improving Tipperary team tomorrow for the first of two outings this month.
“We know we didn’t win the All-Ireland but we didn’t not perform either,” says O’Rourke.
“It went down as one of the greatest All-Ireland hurling finals of all time, so you’re very confident that the occasion or the hype or any of that didn’t get to the players. The players are very, very grounded. They come in and focus on what needs to be. It’s about the next ball. So the hype getting to the players or anything like that is not something that would worry me. They’re very, very good at keeping the outside out.”
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'That group means an awful lot to Pat. We just hang off every word. He's our leader'
IN THE SUMMER of 2022, Donal O’Rourke’s role with the Cork senior hurlers was officially rubber-stamped.
Pat Ryan drafted him in as coach in the group he was formalising, having been installed as the county’s new manager.
Cork were still digesting a championship exit at the quarter-final stage, yet Ryan was moving swiftly to assemble his sideline brains trust. He leaned heavily on those he had worked successfully with at U20 level but while O’Rourke was an addition to that list, his relationship with Ryan stretched back for some time.
As players they hurled together for Ryan’s club Sarsfleids for a few years, before O’Rourke moved back to Waterford.
Coaching has been his primary focus since. The Capppoquin native has steered Cork to tomorrow’s league final against Tipperary [throw-in 4pm, Live TG4], in his third season in the position.
A wide range of experiences have informed his coaching progression – spells with the Waterford and Galway senior camogie camps, guiding Erins Own to a Cork semi-final place in 2020, juggling roles with Kilkenny’s Dicksboro and Waterford’s De La Salle in 2023.
“I’ve been very lucky that I’ve been involved with some great players and some great teams. Even though I’m relatively young, I’m coaching a long time. I started off in my own club, probably coaching teams since I’m 14 years old and I always had a great love for the game. I’ve built up a lot of experience and I’ve learned from a lot of great people.”
Ryan has long been someone he has tapped into for hurling information.
“I have brilliant guidance from Pat. He’s unbelievable and I suppose he’s a guy that I lean on so much. Even when I was coaching other teams, we would always have had a great rapport and we see the game very similarly, which is great.”
His admiration for Ryan is clear and it is a view O’Rourke feels is shared widely in the Cork camp.
That manifested itself in late February after the sad news of the sudden passing of former county hurler Ray Ryan, brother of Pat.
In the week of a league tie against Kilkenny, it was a difficult experience for the Cork players to focus on the routine of preparing for an upcoming game while their manager had suffered a family bereavement.
“That group means an awful lot to Pat and the group back to Pat,” says O’Rourke.
“It was a very, very tough fixture but the players really dug in for that game and there was a tough atmosphere around that game. But Pat was adamant that week that the Cork team prepared the way that they would, no matter what. He wouldn’t hear of trainings being put off or anything like that. He was just all about the players and the group and Cork had to represent in that game.
“He’s very, very attached to this group of players. He’s worked with an awful lot of them. The players really respond to Pat. They would do anything for him and they believe in him, that’s the big thing. We just hang off every word. He’s our leader and we all learn from him. The knowledge that he has of this game is phenomenal and we’re just learning from him. It’s a pleasure for us as coaches to be involved with him but it’s a pleasure also for the players to be involved with the man. He just has it.
“A big thing that Pat always says is to believe in the work that you’ve done, believe in the people that are with you and believe in the players around you. It’s not an individualistic thing. It’s very much a team thing and you’re fighting for the lad beside you.”
Ryan’s work at the helm of Cork over the last few years has sought to address the trait of fragility that often hovered over the team in their performances on the pitch. They came up agonisingly short in last year’s All-Ireland final epic, but O’Rourke believes the group has been infused with a streak of steel now.
“The narrative was out there that it (fragility) was the case. As Pat keeps saying, I suppose it’s all about how you represent the jersey. He’s really got into the minds of the players and he’s really pushing them forward. What we’ve learned and what we’ve done is that we keep going until the final whistle. The scoreboard only matters at the end. We just keep playing the next ball. It’s been very simplified for them.
“Maybe players have had to deal with that stuff being thrown at them on an individual basis, but I don’t think that can be thrown at this team or any team. I see every inter-county team preparing diligently for what they’re doing.”
The day after Cork ended Limerick’s five-in-a-row dream in an absorbing semi-final contest last July, Ryan faced the media in advance of the final with Clare. He was still trying to process the euphoria of the Limerick victory, but remarked that the Cork coach had already studied forensically the match footage from the Limerick game.
After the defeat to the Clare game, O’Rourke did the same, despite the pain of defeat and the fact Cork’s next competitive outing was months away.
“I watched it straight off the bat. It’s just something I do. It’s, ‘How can I make the team better for the next day?’ Win or lose, I have to find the margins on how we’re going to get better. I’d be very, very determined that way.
“Yes, it was tough watching it the first time. But it’s something that I have to do. My job and my role in Cork is to make the team perform on match day. have great help, there are unbelievable coaches with us and Pat is obviously such a highly intelligent hurling man. You have great people with you. I’ve watched it a good few times. I could probably tell you every play inside out now. But we want to banish those ghosts now and we just want to keep progressing. If you keep knocking on the door, it will eventually open.”
Cork’s form, apart from one blip in Thurles against Tipperary, has been strong in this season’s league. They have blitzed teams with goals, six against Clare and four against Galway, a trend that is not accidental.
“The way we look at it is that no matter where we play or no matter who we’re playing, we nearly outnumber the support. And there’s no greater roar than when a Cork player will hit the back of the net. That noise can go around the stadium and it can really get behind players.
“We’d done a lot of work on it. It’s a big thing with us because we know with the style of player we have that we’re going to create goal chances. We were frustrated that we weren’t executing them but, in fairness, the players put in massive work on the training ground and we really kind of zoned in on it in the last couple of weeks.”
Those type of performances have fuelled the praise for the team and seen their share price rocket. Managing that hype is now a task they face. Cork haven’t won the league in 27 years or the All-Ireland in 20 years, and face a rapidly improving Tipperary team tomorrow for the first of two outings this month.
“We know we didn’t win the All-Ireland but we didn’t not perform either,” says O’Rourke.
“It went down as one of the greatest All-Ireland hurling finals of all time, so you’re very confident that the occasion or the hype or any of that didn’t get to the players. The players are very, very grounded. They come in and focus on what needs to be. It’s about the next ball. So the hype getting to the players or anything like that is not something that would worry me. They’re very, very good at keeping the outside out.”
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Cork donal o'rourke GAA Hurling Pat Ryan Rebel Leader